Gordon Ramsay's Boxwood Cafe

On Sat 6th Feb after having some beauty treatments at the Berkeley Hotel, My boyfriend had also booked us a table at the Boxwood for lunch - all part of my 30th Birthday Celebrations!

The first waiter we had was very rude - when we asked him if we could order our wine he begrudgingly took our order after dumping the bread basket on our table, unsure of what we had done wrong I was worried he was going to ruin our meal! Another waitress then came and asked if she could take our wine order which is when we realised that it was not his job to do wine but instead of politely stating this to us he thought it would make our experience better if he was rude to us!!

Thankfully his only role seemed to be bringing us the bread and our other waiters were friendly and polite which is when we finally relaxed!

We both thought our starters and main courses were nice but not anything special - we also saw another couple sending back their food as it was not cooked properly.

Overall for this level of restaurant there are much better places to eat in London which is a shame as Gordon Ramsay is often on TV stating that the service and food in all his restaurants is top quality!
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Laura
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Monday, February 08, 2010

my daughters and I went on 7th November to finish off what had been a wonderful weekend as a treat prior to Christmas. We were excited about trying the Boxwood Cafe and was determined to push the boat out as this had been the first time my youngest daughter had come to our annual Christmas weekend away and my eldest daughter had given birth 2 months prior.

We arrived at the Boxwood cafe and ordered Kir Royales which were splendid. However the evening went down hill from there on. We did not have a dedicated waiter in fact we had at least three.

The starters were pleasant enough but just that pleasant. My eldest daughter ordered the pork on the recommendation of the waiter. When it came we were lucky that my eldest daughter was able to make out in the dim light that her pork was not badly cooked. This was evident to the naked eye so surely this must have been noticed by the chef. When the waiter saw my daughter had not eaten it he asked why.! We explained and he asked if we wanted him to get it re-cooked, By this time my daughter said she did not fancy pork any more. It was therefore just taken away.

One of the other waiters who had been most attentive asked if everything was ok, We told him about the pork and he said he would see what he could do. We told him we only wanted an apology.

This was not forthcoming and even when we were given the bill and told that they had taken the cost of the pork off and we never thanked them they said what else do you want. We said we only wanted an apology. Still nothing.

My daughters and I are a family of non-complainers where restaurants are concerned as we hate to ruin an evening, the men of the family are different. I wonder if we would have had better service if they were there. All we wanted was an apology as we appreciate these things happen.

We were hoping that my husband was going to take us to Claridges as a treat this year but needless to say I shall not be requesting a meal in Gordon Ramsays restaurant. This is indeed such a shame as he was my favourite celebrity chef.

No we have not taken this up with the restaurant directly as we believe that as they were less than forthcoming with an apology when we were there I cannot believe that they would be any better at a distance.
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Sheila Osborne
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Monday, January 11, 2010

Had dinner at Boxwood on New Year's Eve and am sorry I did. Food was not bad, but very standard/boring and the service was poor. Dishes on the choice menues were sold out and wine advise was bad..... Value for money was the worst I have seen in my life! Mr Ramsay should not put his name on this restaurant or treat it like he does hard working entrepreneurs on his TV shows!
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Erik
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Sunday, January 03, 2010

Upon arriving, the staff were friendly and as we were a little early, we decided to have a drink at the bar. A reasonable selection of Bourbon, gave it my thumbs up immediately. Before sitting down, I asked the bar staff if he could make a cocktail that was not on the list, and he politely agreed. Although not the best I have had, I was pleased he had accomodated my request.

We were taken to our table again by friendly staff and seated in the main dining area, which has a good amibience about it. However, the light could do with being a bit brighter as it would be nice to see what you're eating in all it's glory.

I had the black pudding to start which was delicious, my fiance had the mushrooms on toast which also got the thumbs up. On recommendation from the staff, I decided to have the rib eye steak, which he said was 'the best in London'.

The steak arrived, a little later than I would have liked and the presentation was magnificent. The huge steak before me looked like a real challenge. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. I had asked for medium rare and got medium well. The meat was difficult to eat, partly due to having to cut away the large amount of fat, and partly as some was just too tough and required me to chew so much, I had jaw ache.

A side order of chips, which I had hoped would be fresh style home made chips, also disappointed as they tasted pretty much like chips you would get in any fast food restaurant. Also the minute I finished the steak, the table was cleared of the large amount of left over fat from the meat (which I hoped the staff may notice, but either did not, or ignored) and the remaing half bowl of chips, leaving me feeling uncomfortable to ask for them to be left.

My fiance had the autumn vegetables with poached hens egg, which she said was delicious and couldn't fault at all. We decided to skip dessert and go straight for coffee and when asked by the staff "well, the best steak in London?", I was honest enough to say unfortunately not, due to the amount of fat and being overcooked. "Oh I am sorry, next time we will make it as lean as we can for you" was the reply, and that was that. Well shouldn't that have been the case before you sent it out at £33.00 I thought?

Finally, we got the bill, which appeared to be less than we thought, so as my fiance left for the ladies, I looked over the bill and it appeared that we had not been charged for the black pudding as it was showing as 0.00. I asked the staff to check and the manager came over and apologised for not adding it and returned moments later with the now increased, but correct bill.

My conscience struggles not to be honest when it comes to things like this and I believe it was right to point out being undercharged (much to the dismay of my fiance!). I don't expect immediate karma for such honesty, but the staff could have acknowledged it more than they did.

We left as the restaurant a little disappointed as we have eaten at Maze and found that to be the best restaurant by far that I have eaten in. I'm not sure if we were just unlucky on this occasion, or if the Boxwood Cafe is after all, just a cafe.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Friday, November 06, 2009

Booked a table with the Olive concession and was not told until arrival that we had to leave by 9.30. Disappointing and annoying but the speed with which we were served meant that we were easily out within the time required. Whilst the male waiters were attentive and very pleasant - although it was quite a challenge to understand them - the female who seemed to be overall in charge was very curt and unapproachable. The food was no more than average with a very limited menu even for a special deal and we felt very rushed. We had been before and had had a most enjoyable evening. This time we returned for a friend's birthday and were very disappointed. We certainly wont be returning.
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Pauline Hayter
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Sunday, August 30, 2009

Having visited Boxwood on several occasions and had a very good meal, this visit last Thursday night was slightly disappointing.

The service was very good however we all felt the food was just too complicated. Combinations of flavours are just too much for what could be a simple dish. Trying to be more than what it is we think. especially with something like a fish dish.

Also for some reason the music is now louder so we do wonder what direction this restuarant is taking.
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George
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Friday, July 24, 2009

I attended the restaurant today for lunch (Thursday) on a complete whim of the moment decision. For a Thursday lunch time the restaurant was amazingly slow with only another 3 table seated at 1pm.

I chose the set menu and decided upon the ham terrine to start, pork t-bone steak for main follwed by ice cream and sauce.

The starter was delicious and as i would expect from a top restaurant, the rest of the meal was decidedly mediocre and not worth the visit. Unlike the competition there are no "free" additions such as a pre-starter, pre-dessert, post-dessert, and despite being hungry after the main i almost could not be bothered with a dessert as the available options on the set menu all sounded dull.

Had i of not been dressed casually i would have gone to Marcus Wareing in the same building, well worth the additional few pounds, the restaurants really are worlds apart.

There are many other restaurants in the area which serve much better food than here.

On an upside though, and in contrast to some of the below reviews i found the service to be good and the staff friendly; perhaps this is becasue they are having to rely upon less tip's now customers have become more decerning.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Thursday, July 16, 2009

Absolutely fantastic. As soon as walked in we were greeted with friendly and warming staff. We sat at the bar for an aperitif before dinner and the cocktails were lovely. We were shown to our table and were greeted by lots of smiles from the friendly waiters. The food was amazing and as my partner and i dont dine out a lot we were guided through the menu by our waiter who was exceptional on her food and drinks knowledge. The food was outstanding and we would absolutley recommend this restaurant to our friends. The only disappointing part was that Gordon was not there. Maybe next time!!!!
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Anon
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Monday, July 06, 2009

An absolute SHOCKER! I went back to the Boxwood Cafe on Saturday night after having gone last year (a lovely experience - then). This time there was a large party of us and they could not have made it more obvious that we were an inconvenience. I am amazed that a top restaurant found a table of 12 such a trial! The only good I can say of it was my food was lovely (although that was not the case for everyone in my party) because the service was appalling. The head waitress was rude from the word go - we were informed in no uncertain terms that we had to order all three courses at the beginning of the meal even though we were not on a set menu and were paying the usual prices per course. She was brusque and unreasonable - when one member of the party asked to have his dish cooked a little more she flat out told him 'no'. It took management intervening before his request was granted.

On asking her for a wine list I was interrupted halfway through speaking to her and told that the 'wine had been ordered'. Not true - another person on our table had ordered the red, but not the white. The wine waiter twice filled our glasses with a completely different wine to what was already in them, and glared when we called him up on it. In the end we removed some of the (DISCRETIONARY) service charge, and were - rudely - confronted about it by the same head waitress. The birthday boy had to explain the catalogue of errors and rudeness to management, who were understandably horrified. Terrible. It ruined what was supposed to be special birthday treat. It might be good for a small party but as a group wild horses couldn't drag me back. Incredibly pretentious and very, very disappointing.
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Telperion
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 5
Monday, June 01, 2009

My wife and I had two days away without kids last weekend. We decided to treat ourselves to an evening at Boxwood Cafe, having heard good reports from my work colleagues.

The whole experience was fantastic, exceeding all expectations. The room is fairly small, split level in layout and the tables are close together, but I guess that's fairly standard for Central London.

We had champagne cocktails before being seated, which were excellent. The food was superb - my wife had the shoulder of beef which melted in the mouth. I had lamb which was just as tender. Portion sizes were decent as well.

All in all, a very enjoyable experience - this restaurant can't be recommended enough. It was a very relaxing evening with a mix of diners on the Saturday we were there. Staff were all friendly, knowledgeable and there was no pretence about the restaurant. It certainly felt like we were paying for the quality of the food, rather than the name behind the business.
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Doug Bingham - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 23, 2009