Gauthier Soho

A hugely disappointing evening all round at Gauthier Soho. Having been a big fan of Alexis at Roussillon and visited there many times I was eager to try the new venture and did so earlier this week.

Lindsay House is a charming venue, in concept, but for me the first floor dining room is very crowded with waiters squeezing past each other all the time, a relatively high noise level due to the proximity of tables to other tables and extremely stuffy. The aircon was turned on about an hour or so into our meal (I think because several people had complained about the stuffiness and not a single man in the room was able to keep his jacket on). Eating and sweating is not a combination I enjoy.

The food was the big low point for me. The foie gras terrine starter was severely lacking in flavour and the accompanying umami brioche was, well, just brioche. The Norfolk wild garlic risotto was pleasant, though mine was slightly undercooked compared to my dining companion's and hint of underseasoning meant that the parmesan crisp was an essential addition to lift the flavour.

The wild seabass and white asparagus was a terrible dish. Heavily lacking in seasoning and, amazingly, any contrasting textures meaning it was ultimately a lacklustre fishy mush. The glazed piglet loin followed which continued the theme of underseasoning and the crispy pig cheeks were verging on burnt.

We finished with cheese which was pleasant enough but lacking in a wider variety that other restaurants offer.

Service was somewhat comical. Our waiter was obviously new and made several errors - introducing our fish course as "the main course" and offering another bottle of water while we waited for the bill, only to be yanked back by a more senior waiter and made to do it again correctly. I had a glass of chablis which the sommelier made no effort to advise me on and throughout our meal I was not offered a further glass as the sommelier was too keen to double up as a waiter at the adjacent table where a couple of pretty girls were dining. We waited an age for the bill and when asked if I enjoyed me meal I replied "sadly no" and was met with a "thank you" rather than any interest in why not.

On a side note I also think linen napkins, rather than starched cotton ones are a no no at a restaurant with a Michelin star.

I would go back to give it a second chance, but I fear Alexis is either not around as much as he should be, or has otherwise lost the mojo he had at Roussillon. Sadly there are probably better places to try than take the risk of another disappointing evening here.
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Mark Segall
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 7
Friday, April 01, 2011

I visited this restaurant a few times, both for lunch and dinner, and what a treat! The food amazing, the ambience fantastic and the service out of this world, especially from the charmy (and easy on the eye) sommelier Robert, his suggestion always just fantastic with wines I never heard of.

It's a nice touch to see that wine is served from bottles and not from carafes, like some other places, since you never know what's in them! a half bottle (for the lunch deal) it's always poured from a bottle that is opened in front of you.

Also free filter (still and sparkling) water is always offered alongside mineral, great to see this from a Michelin star restaurant!

I will go back everytime I come to London to visit my family (I wish they were restaurants like this in Trinidad!)

Highly recommended!
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Rebecca
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, February 27, 2011

Our son treated us to a lunch at Gauthier today. Having sampled quite a few decent restaurants over the years we found Gauthier excellent. Service, quality of food and service were exemplary and very good value for money.

Highly reccommended.
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Mike Thompson
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Thursday, January 27, 2011

Went for an early dinner after a visit to the Royal Academy of Art.

The first floor dining room is very attractive,with well spaced tables.

The new menu is a delight,and we had great difficulty making our choices,as everything is tempting.The foie gras was beatifully executed;as was the jerusalem artichoke cream,which was served with crisp pansetta and chestnuts.We followed with an open raviolo of sweetbreads,lardons,mushrooms in a reduced wonderfully sticky sauce.Our 3rd "plats" were lamb;soft baked cod; and tournedo.These were all wonderful,except for the tournedo/ filet.The meat was a very poor piece of what should have been filet.It was full of unchewable nerves,and I left a lot of it.The waiter did not seem to notice.

The breads are made on site and are wonderful.We were also given a little taster of marinated raw sea bream which was excellent.

We shared 2 desserts-the Louis XV chocolate praline disc which was great.Water is free- which is a nice touch.Including wine, coffee and petits fours the whole bill came to £240 for 4 people.

This is great value for what we ate.
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C.Elder
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 21, 2011

We had a table booked for 7.00 p.m. on Saturday, by which time the ground floor dining room was already half full.

The food was excellent - the scallops were divine, the parsnip soup gorgeous and the fish beautifully seasoned. Desserts were presented wonderfully, although i had food envy at my companion's souffle as I had selected the rather ordinary rum baba.

The place is small and intimate, which was lovely, but that means that loud, opinionated diners may well ruin your evening. We were lucky in that all our fellow diners were couples or small groups.

The waiting staff were quite intrusive during the early stages of the meal - we could barely finish a sentence to each other without someone wanting to fill our water glasses, move our cutlery around or similar. However, later on as the place filled up it took two requests to get milk for the tea and a request for the names of our two wines to be written down for future reference did not produce any results.

At the end of the meal, we were told that we had to leave as the next table were waiting in the corridor - a warning that we only had the table until a set time would have been appreciated earlier, as would assistance with coats etc on leaving.

Excellent food, let down by indifferent service - for the cost there are better places to eat in London.
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Stormcloud
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, November 08, 2010

I really enjoyed the meal at Gauthier. The interior had changed that much since the days of LH...perhaps somewhat more understated in terms of the decor..The room was quiet whith no music (always a plus).

We sat upstairs overlooking Romilly St...whilst we enjoyed our long excellent meal with good service.

You can choose between the small plates(really a create your own tasting menu) and their seected tasting menu.We decide on the small plates...as you can order 3-5 if you desire....we went for the five...

I loved the crayfish veloute with chicken liver and truffle.This was followed by the cepes risotto with a chicken jus reduction and brown butter...a really great dish.The fish course was an incredible crisp Dover Sole with a beed-orange jus. I selected the Salt Marsh lamb for the meat course..this was cooked to perfection. Great selection of wines to boot.

Expect to pay about 200.00 plus for two but it's worth it.
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- View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Went for dinner with three friends to avail ourselves of the half-price tasting menu deal: this proved to be fantastic value. We enjoyed a delightful, leisurely meal and did not flinch when the bill arrived. Highlights included the Summer Truffle Risotto and the cheese course, where the variety was superb and the service was impeccable. The signature pudding of Golden Louis XV is also worthy of comment: it was superb. Overall, the food was good quality and creative - and it was pleasing to see a vegetarian tasting menu also available.

As the evening progressed, the dining room filled up, creating a pleasant ambience, accentuated by polite, generally attentive service. I had a terrific evening and would certainly return.
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dawnage - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, October 10, 2010

4 of us went for lunch and had the tasting menu of 7 courses ,normally priced £68pp this was on offer at 2 for 1,so effectively £34pp.

We started with a beautifully prepared slice of lobe of foie gras cooked perfectly and served with some apricot confit.This was followed by scallops,also perfectly executed.Then a risotto with summer truffles and veal juice again perfect. Wild sea trout nice and pink,then roast piglet.A pause for a trio of cherry based dessert and the grande finale was the Louis XV deep dark chocolate praline.

The service was great and the freshly made breads delicious.

It was easily worth the full price of £68pp,never mind the special offer.

This has got to be one of the top French restaurants in London,definitely top 5 and possibly even top 3.There was a wide choice of wines at all price points,and the restaurant does not charge for water.Coffee and petits fours were also include in the above.
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C.Elder
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, September 02, 2010

We went to dine to Gauthier Soho few weeks ago and after a very peaceful holiday I decided to post this comment.

It felt little odd to ring a bell to gain access to a restaurant; but from the minute you step in the show starts; we had 4 course menu with wine matched to each course...oh boy! the sommelier is good (he showed us this cellar just before we left, a very nice place to spend some time with my favourite artist Sade).

The menu is innovative but not too experimental, wich is good.

The service attentive, professional and you can tell they enjoy what they do.

In a few words: beautiful restaurant, sublime food, fantastic service.
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Mark - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, August 26, 2010

In over 30 years of eating out in London, I have just had the most bizarre, not to say surreal, experience.

My friend and I meet periodically in central London on a Thursday evening. We set off browsing in Liberty's. We move on to a restaurant for dinner. We go home.

On this occasion, I booked Gauthier Soho. The evening started well. We were seated on the ground floor at 7.45. We had a glass of champagne (£13.50 each). We ordered a bottled of red burgundy (£51). The menu was difficult in the sense that there were lots of enticing dishes. We chose three courses (£35 each). There were canapes and amuses bouches, both fun and tasty. The first course arrived (cold soup) - delicious; the second course arrived (risotto and scallops) - equally delicious; the third course (sea bass for both) - ditto.

We were asked if we wanted dessert or coffee. No. We were full and finishing our wine.

At that point the bizarre experience began. We were asked if we would move to the "wine cellar". It must have been about 9.15 pm. Rather taken aback, we agreed. We did ask them if they wanted the table. They said yes. My booking had not been accepted on the basis of giving up the table at a particular point. We were escorted down the corridor to a box room at the back of the house. It measured perhaps 8ft by 10ft with a small central work surface and wine racks around the walls. Our chairs were carried from our table. We had brought our remaining wine. We were there alone apart from the occasional waiter retrieving a bottle.

By this time, finding ourselves in a space which was clearly not intended for post prandial relaxation, we were protesting about our treatment. The waiting staff, who had been exemplary until our removal from the restaurant, became somewhat embarrassed. We said that we had never met with such treatment before and why had we been selected for transfer to this cubby hole? The maitre d' made some half-hearted effort. I started to explain to him in French the value of the maxim that when you were in a hole, you should stop digging, but he told me he was not French, so I stuck with English. He didn't get it. We ordered our bill. They removed the cost of the wine. They were apologetic, but it was too late. We paid and left at about 10.

We noticed as we left that our former table was unoccupied. Challenged about this, the maitre d' swore (on his neices' lives - nice touch) that they had had a customer who had not shown up. Being lawyers, we are natural sceptics. On reflection I wondered if we had been removed because we had had a short fit of the giggles talking about knitting (as one does). We will not be back. It is a pity. The kitchen is magnificent. The front of house would give a tarnished Labour government something to be proud of. Enjoy the food, but avoid being relegated to solitary confinement for some unspecified transgression.
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Heather Thomas
3 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 3
Friday, August 13, 2010