Duck Soup

I'd been a big fan of this place until a recent visit. Beautiful ingredients ruined by over salting almost all dishes - some we couldn't finish. I've been hearing the same complaint from many people. It's a pity as they source very well and there is some hint of talent in the kitchen. Just go easy on the salt guys!
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Eytando
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, July 03, 2012

That they take the time to scrawl down, longhand the 20-plus items on the bar and main menu on a piece of paper instead of printing it out legibily tells you everything you need to know about this place: more interested in trying to appear laidback and cool than attending to their customers. They don't take bookings so you're shoe-horned in anywhere, which is fine if they looked after you..

The food we ate was good but the service disorganised at best and bordering rude at worst. We started with five dishes from the bar menu (having had to ask for a 'menu') which the waitress, sans notepad, tried to remember but could only recount one so had to take our menu to remind herself. She spent the majority of her time chatting to friends (?) at the bar the whole time we were in there.

Food arrived and was good so we ordered a few more dishes and a bottle of wine. We were still waiting for the bottle as we finished the remaining food. Eventually the waitress, I say 'the' when we were served by about 5 different people, appeared and realised we hadn't had our drink but by this time we were passed caring and cancelled it.

Bill came and, after we cancelled the service charge, we were greeted by who I assume was the manager. He was very apologetic and seemed concerned but there was no offer of recompense.

Won't be going back. The place has a nice atmosphere and the food is decent but the Fawlty Towers service really ruins it. I'm all for a relaxed and convival atmosphere but charging mid-range restaurant prices when you're more interested in changing the record than bringing out orders ain't on.
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5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Saturday, December 10, 2011

Went to eat here after seeing some positive early feedback. Based on my dinner last night this was very surprising. The service was rather slow, with 5 of our dishes coming within 10 minutes and waiting 20-25 minutes for the last one. When we raised this with the manager who was rude and arrogant and told us we should have expected this. The fritto misto we ordered has a heavy batter, they also seemed to use cheaper ingredients to bulk it out. We had a lemon with rind included and an artichoke with the leaves still on, resulting in a horrible texture. Some of the fish also had rather large bones included. It also got served at too warm a temperature so it burnt our tongues. This mistake also occurred with the fried courgettes. The menu relies mainly relies on good ingredients as a lot of the food is assembled rather than cooked. From what I could see there is much better produce on show at other places in London and indeed soho. This restaurant seems to be on trend with small tasting plates but has a very long way to go before you would consider it before Barrafina (around the corner) Spuntino, Polpo or Bocca Di Lupo. Bread was also charged for, it had ok taste and appeared to be brought in and was slightly dry. We raised our feedback we the manager at the end of the meal and he was rather dismissive.
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J.J. Jenssen
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Sunday, October 16, 2011

Read good reviews but very disappointing, slow and arrogant service.

You pay for bread and it is dry and tasteless,the misto with lemon in batter with the rind was awful and the dishes like fig and Parmesan that was good was just down to ingredients and not to cooking skill. the main dishes at £14 was very overpriced.
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Einar Deinboll
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 16, 2011

Fabulous seasonal, flavoursome rustic food. Hoorah for people who know about flavours and how to showcase them. Highly recommended for a lazy mid week dinner or perfect date night!
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JRW - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, October 12, 2011