what the critics say

Zoe Williams - 6.5/10

Marina O'Loughlin - 2/5
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
My boyfriend took me here for my birthday, this is definitely a place for a special occasion. The food, restaurant and service was faultless. I would recommend this place.
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Overall rating ![]()
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
We went to Petrus for lunch a week or so ago. It's dull. The room is like an airport club class lounge. And the food is perfectly passable, but feels passionless. The chocolate honeycomb sphere was fun, as were the frozen lollypops, but both lacked the finesse that should accompany the fun.
The food service was okay, if a little tense, but the greeter was lousy.
I wouldn't want to come here on a date, for a business meeting or as a gourmet treat.
Oh, and the chocolate that comes in a little drawer at the end was inedible. Inedible chocolate - how do you manage that!
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June
Overall rating ![]()
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Monday, August 02, 2010
First visit today at a quite busy Saturday lunchtime. All four of us enjoyed our meals, However we usually go to other restaurants in the same group such as Royal Hospital Road, Murano and Maze at least a couple of times a year each, and in general my conclusion is that Petrus won't be taking over from any of these in our affections.
We all had a set lunch comprising a choice from three starters and three mains with lots of puddings. It started with an Amuse -Bouche of a flavoursome tomato consomme with fresh vegetables which we all liked. Equally we all enjoyed our starters, and my lightly curried pollock in a cauliflower soup was delicious. Mains were less good. The selection wasn't tremendously interesting and indeed all three dishes we selected were rather plain; nicely cooked and presented but nothing unusual, interesting or indeed complicated. And no intense flavours. We've noticed before that eating in fine restaurants in spring and summer tends to result in blander, seasonal food. Maybe thats it , but there was certainly no excitement round the table for any of the mains, and one of us was surprised that the skin on the bream had been left notably uncrisped.
Choice of desserts was good and the choice difficult. But again the eating experience didn't match our expectation, and certainly my little orange meringue tart was verging on dull. The chocolate sphere was felt to be a little over the top
The place itself was smart, expensive, though a bit atmosphere free, though its by no means alone in this. Certainly the investment in the premises might be enough to convince that this restaurant is aimed at a slot alongside Murano and Maze. But as i say, the food doesn't seem to justify that , at least not to us. Service was good, but again you'd say that it wasn't quite as slick as elsewhere in the group. I'm conscious of the fact that the place is pretty new and maybe things will improve.
Value was about right we thought in their competitive context- though I might add that the wines we had from near the bottom of the list (£30) were not special. I don't expect wines in a restaurant like this to be cheap; I do hope for some evidence that they've been well chosen to make the price-tag worthwhile.
All told, given the enjoyment we've had elsewhere in this group over the years, we walked into Petrus with high expectations and left just a little disappointed. With Marcus Wareing just up the road, Zafferano round the corner and, I noticed, Pierre Koffman opening close by, its becoming quite a competitive area .
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David Henderson
Overall rating ![]()
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Sunday, July 04, 2010
I was lucky enough to be taken by some work people, and they booked the chefs table which is on its own downstairs, bang opposite the service hatch. After a very agreeable drink in the lovely bar area, we headed down for what turned into a 10 course feast, beautifully matched with 4 different wines by the charming somelier.
We started with a board of charcuterie, with rocket and a delicious crumbled parmesan, and it just got better from there. Onion veloute, foie grois, scallops, sea trout, beef wellington, creme brulee, mascarpone ice cream, and the utterly sensational chocolate sphere.
Plenty of nibbles followed with coffee and brandies, chocolate covered almonds, 72% chocolate slabs, fresh baked mandelines, and the very dramatic frozen in liquid nitrogen amaretto lollies.
Mr Askew was present and he spend a good deal of time talking to us about the food and the restaurant, and seemlessly controlled everything which left his kitchen, which was like no other I've seen, everything was effortless and immaculate.
We stayed late into the afternoon and saw some of the evenings food being prepped.
All the staff from the very top to the guys scrubbing the floors were charming, friendly and genuinely looked like they loved being there.
The highlight for us all, were the boulangere potatos, slow cooked in double cream chicken stock and thyme. I'm drooling just thinking of it.
Big thanks to all.
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Dan Briggs
Overall rating ![]()
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
My meal at Petrus was very good. The quality if the ingredients and the taste of individual dishes were of a high scale. Whichever menu you go for - you can be sure of additional touches which add extra enjoyment and taste. It helps that the service is impeccable yet friendly and welcoming. However, the restaurant has a split nature about it - mainly due to the middle space being occupied by a large glass room which houses all the fine wines on offer. The room goes from floor to ceiling. If you are sat on a table which are located around the edge of this room you'll end up having a cosy tete-a-tete with your lunchtime companion. If you want a view of the restaurant and a less-discreet yet more opened-up seating arrangement - you'll want to get seated on the outer wall.
So there you have it: great food, excellent service and a weird central wine-vault!
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Lily
Overall rating ![]()
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Me and my partner dined at this fabulous restaurant a few nights ago. All I can say, it was perfect in every way, food, service and ambience. Just before we left the restaurant we were invited by the Restaurant Manager to take a tour around the kitchen and was introduced to the Chef and his staff, that was a nice little touch. We will definitely be going back.
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Deborah
Overall rating ![]()
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, April 23, 2010
We had a fantastic meal from the £25 lunch menu. The food was cooked to perfection and was accompanied by various amuse bouche that really added to the flavour combinations and experience. Best of all we were not charged extra to water and tea and coffee at the end and the meals came with vegetables, so there was no need to order side dishes. This meal was excellent value.
The wine is not cheap, but we found a lovely bottle on the extremely extensive wine list for £30, and considering that the food is such great quality and value we felt that this was perfectly reasonable.
The staff are friendly and attentive without being fussy or overbearing and the restaurant has a clean, modern and trendy look.
We would thoroughly recommend this to anybody.
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Simon Archer
Overall rating ![]()
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 16, 2010
Absolutely loved this restaurant, food and service 10/10 and if you are a chocolate lover, you simply must try the chocolate sphere with honeycomb and milk ice cream - such a clever dish and tastes like heaven. I cannot wait to go back.
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Angela
Overall rating ![]()
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, April 12, 2010
Our lunchtime highlight was a huge John Dory to share, stunningly prepared at the table and with excellent accompanying sauces and vegetables. With terrific bread and various extra nbits 'n bobs, my wife couldn't cope with a pudding, and asked for just the pineapple from a panna cotta combo. Instead a fabulous plate of assorted sliced fruit appeared - putting a huge smile on her face. The wine list is predictably scary at the top end, but German Rieslings are well represented and fairly priced. Fab service and an experience to be repeated.
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Ian Marcouse
Overall rating ![]()
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, April 12, 2010
It was not the highlight of the evening, but a nice touch, it turned out that Jean-Philippe Susilovic is born Flemish as we are too.
What Petrus produced in the menu was what contempory cocking needs to be: respect, great and greatest respect.
Respect for the product, everything is coocked to perfection and all ingredients add to the feast. All core products are from high class pedigree and one can taste the result almost individually in the plate.
The decor is what some people in the more near or far Eastern parts of the world would call stylish, but we went there to eat.
The menu ended very slightly in minor: please Mr. Sean Burbidge, there must exist better chocolates than the ones I tasted end that match your divine coocking!
Summarised: exquisite level of cuisine, impecable service, warm welcome. So as the Michelin guide used to discribe it: vaut le voyage - worth making the journey!
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Overall rating ![]()
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 09, 2010
what the bloggers say
Oliver Thring - 2/5
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