The Square

Square is a very good restaurant. The food was very well prepared without being exciting thought. In other words, it was pleasant but it would not make you think! The amuse were nice so were the breads offered. I had a classical foie gras with cherry sauce and rice crisps that was delicious and my wife, a crab lasagna that was very good as well. Or main course, the lamb I had was excellent and the beef filet my wife ordered was good but nothing unique (a ravioli stuffed with wine sauce and the fillet was paired with sliced porcini. Excellent deserts, both the chocolate and the mocha soufflé. I would like to make some observations. The restaurant was very noisy and there was a lot of movement that was not allowing you to concentrate on your meal and enjoy. I believe that some background music could help the situation. I also think that because of the soufflé choice we made, there was a big “gap” of the service momentum so we had to wait for 20 minutes for our deserts.(they kindly try to keep us busy with a sweet amuse) Once again I will agree that the Square is a very good restaurant , very “honest” but not one that I will never forget. Last thing, once we had a meal at another 2 star restaurant the day before the menu had a lot of similarities (quail, monkfish with peas, lamb, foie gras, etc.) I would prefer to see from restaurants of this level some more innovative gastronomical proposals and combinations of food and flavors. I would definitely like to feel more emotions in the food )
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 7
Sunday, June 14, 2009

Our first visit at lunch yesterday. We expected a good meal and attentive service and we got it, in a fairly busy restaurant. The breads and Amuse Bouche ( a layered construction of asparagus mousse, softly cooked duck egg and topped with a mushroom foam) were both of very high quality. The courses we ordered were well presented and tasty without reaching the intensity and clean flavours I'd expect at Gordon Ramsay, or Maze for example and on the evidence of this meal I'd suggest that The Square is a very good restaurant without quite reaching the very peaks. That said there were no disappointments either in the food or in the perfectly decent "by the glass" wines. I'm sure we'll go again. The restaurant itself is a pleasant environment without being terribly exciting or innovative. It's kind of smart and reliable- much like the food I thought.
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David Henderson - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Friday, May 29, 2009

Absolutely outstanding. I have beeen here for dinner on the 19th of december. I have taken the tasting menu. The food was excellent and the service attentive and friendly. A great experience.
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meer
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 09, 2009

Due to work being manic, I am just now writing a most favourable review which should have been done 3 weeks ago. I wrote a rather scathing review of the Square in July of this year. It was not about the food, but the service which had let us down so very badly. My big complaint was about the complete lack of coordination in the service with no one person leading from the front. I can happily say that I am very glad I gave the Square another chance, as they do now have someone taking charge, and reestablishing the flawless service one came to expect.

The new head of house is David O'Connor, and he has transformed the service, and the plain good feeling one gets at a happy well run restaurant. I watched him throughout the service. I saw him watching all the tables, and making sure no one, or nothing, was lacking. Our service was personable, professional, and respectful. They were there when you wanted them, and not all over you just to appear to be doing their job. They have been properly instructed. We felt utterly spoilt.

Of course I should say something about the food-sublime, delicious, and worth every penny. In this day of belt tightening, and consideration of where hard earned money should be spent whether on clients or simply for oneself, a restaurant of this caliber and expense must meet or exceed your expectations. I can say, without reservation, the Square when we visited did just that. Many thanks, and we will see you in the new year!
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k. e. kalaway
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, November 30, 2008

For a number of years I have been a regular at the Square and for the most part have had outstanding food and service. I have not been for several months and took a client for lunch today. Maybe because I have not been for a while there seems to be a new front of house and serving team. Food is as good if not better than always. Female wine waiter excellenytchoices with the food although had to ask several times foe her in order to give an order for pudding wines. Waiter very willing but lack of English meant that a cheese course and pudding were missed despite the order being given twice. Not only did this mean that a two orders were missed but the restaurant loses out as well !
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FatLondoner
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, November 27, 2008

I am sorry to have to write this, as I feel like I am betraying an old friend, but last night we had horrible service at the Square. Let me say that I have been to the Square probably 20 times in the past 10 years, though sadly not in the last two years as I was back in the US. For my 50th birthday, I wanted to return to the Square as I ALWAYS had wonderful food, and gracious service led by the head of house who always greeted me like a valued customer. Sadly, I don't remember his name, and he was not there last night, and his presence was sorely missed.

Our bad experience began yesterday afternoon. My brother gave me a birthday gift of a 2001 Haut-Brion. I emailed the Square asking if i could pay corkage, and enjoy my birthday gift with my birthday dinner. I said of course we would be ordering other wine as well. I was told there would be a min charge of 25 pounds, and would depend on what else we ordered. I brought the wine in at 2.30 so it could be decanted fully for our dinner. I was rudely treated by the woman at the desk who said she knew nothing of this, and treated me like I had asked something so unreasonable as to not be believed. She then called over the sommelier who took it from me without a glance or comment, obviously miffed I had dared to bring my own wine-it was a special wine for a special birthday!! I DO NOT make a habit of byob at a restaurant. I was made to feel that way.

We were seated at a perfect table, and were immediately brought a lovely starter from the chef which had some seafood in it. My partner cannot eat any type of fish, and this was immediately and happily rectified. I was so happy to be back at the Square, though sad not to see the maitre d' who had made my past visits so special.

Sadly from that highpoint in service it all went downhill from there. In a nutshell the service was slow, ungracious and completely lacking in any structure. I can't even criticise our waiter/waitress as we didn't seem to have any one person who was in charge of looking after us. This one example encapsulates last night's service-whilst waiting through the long lull before our starters arrived, I noticed there was 2 types of butter on the table. It then dawned on me we were never offered any bread. When i called someone over to ask for some bread his reply in a very sacrastic manner was 'oh, you would like some MORE bread'. No, I replied I would like it offered in the first place...

The food, when it arrived, was faultless and delicious. Absolutely no complaints.

Now back to the wine...We ordered two glasses of champagne to start, and we took the sommelier's suggestion, and also had a half bottle of very good chablis to have with our starter. One would think that was a reasonable amount to order along with the red wine we had brought. I imagine there are many people who order only that amount anyway. Obviously the Square did not think it was enough as they then applied a 50 pound corkage fee! I can't tell how angry that made me.

So, there is my story. I am sad that my once favourite, and a place I was always made to feel special at, is now a different place. I hope the maitre d' is still there, and that we just came on his night off, because if he is gone permanently, then I fear the service we received wasn't just a one off.
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k. e. kalaway
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Thursday, July 03, 2008

I wrote a critical review of this restaurant on this website a few months ago, highlighting their shortcomings on an evening I spent there with my husband; the main of these being the terrible service. The day after the review was posted I was tracked down (the review was anonymous so they really had to match up all the orders that evening to the food I described in the review which is quite impressive!) and asked to come to the restaurant again to see if I would change my mind. My husband and I finally got around to going again last night.

It truly was like stepping into a new restaurant. Due to my experience last time and also because of the reviews I have seen since then, the restaurant was clearly suffering with some problems with the front of house and when I brought it up I was indeed told that their general manger had left. That was not noticeable to me at all last night; unlike my dinner in November there was no chaos, the waiters were charming and helpful and the food arrived promptly.

We decided to go for the tasting menus and I paired mine with the wine selection. I can honestly say the food was divine. Starting with an Octopus salad (something my husband would never order normally; he said it was one of the best dishes he has ever had), followed by Phil Howard's signature Langoustine tails (mouth-watering), and Foie Gras (my favourite). The main courses were Halibut (cooked perfectly) and lamb which was tender and flavoursome. Instead of a cheese plate we got a little dish with a celeriac mousse and Fourme D'Ambert with was a perfect paring and that was followed by a cheesecake and a Peach Melba Soufflé. I am not a big dessert fan but my husband ate both his and mine so they were obviously very good.

The wine pairings were complementary and interesting and the Sommelier could not have been more helpful in describing wines I was not so familiar with (I did not know about Canadian Ice Wine for example...)

So when the chef came out to see us I could honestly tell him that our evening was faultless; I can only hope, for his sake that his staff problems are well and truly behind him because it is such a shame when they come in the way of such great cooking. We have already asked when the new tasting menu is coming out so we can make a new reservation.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, June 14, 2008

We went for my grilfriend's birthday at the begininng of february, didn't feel the need to register my thoughts at the time as i thought the square wouldn't need my review, but after reading some of the notices posted, i feel i ought to do something to redress the balance. as i said i went in feburary and had been previously in december, 2 years before that i was a regular here before moving away from london. in all that time I've never found a restaurant any where in the world that writes such brilliant menus and executes them so expertly. yes the square is expensive but there is value to be found in the dishes themselves. the ingredients are first rate and the dishes themselves uniquely well thought out. Cooking however is very subjective, one man's meat being another man's poison i supposse ( pun intended ) and i can't comment on the front of house staff as mistakes can be made even at high end places like this, but i am sure they are isolated incidents. All i can say is that in my experience i have never had anything but first class treatment. Once again i reiterate that it is just my opinion but I feel that the level of cooking and the standard of ingredients used is unrivalled anywhere else, certainly in london.
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Shrimpy
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Friday, June 13, 2008

But please do read my review - we all work hard to pay for a good meal - but the least one would expect is good customer service

I took my parents and my partner to The Square to re visit a restaurant that they have re frequented some years before.

I have never had a more disappointing and just plainly average food in my life.

Starters were no more than average - Lagoustine (which was tasteless) - Foie Gois (good) and a mushroom salad were no more than an average standard. I shared lamb loin with my partner, which we were presented with and then was taken back to the kitchen to be carved. 15mins later the lamb arrived with the other main courses - both lamb courses were cold. I immediately called our waiter back, who said you will have to wait as my head waiter is dealing with a big problem ! 5 minutes passed and eventually the head waiter came to our table. I told her that both our dished were cold - she offered us another course but said it would be another hour until it would be ready !!! We declined.

My parent Sea bass was apparently good but nothing out of the ordinary.

We passed on dessert.

The bill arrived, £450, a bottle of wine + 4 full meals, no reduction in the main courses that we returned.

The maitre de - was called

I queried the bill

And here's the reply - we offered to cook you another lamb course - so it's yr problem that you refused (by now it was 11.15pm) They refused to give us any refund - until i dug my heels in and refuse to pay the bill, eventually the removed the charges for the 2 main courses that we never had.

I have never had a more disappointing meal - nor have i had ever experienced worse service than i experience tonight"

How this restaurant got 2 stars, i have no idea.

A bad meal is excusable - the way they treated us is totally unacceptable. I've had meals in the past at the very best restaurants in the world and occasionally something isn't' quite right and there's never a question about it - either a reduction in the bill or an acceptable alternative is supplied.

The food is average, the pretentiousness is out of this world and the customer service is well - perhaps the staff would be better off serving convicts !

I've never felt so compelled to write such a review - but i certainly urge you to think twice - this is a genuine review of truly awful restaurant and experience
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JM
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, June 05, 2008

What I love about the Square is that the food is always interesting. Phil Howard writes beautiful menus that makes it very hard to choose what to eat. The food has that classic french technique but unlike other chefs who choose TV appearances over putting in an appearance to their own kitchen, he has evolved over time and has stayed contemporary when restaurants like chez bruce can seem a bit dated sometimes (to be fair I haven't been to chez bruce for well over a year - precisely for that reason).

It is so at odds with the horrible dining room and waiters wearing awful, ill-fitting jackets. Why, when so much effort goes into the food, don't they do something about the front of house?

On my most recent visit the staff were as snooty as ever, no charm and no personality. If the waiters must ask 'Did you like it?' after each dish is taken away (something I absolutely hate) could he at least pretend that he cares, or have the courtesy to not walk away before being given an answer!

The food was as good as it always is except for a far too silly eton mess. The main bowl was very nice but it came with 3 small extras that, whilst they brought a smile to my face at first, tasted awful and detracted from the quality of the dish as a whole - normally the food comes on one plate and is well executed, don't follow the trend where courses start coming as 3 dishes or in 2 servings, it's totally unnecessary.

Anyway, I had a great night despite the service - some of the best food in london.
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NDP
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Monday, May 26, 2008