The Delaunay
our review
Chris Corbin and Jeremy King have opened The Delaunay - a sizeable sister restuarant to The Wolseley - in Covent Garden. The cafe-restaurant, inspired by the grand cafes of Europe, is open all day and features a smart takeaway counter.
December 2011
what the critics say

Zoe Williams

John Walsh - 13/15
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
I held a party in the private room before Christmas and have been for supper a couple of times since.
I cannot recommend it highly enough. Staff, service, atmosphere, food: impeccable.
I have never had a bad course there, let alone a poor meal.
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James
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Overall rating ![]()
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
An impressive job has been done on the design of this restaurant - it's a lovely, old-fashioned room - and it's certainly a popular restaurant - the place was buzzing even at 6:45 in the evening. Service was also good, and attentive - maybe too attentive, as the waiter kept fussing around the table removing the bread basket and side dishes as we were eating our main courses, when it might have been better to just let us eat in peace. Food was fine, but no more than that. Plaice and chips, kedgeree and liver all disappeared without many complaints, but also without huge enthusiasm. And the sides of broccoli with paprika butter and carrots with thyme seemed to lack either flavouring, and the broccoli was rather over-cooked. Desserts were most disappointing though. Strudel and Austrian bread & apple pudding were both just OK - which was something of a letdown at £7 each. The uninspired presentation didn't help much - both were small-ish portions slapped on an enormous plate with a ball of ice cream skidding around on the plate. We rather regretted not having gone for the patisserie - the cakes on display in the cafe at the front of the restaurant looked much more inviting as we left.
So a decent enough restaurant with some good points - including a very good bottle of wine - but serving rather uninspired comfort food at not particularly comfortable prices. And there were two final niggles when we got the bill. First, they added a cover charge of £2 each, which always seems really stingy in restaurants which are not cheap to begin with and where the bread (though good) was neither noticeably better nor more plentiful than at the many restaurants which don't add a cover charge. And the card machine was handed to the only man at the table, even though the bill and credit card were not sitting anywhere near him on the table when the waiter picked them up. The restaurant design may hark back to the 19th century, but I don't think there's any need for the service to do the same.
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Overall rating ![]()
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Sunday, February 24, 2013
i liked the place and much prefer it to The Wolseley, my steak tartare and schnitzel were faultless and the service was good .
Bar drinks were excellent with good Champagne choice and a decent martini served in a frozen glass.
Only small niggle was the wine list which was a bit short.
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shane
Overall rating ![]()
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, January 04, 2013
Another delicious lunch in this well run and buzzy restaurant. Steak tartare and calf's liver - probably too filling eaten at the same meal, but delicious.
I strongly recommend a visit.
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James
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Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, October 11, 2012
A very capable grown up place to eat. Everything is well oiled from the reception to the service and food presentation. The food is consistently very good but nothing is outstanding.
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DoubleDouble
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Overall rating ![]()
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, September 06, 2012
This is a very elegant and professionally managed restaurant, as you would expect from such consistently superb owners. The eating and bar areas are very attractive and welcoming, the service is from the top drawer and the food is delicious.
If you want a sophisticated meal in a high-class setting, this is your type of place. You can be confident that you will be well looked after and if there is a problem, it will be handled sensitively and sensibly. It is one of those places where the customer is always right, partly because it is closely overseen by les patrons.
The food is averagely priced considering its quality, but probably half the bill will be the cost of bottled water and drinks, so stick with jugs of tap water and you will have no cause to complain!
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James
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Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Visiting from Australia we asked the hotel concierge for a supper reservation at a restaurant. We ended up at The Delauncey. Warning to any Australian - Guillames it is not: More like The German Club at Woolloongabba without the value for money.
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Overall rating ![]()
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
We went on a Saturday night for a special occasion. First impressions were great and we had a nice corner table with booth seating. Things went a bit downhill from there however. We ordered aperitifs when we sat down, but these didn't arrive until our starters came. When we were having our main course the waiter was overly attentive with topping up our wine after each sip. At the end of the meal, as we were about to order coffee, the waitress came over and pulled out the table saying the next group had arrived and they needed the table back. We were told to have our coffee and settle the bill at the bar.
The setting is nice and the food quite good but we simply didn't feel welcome or well looked after. We won't be returning.
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Overall rating ![]()
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Friday, March 30, 2012
We took eggs benedict...and the yolk was hard...the schnitzel and steak tartare were only average at best...we do not mind to spend money for good food...but this restaurant was not a good value for money...
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The Italo American couple
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Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 3
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Visited The Delaunay for lunch, it was busy busy busy, nice decor, good atmosphere, menu very similar to that of The Wolesley . Had the chicken noodle soup to start, mistake, it was luke warm and generally very disappointing, for main course had the Holstein Schnitzel, was wonderful, with Brussels and chestnuts and potato gratin, could not be faulted and was simply divine, all elements were perfectly cooked and plenty of it. If you need one reason to visit The Delauney, the pudding is it, the Schhaufen is just out of this world, each mouthful a delight, do not miss it. Service was efficient and the staff seemed well informed,The Delaunay has only been open 10 days and it was an impressive debut, still think the Wolsley has the edge, the decor takes some beating, the Delaunay has an "Ivy" ambience about it, but it's early days and the schhaufen was so good it makes up for any shortcomings.The meal was good value. It's perfectly located for pre theatre dinner. Will definitely visit again it will only get better and apart from the soup.....no complaints.
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Andyb8600
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Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Thursday, December 15, 2011
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