The Lyttelton

My wife felt rather strongly about this place so here’s her review:

We went to the Lyttelton at the Stafford Hotel yesterday, using a voucher which gave us the food half price plus a glass of champagne thrown in. We had signed up for this some time ago when the hotel and restaurant had just been refurbished, so there were only a couple of reviews available online. Before our visit we read a damning review in the Observer by Jay Rayner (who we really rate) and our hearts dropped. However, we set off, fortified by a bottle of cava to save on the wine bill, and hoped to find things had improved.

First, we must say that the staff were friendly, professional and pleasant, the problems lie elsewhere. You walk in through the hotel lobby to some tables – is this a restaurant or not? – it did not feel like you had arrived anywhere (OK, it was a Monday night and quiet). But absolutely zero for ambience. The wine list is somewhat off-putting too – the very cheapest bottle is over £30.

The food: we had crab and seafood starters, both fresh and quite generous portions, as they should be for around £20 a head. We were offered no bread or salads to accompany these dishes, and although they were tasty there was no chef-added value that we could discern. Mains: one grouse, one sirloin steak. The steak was over salted with too much fat, the grouse was gamey and well cooked with good accompaniments….but at £32 a bit much to swallow. For dessert, my chocolate brownie was OK but not exciting, my husband’s cheese choice of Lancashire rarebit with salad was sour, sharp and almost inedible. We skipped the coffee and made our exit, after technical problems with our bill (they took our credit card away for 5 minutes and never could produce a paper payment receipt). Someone has got this place SO very wrong, please start again. Cannot understand anyone paying full price for this stuff when there are so many wonderful restaurants around.
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Eric Baker - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, October 18, 2011