Eight Over Eight

Very low scores here.

Obviously something's gone wrong. But we went there the other day tempted by a 50% off food Sunday lunch special and thought it was good. Of course, with such a bargain on offer we over ordered.

Edemame, prawn and chive dumplings and chilli squid and prawn tempura were all solid with good punch accompanying sauces. Followed by a really lovely pad thai, a chicken dish fried in coconut which was in my opinion the best thing there and a duck salad full of fresh flavours.

The kitchen had obviously prepared the food with attention and there's no doubt the ingredients were fresh and zingy. And we paid half price. Bargain! Food for three came to about £35 which frankly was an absolute bargain. If I had paid £70 for the food I wouldn't have complained although I have to say I wouldn't have raved. I would have just felt it was fair.

Nice shuzzy surroundings very similar to the Notting Hill cousin and proffessional service.

Maybe this place is back to somewhere near it used to be. From my visit, regardless of the offer, it certainly doesn't deserve the marks it gets here at the mo. A stroll down the Kings Rd pretending to be cool to walk it all of and bob's yer uncle. Give it a go. Nowhere near as bad as the marks and with the discount an absolute winner.
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benjamin163
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Saturday, June 11, 2011

Eight Over Eight used to be one of our favourite restaurants in London . The service was good and the food, although occasionally inconsistent, very, very tasty and well balanced. Regrettably, our recent experience was not very good.

The service we received was mixed. One could tell that the staff in the reception area (near the computer) were not very experienced.

Since our table was not ready when we arrived, we were asked to wait in the bar area for, as they estimated, 10 minutes or so. After 15 minutes we asked when our table was going to be ready, noone seemed to have a clue nor to care very much. After 25 minutes of sitting in the bar, we were just about ready to leave the restaurant without our meal as noone ever came to update us on our table situation, when my husband decided to ask again. Only then we were told that our table was being prepared. Considering that this is not a cheap restaurant, the lack of attention was unacceptable.

Unfortunately, the food did not fare much better. We used to adore their famous duck and watermelon salad so we ordered it again. It was almost inedible. It was so sickly sweet, all we could taste was sugar, it was totally suffused in it. As we were very hungry (having waited so long to get a table) we ate it, but didn't enjoy it one bit. The salad also came with the sprinkling of something white and gritty on top which I thought was the icing sugar, since the salad was so sweet. Upon further enquiry, we were told that this was ground rice...in our opinion a totally unnecessary ingredient that added nothing to the dish, on the contrary, it made it look weird and added gritiness to it which was not nice.

Our pad thai, which used to be excellent "pre fire" was again so sweet that we returned it. We just could not eat another syrupy sweet dish. Apart from being overly sweet, it looked very meagre as if some of the ingredients were missing.

To finish on the lighter note, our waitress was excellent - attentive and responsive. So were desserts, they basically saved our evening. However, we left the restaurant very dissappointed and will not go back unless we hear that it is back to its former standards. Luckily, there is E&O not too far, unless they've also got the sugar happy chef, it is left to be seen.
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Sophie
4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Friday, November 12, 2010

Eight over Eight has been a favourite of ours for a long time and we were happy to hear when it reopened and therefore keen to return. That said, I now think they probably shouldnt have bothered to refurbish if they intend to staff it the way they have. It was moderately busy (definitely not rammed like the old days when Ollie was in charge!), however we had to wait 45min to receive some bar snacks. The waitress had forgotten to place our order! We had to enquire twice as to where our food was and was so fed up that we decided to leave and eat at another restaurant. Perhaps the waitress was young and inexperienced however there was certainly no excuse for the manager who flippently remarked that he was sorry that it happened but perhaps he will see us again and perhaps not. What a way to bring back the customers! With service like this, we definately wont be back. Eight over Eight has lost its edge.
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Dining Out
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Monday, October 25, 2010

I'd been looking forward to the long awaited re-opening and the food was good even if the menu is noticablely more limited than it was pre-fire. However, we were really quite taken aback at just how appalling the service is. Extremely slow service when it comes to drinks. Yet oddly we were pressured to place an order for food within five minutes of having sat down and were rudely informed that if we did not we would only be able to have one course. Staff training/new recruitment drive is definitely recommended.
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4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 5
Thursday, October 14, 2010

Oh dear… went here recently and quite frankly not surprised there has been a fire, it was probably the result of a dish being left in the ovens….

The service was so disorganised that it became comical, not one of our drink orders was correct despite ordering the same round of drinks five times.

That said a great way of sampling drinks and dishes which were never ordered.
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What No....
3 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, October 13, 2009

This has always been one of my favourite restaurants in London but last night they really impressed me. We had booked the private room for a friend's engagement party and they were beyond accommodating and attentive from the beginning, always looking after us without being overbearing. We had the £35 set menu and my initial worries that there would not be enough food were soon put to rest as it kept coming at a steady (but not rushed) pace. Everything was the usual delicious standard, including the cocktails we had at the bar upstairs before hand. Yes it's not cheap but it's worth every penny!

Highly recommend it.
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Leo
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, September 06, 2009

Was fantastic. No complaints at all .

I dont normally write reviews but felt compelled to after reading that stupid review before mine. I would guess that it was written by someone who is not scared to make a scene .

I have dined all around the world and have only ever encountered staff and management equal to eight over eight on a couple of occasions.....

I would encourage every one to try the food...It's great!
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Andrew Parker
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, September 04, 2009

love the food. love the ambience. love the name

HOWEVER the manager at fulham rd was RUDE arrogant and just RUDE, perhaps was a bad day for him / me- fine- we're only human

HOWEVER because it was a bad day for me- the last thing i need is a silly manager of a restaurant being rude!

just remember any tom dick or harry can be a restaurant manager BUT not every tom dick or harry can be a pleasant professional restaurant manager!

i don't blame the manager but the person who hired the manager! fix up- look sharp and SMILE
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7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, September 02, 2009

I only eat here at lunch-time when it is delightfully peaceful and the food is just as excellent. The prices are high but the food is all too tempting. A treat which I store away for myself.
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Charles Vasey
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, July 28, 2009