The Wolseley

Overall very disappointing; my friends and I go out for a meal and catch up to a "nice" restaurant every 2-3 months and this was probably the worst meal we have had in 2 years of going out. 2 people had fish for starters; a salad nicoise and the herring. Not being a great fish lover myself I was unable to comment however the comments from the individual diners are not repeatable here. The 5 main courses appeared over a 6-7 min window, the steak someone had was so cold the butter did not melt, my wiener schnitzel was blackened down one side and soggy on the other, the coq au vin was apparently over powering and sickly coupled with cold sides and one returned main course not great! Battling through the waiter brought a dessert wine through which was corked (not his fault but he did not notice). The desserts were passable but not brilliant, I must say for a restaurant with this reputation it was thoroughly mediocre and not worth the £400 (with £50 knocked off) we paid.... Epic fail to the wolseley.
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Lee
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Monday, December 19, 2011

We've been here before, and enjoyed our return visit. OK, the layout is a bit chaotic and it feels very informal despite the "fine dining" prices. Mrs Kentish correctly pointed out that it's more like a Parisian bistro than a high(ish) end London eatery - and that's not intended as a criticism.

My seven-hour lamb looked unappealing on the plate and was the weakest link in our selection, but the staff were great and ensured we had a good time.
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Kentishwanderer
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Monday, December 19, 2011

The main restaurant comprises a large room. It was very busy, and we found it noisy and not relaxing.

We tried the afternoon tea which comprised scones, finger sandwiches and a selection of very small cakes. There was a choice of teas.

The tea arrived first. I had the Wolseley special blend, which was very weak. My wife tried it and described it as "dishwater". She had ordered the breakfast blend, which was okay, but not hot enough.

The scones were good. Served warm, with butter, strawberry jam and clotted cream. The finger sandwiches were okay. There were 6 small varieties of cake. I had a cheesecake which I thought was good, and a small chocolate cake which was okay. A piece of battenburg was poor, too sweet and heavy. My wife had a berry tart, which she thought was good, a coffee eclair which she thought was okay and a macaroon which was too sweet.

The tea was priced at £21.50, so for two amounted to £43.00 to which was added a 12.5% discretionary service charge of £5.37 making a total of £48.37.

We would not return.
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Jonathan Marks
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Sunday, December 04, 2011

Pretentious and very rude staff who have no idea what customer service is.

The Wolseley is a money-grabing venture half-owned by a man whose questionable business ethics are quite apparent in the execution of this restaurant. Avoid.
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Nas
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Thursday, October 27, 2011

Horrible over-priced restaurant with utterly unfriendly and rude staff and food that is poorly cooked and lukewarm.
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Harmony - View all reviews by this user
0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 23, 2011

Not at all impressed by the afternoon tea; the somewhat surly waiter forgot to bring plates for the scones and forgot the macaroons we ordered. The macaroons were stale and unecessarily dipped in dark chocolate. Having had a merely adequate lunch there a few months ago, in the main restaurant where I could barely hear a word my lunch partner was saying, I totally fail to understand the hype. And despite it being a lovely room the furniture and accoutrements are looking quite shabby.
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HW3 - View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, June 15, 2011

WHAT COUNTS - REPUTATION or SERVICE?

With great expectations due to REPUTATION, we arrived 10 minutes early for a special belated birthday celebration dinner. A private affair so no fuss required, just a good evening and food expected. The food was good and wholesome, but definite NO WOW factor! The wine was tasty! Sadly, the SERVICE had something to be desired. Fortunately, in our party of four, the conversation overflowed, so the 2+1/2 hours for 2 and a bit courses passed pretty quickly. BUT, when we had to wait more than 10 minutes to be served with the bill, the long, VERY LONG DELAYS between the simple courses began to tell on our good natures. Our waiter was pleasant although he was definitely absent when personality was handed out! I don't believe the delay in serving our meals were his doing even though it took 20 minutes and 2 reminders before our bottle of wine arrived at the table. The young lady Matre'd was pleasant and seemingly extremely upset when hearing of our woes. Her boss was less convincing, with his EMPTY SORRY!!!!!! My son said we ought not to have paid the "discretionary" service charge, and he was correct. But, I think this would have reflected on our waiter who was certainly not the the sole / if at all the reason for our poor service experience, anyway, he did not deserve to shoulder the blame. I can only hope that others enjoy a better experience at this "infamous" eating establishment!
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Dr G Baitz
5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, June 01, 2011

We had breakfast to celebrate our wedding anniversary and it was fantastic. The staff were welcoming and friendly and gave us a complimentary basket of pastries to acknowledge our special day. My husband had the english breakfast and I had eggs benedict along with the best hot chocolate I have had in a while. The glasses of juice were a bit on the small side but can't fault anything else! Bill was £44 for breakfast, juice, tea and hot chocolate.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, May 04, 2011

food was consistently good for the limited unambitious items listed.

service was very good but it was not the place it was two years ago, when It served more elaborate and

excellent dishes now just small cafe dishes, very limited. welsh rarebit turned out to be grilled cheese on toast, not real rarebit

the space, the room is/was great and had energy in the past, but the bustle is all

about nothing now,

not sure why they changed direction but is not the former restaurant

a waste of time, but is convenient for not bad food late at night when the service seems to go on vacation
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Mad Duck - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 1
Monday, April 18, 2011

Have we just been lucky everytime we have dined here? Went for lunch on Saturday, and in my humble opinion, another ripsnorting success! The place itself is glorious of course, but we had cheerful and prompt service and enjoyed ambrosial food as well. The cheesey extravaganza Souffle Swisse for me, Quails Eggs nestling on a bed of mushroom duxelle under a drizzle of hollandaise for him, followed by wonderous Halibut with bernaise sauce and Calves liver and bacon, not ground breaking for sure, but totally delicious. Shared a refreshing Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Coupe, before going home to lie down groaning like those sheep from Far From The Madding Crowd who had eaten clover to bursting point! The Wolseley was packed again, so they must be doing something right!
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Christina Caballero
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, March 07, 2011