Clarke's Restaurant

My husband and myself went to Clarke's last Saturday with two friends under a special offer deal advertised in the Financial Times. With vouchers you pay the price of one full meal and the second is £5. We thought with this offer in mind it would be fun to visit Clarke's. We were seated upstairs, nice table and very attentive service. Two in our group started with the terrine, which was fine but not special and the portion was small. I had Eggs Benedict which were ok but did not justify to price. Main course all of us had the Fishcake which arrived with approx. 5 potato chips. Again, nice but very standard brasserie food and nothing to justify the price. For sweet two of our group had cheese - fine but not exciting choice of cheese, two had the buttermilk waffle which apparently was nice. What really did shock all four of us was the bill: with service AND the special deal (so two full priced meals and two for £5) the bill came, after adding service, to £200. We had two bottles wine but both on the reasonable side and nothing excessive. We left the restaurant with a feeling of being ripped off i.e. being charged ridiculously high prices for not particularly special food. Expense accounts only, I would say.
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Claudia - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, February 03, 2009

My husband and I passed the restaurant while in Notting Hill - it looks smart, 'local', warm and welcoming we decided to give it a go.

It has a really nice atmosphere inside with a cosy layout and lighting. The service was faultless throughout with attentive, friendly and very professional waiters. The bread was lovely and there's a nice selection of wines. The food on the other hand was dissappointing. Thankfully I didnt come here during the 21 years they operated a no choice menu - they now have a small menu with 3 choices per courses, but none of the mains were vegetarian (I dont eat fish). The waiter said the kitchen would make me up something which tuned out to be the selection of vegetables that accompanied the other meat main courses and a small amount of Polenta. Cheeky I thought, but wouldnt have minded if it tasted good. There was an unidentifiable burnt vegetable - which was served deliberately burnt (other people had it too i noticed) and therefore all the more ridiculous, and the other vegetables (including my starter of artichoke) mostly tasted of oil. The produce was seasonal and probably fresh, but didn't taste fresh - the cooking process had ruined it.

My husband had a salmon salad - which he thought was ok but bland and a main of duck, the meat was very good quality, but came with a sauce which wasnt to his liking and more importantly contained wine which he has an allergy to. Given the descriptions of dishes are lengthy, and other dishes listed any alcohol content they should have listed it for this dish so he knew what he was ordering. He didnt suffer a reaction in case you're wondering!

The desserts of rhubarb & grapefruit trifle and chocolate pudding were very good and made some amends for the other courses.

All in all it was below average and not worth the price tag of 43.00 for 2 or 49.00 for 3 courses - the service and ambience do deliver to the standard expected for this price, but the food falls far short. There are many many places in London that are more deserved of that kind of price tag.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Went for dinner -we were 6.ended up in the basement with the cooking smells;toilets etc.Although ground floor looked cramped.Excrucuatingly expensive for cooking which is very ordinary.some may wax eloquent about ingredients,but this was all standard fare with nary an interesting ingredient in sight.Frankly I can buy the lamb cutlets and grill them myself at home for about 15% of what we paid for them.No imaginative sauces or any kind of passion evident in the cuisine.Portions not generous.There is better to be had for less money.
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c.elder
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Thursday, February 08, 2007

The no choice menu has gone but there is still a "Sally's Choice" which we went for. Food is fresh and expertly cooked. Service is spot on. Wine list has a good range. £175 for 1 x 3 course, 1 x 4 course, champagne to start, a bottle and half of wine.

Always worth a visit.
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Patsy S - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, February 02, 2007