Vivat Bacchus

our superb meal was spoilt by only one thing, my wife losing a contact lense in her salad. This flipped out and may have landed in another persons sidedish.

apart from that, the best restaurant in the whole of london.
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deadeye bob
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, May 09, 2008

Went for lunch. I thought the food was good if a little sparing. Well seasoned and perfectly cooked steaks. Small starters, but very good quality ingredients. Quite pricey too.

The issue is the service which really took the edge off what could have been a very pleasant lunch. Not just inattentive, and we were right in the middle of the room, but almost surley. We waited and waited to order some wine and were asked brusquely 'still or sparkling?' . When I asked for a jug of tap water, the waitress tutted and swished off before I could ask for the wine. It took several attempts to get attention so we could order wine, then food. I asked advice about some red, a Sangiovese/Shiraz blend and was told shortly it was 'ok'. I thought with a short list there would be a little more knowledge but there was no help and the manner was abrupt. We found a disc of plastic in our spinach, which we thought was a contact lens. Again after several attempts we drew it to the attention of a waitress who simply whisked the dish away without a word. We waited for some sort of apology or offer of something to make us feel better, but nothing. We were asked if we wanted pudding and we asked what we might find in that! We remiinded her that we had had some plastic in the spinach and were told curtly 'These things happen'. I was aghast. It really felt like they thought they were doing us a favour. We declined pudding and asked for the bill at which point I was told I hadn't spent enough, although I realised it was a poorly delivered attempt at humour. Tumbleweed... ......£130! A South African joke is no laughing matter.
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Whiters
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Friday, May 09, 2008

We went to Vivat Bacchus for the first time last night, and had a really great evening - excellent food, great wine chosen with some help from the sommelier, and a cheeseboard to die for. The service was the real highlight - the guys were helpful and attentive, but never in your face, and didn't give us any pressure to leave even when we were the last in the restaurant at 11.45. A really special evening out - highly recommended.
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Kate, London
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, February 02, 2008

Food is average and reasonable for the price, wine is excellent. The staff are arrogant and rude beyond belief. There are btter places.
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Mike
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

If you are planning a trip to Vivat Bacchus, I thoroughly recommend choosing a cheeseboard and charcuterie platter as a main course, instead of ordering from the a la carte menu.

I went with a friend and we both love our cheese. We were taken to the cheese room, and had the opportunity to taste 12 cheeses, of which we picked 10, while the resident cheese expert talked us through all of them.

We received the same service in the wine cellar, where we were recommended a lovely wine to our taste and within the budget we stipulated.

We left full and happy, and very impressed with the service.
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MG
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 25, 2007

The food and wine were absolutely amazing. Far superior to many "named" restaurants which I have often waited a month or so for a table. The wine list is perfect. The staff extremely professional and highly informed about the cuisine and wine.

I was dining with a work collegue and it we were both impressed.

One point of note is the terrible location. Its in the middle of a Hackney council estate which is rather strage given the level of fine cuisine they serve. About 10pm when we left there were many "dodgy" characters loitering around in dark doorways and felt very unsafe in suit with laptop as we walked back to Shoreditch hig street to hail a cab.

Its an awesome restaurant and definately go here.... but take a cab to and from and it won't disappoint.
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MelbourneFoodie101
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, June 28, 2007

great staff, friendly, helpful. Service stunning. Cheese room to dye for. Love it for clients and personal use. A top three fav
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Decided to meet up with an old friend for lunch time wine and lunch. I considered the Wine list rather pretentious, cheap furmiture abound and the food was fairly decent but not worth the extravagant prices.

But this was nothing compared to the dreadful service, the waitresses were very rude and surly and the South African somelier was just the rudest most arogant person to ever work in a wine bar. I couldn't believe that they readily expect people to put up with this and pay for it (including service tip - which they expext
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Lionel Quentin
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

We decided to to book Vivat Bacchus for our works Christmas lunch and to be honest the feeling amongst us was that it was only really just average. SOme staff did the minimum required and came across as fed up and not really wanting to serve or even be there. Although by the time anyone reads this who have booked to eat there it will probally be to late to cancel and rebook elsewhere. I would suggest that you only pay service charge if you feel that there was a level of service and not just because it gets added to the bill like so many people do. You have been warned !!!
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, December 18, 2006

One to avoid! This basement restaurant complete with 80’s filing room ceiling, terracotta floors and black painted metal chairs, leaves much to be desired. My friend had the crocodile tail, which tasted like unseasoned poached chicken. I had cauliflower soup with Roquefort oil, which repeated on me all evening. Following that I had the Springbok, which was covered in spices but, to me tasted like they had taken a hand full of dirt and rubbed it on. The red cabbage seemed to have been shredded by hand and was full of awkward pieces. The potato was…raw in the middle. We chose a South African wine called Jordan which we all found salty, when we told the Sommelier he smirked. Basically this restaurant suffers from split personality disorder. It just doesn’t know what it is? With its visible glass wine cellar, cheese room, cheap furniture, bad food and pretentious name, wants to be posh but is definitely just bad nosh.
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Louis Charlie
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Saturday, November 25, 2006