Gabrielle's

Went here last night with an old friend and have to say the service here is really appalling! Firstly they took around 15 minutes to take our order. Our starters of Foie Gras (tiny portion for £11.50! - 50% discount does help but still!) and Frogs Legs (covered in grease so you couldn't taste the delicate meat) took far too long to arrive. Our main courses were then given to us completely wrong, 20 minutes later we received the right main courses - have to say the quality of mains was good, my friend really enjoyed her steak and I had a delightful Veal chop with mushroom sauce. Side dishes were also good, although my friend's fries were slightly underdone.

At the end of the evening we decided to show our disatisfaction by reducing our tip from the 12.5% they ask for to around 7%. The waitress then decided to question why we were paying less than the bill had asked for and didn't seem to understand that the tip is at the diners discretion! To top it all off she chased us down the street 5 minutes after we left the restaurant to ask for her receipt back as apparently she had given me the merchant copy rather than customer copy! Talk about drama!

Can't say I will be going back!
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Claire
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Four of us enjoyed a very pleasant evening. Nice decor, staff were very friendly and helpful and the service was good - they've obviously taken note of some of the most recent reviews. Good value for the location and certainly a lot better than Zinc bar along the road which is very overpriced for the mediocre food. We had the half price offer on food but even at full price, the set menu looked good value and had plenty to choose from. Recommended in an area with few interesting, mid priced places to choose from.
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Zoe
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, August 04, 2006

Great food, terrible service! I went with a group of 6, half the stuff we oerdered wasn't available, the waitress hit one of us in the head with a menu and didn't even know she's done it. Getting the order right was not their forte either. It is a real shame as it is a lovely building with fantastic decor and a very nice feel. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone though.
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Helen Booth
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 2
Monday, May 08, 2006

Excellent food served by hansome and efficient waiters. Gay friendly, which makes a nice change for this genre of food.
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George Winters
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Took my girlfriend here for dinner on St Valentine's Day. We were offered a tiny table next to the door, uncomfortably close to other diners in the packed dining room, but requested to sit downstairs.

The ambience downstairs was much better. It was less crowded and we were given the corner table along the back wall, which had comfy scatter cushions and was romantically lit by candles. In contrast to the hustle and bustle of the upstairs dining room, downstairs was quiet, private and very relaxed. It was so quiet it seemed like we even had our own dedicated waitress!

The set menu was limited and featured no prices, which was misleading. The food, although of good quality, was rushed out to us before we had a chance to settle down, indicating it had been preprepared, in anticipation of one of their busiest nights of the year!

Before we had even put our forks down, our waitress was hovering over us eager to take our plates away and serve our next course. Apart from this rushed service and expensive bill (£90 for two with no alcoholic drinks) we had a very enjoyable evening and will certainly return.
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C P McGale
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Saturday, April 08, 2006

An excellent restaurant with very helpful and supportive staff, superb food and marvellous ambience. I would thoroughly recommend it to anybody who wants a brilliant experience. I cannot praise it highly enough and I will definitely go back. I have eaten in top restaurants throughout the world and this place is unbeatable.
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Adrian Winbow
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Saturday, April 01, 2006

Oh dear.

Food was lovely ... when it arrived. The whole running of the restaurant was just amateur and the poor service spoiled what was actually very nice food (except for one over-salted spinach side dish).

Beware - the waitress told us we needed side dishes with the mains. We were consequently surprised when each main turned up with accompaniments so we had rather a lot of extra food.

They need more staff so that you don't suffer from hunger pangs between courses

They also need a front door that closes properly and doesn't blow a draft through the whole restaurant each time it is opened.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, March 22, 2006

I had my birthday yesterday so we went to Gabrielle's to have a nice meal in a great atmosphere as we expected it to be after reading some reviews. Some reviews mentioned that service isn't smth that people praise too much but I was in great birthday mood so it didn't sound too alarming to me.

We arrived at 7, were greated nicely and a waitress took our order right away. We got our appetizers, than our main courses and we were done with it shortly before 8 pm. Food was nice, tasted good and was cooked well....but that was it.

Sometime around 8.30 pm after sitting for half an hour I realised that not only our table is left without ANY attention but our desserts are still to arrive and the pause is getting too long. More than that, the waitress that took our order wasn't there anymore!!! She just left! I asked another waitress to check on our desserts and sometime around 9 pm (!!!!!) there still was no progress and nobody bothered to come to us to simply let us know what is going on. So we just asked for a check and left. To be fair, we got 15% discount after I mentioned about me being upset about the whole thing. The poor waitress that had to deal with us leaving apologised for the situation, but I really don't get how can this restaurant's owner/manager be fine with the situation when 3 people have to deal with 12 (!!!) tables. This girl I mentioned seemed to be pretty torn between just too many tasks!!! Besides, I looked around myself while waiting and discovered that it wasn't only our table, a couple of tables next to us were in a similar situations. There seemed to be no control on what was happening there at all and that makes me assume the situation of bad service is typical for this place.

I will never go back there again and won't recommend this restaurant to other people.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Sunday, March 19, 2006

Went there on Saturday and definitely will be back very soon. The most important thing about restaurants is food of course and here you can’t be disappointed! Food is excellent! Beside that atmosphere is unforgettable… If you are a wine lover you have to visit the place! Congratulations for the wine list!
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AP
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, March 08, 2006

I have been to many french restaurants in London and.. all over the world and I have to say that Gabrielle's is definatelly one of the finest I have ever been to!!! Try the Scallops -- FANTASTIC!!

I recommend stuffed quail - SUPERB and delicious chocolate spring rolls for a nice finish!!

Service is very kind and nice, ambience very lively.

Its a great experience, YOU HAVE TO TRY!

Merci Gabrielle's.
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gosia
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, March 08, 2006