Clarke's Restaurant

When the proprietor is absent standards are terrible. The dishes are not executed in accordance with their description with ingredients being substituted or omited. A minor variation can be justified sometimes but stuffed meat that is not stuffed sums it all up. The staff show a lack of training with a superior and disinterested approach ; this is also reflected in the management which shows no interest if food is sent back to the kitchen or if the customers are happy or not . The interior is now tired. This is a an expensive restaurant going steadily downhill.
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2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Monday, May 02, 2011

Oh my lord. We should have looked here first. Instead we took the personal recommendations of 2 reputable food/wine writers, who say it’s their favourite place. We’re genuinely amazed. I’ve never written a bad review before – I tend to just walk away. But this place is in the 2010 Times 100 Best, alongside some fantastic places. It’s simply not in this league. Looking at the other reviews, it’s clearly been like this for some time. Why does this place come so highly recommended?

The food ranged from OK to bad. Some pairings were completely pointless. A very bitter Belgian endive killed off a poached chicken breast and the whole lot arrived cold. Saddle of lamb was not a young sheep and had turned to rubber. The accompanying wild rice compounded the dryness. Squid was rubbery. Clementine and puntarella was a waste of both – needed something to bring them together. Roast charlotte potatoes were hard and tasteless. Desserts were OK. Coffee not nice. Despite phoning ahead, the vegetarian dishes were pasta and risotto. (If you don’t cater for vegetarians, just say so. There are plenty of places that do.) Not wanting starch followed by more starch, the vegetarian went off-piste and had the chicken without the chicken, whereby the bitter endive killed off a load of innocent mushrooms instead.

The affable staff were mad busy, even though the place was less than half-full on a Friday night. They forgot our sides, whisked away our glasses before the wine was finished and rang through the wrong bill. They never once enquired if everything was OK. (It wasn’t) And cleared away uneaten food without asking if there was a problem. (There was. It was inedible.) We’re not complainers; we’ll respond if asked. If not, we won’t be back.

At £320 for 4 people, 2.5 courses each and three bottles of average wine, this isn’t good enough. I wouldn’t be happy with this at half the price. So why is it fantastic for some and not good for others? I honestly didn’t get the impression that it mattered who you were. Nor did I get the impression that it was capable of better. A pity. I wanted to like this place.
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Sunday, December 05, 2010

Seriously over priced. Disappointing food (eg vegetables very over cooked/steak tough). Condescending/patronising "maitre d" who gives the impression one should be grateful for being allowed to dine there. A stance designed, presumably, to appeal to the elderly/elite customers. No longer deserving of its previous high reputation.
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L. Warren - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, October 13, 2009