1 Leicester Square

Great city views but not much else going for it!

Attended there for a surprise birthday - we were arriving 15mins or so before the birthday girl. Unfortunately, the bouncer was unable to find our group's booking on the list and he wouldn't accept we were the only group booking of that size for the night. We were told to go away for about 15 mins and come back later once they had worked it out !...all this on a cold windy night when we were the only ones there so no long queue with the birthday girl turning up in 10 mins!

The lifts and general decor of the building were a bit shabby outside the main restaurant and club area - for a 20 quid entry to the club alone you would expect them to tidy it up a bit along with not expecting customers to have to climb 2 flights of concreted industrial fire stairs to the toilets. Speaking of which, were pretty disgusting and it was only 7.30pm at night - toilet attendant there and we were the only ones in the restaurant but they didn't look they had been cleaned from the night before..ugh!

The main problem though was the food - totally weird - who goes to a restaurant for a sitdown set menu where the restaurant ends up dumping several of each course in the middle of the table and tells you to help yourself! We ended up chopping off bits of fillet steak of a single portion on to side plates - messy and not very satisfying when you end up with a plate of your coconut thai curry dish mixing in with the fruity glaze on the roasted chicken! I think they may have been trying the whole asia de cuba share thing but then with only single portions and a group spread across an awkward U shape table setting it wasn't going to work! v.poor and very disappointing for the price!
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Gabrielle Nikodem
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 2
Monday, February 06, 2006

Absolutely fantastic venue, brilliant service, delicious food and stunning views... We held our Company Christmas Party at The Penthouse Club last Friday, we were so impressed, great intimate dining area, attentive restaurant staff and a perfect after dinner dancing in the lounge bar!! I would thoroughly recommend The Penthouse Club for a special night out at a club with a real difference....
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Louise Constable
Monday, November 21, 2005

We tried out The Penthouse early on a Friday night for cocktails and had a mixed experience.

When we arrived we were directed to the bar and restaurant on the 7th floor, and initially shown to an empty room next to the bar. Not a good start as the room was cold, had no atmosphere and the tables and chairs just looked cheap.

We were then asked to move as the area had been reserved (who'd want to?) and went to the bar area. The staff were attentive but it took a good 10-15 minutes for our drinks to arrive. To their credit, and completely unprompted, they gave us complimentary snacks as the drinks were slow in coming.

It's true that the views are good and the feel of the place is fine. I was just expecting something more sumptuous and comfortable.

In short, worth investigating, but not somewhere to rave about.
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P B Forsyth - View all reviews by this user
Saturday, November 05, 2005

Had a great evening at the Penthouse (went on a Fri night). Amazing views, really interesting food, and efficient service. Music and atmosphere very good too. I'll definitely go back!
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Michaela Carlowe
Saturday, September 10, 2005