The Ledbury

Great room and service but the food is average at best. Small portions even for a tasting menu but it was just as well since there was little flavour and even bite-sized portions went uneaten due to the toughness of the meat and blandness of everything else.

I would not give the Ledbury 1 Michelin star let alone 2.
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5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Thursday, May 05, 2011

I have to say that I did not think that the food here was that great. It was not bad don't get me wrong I just don't get the hype. Most of the dishes were very simple and quite messy on the plate, I know that's the style these days! The flavours were good again but not memorable. I actuly prefer the Square it is just more comfortable and there is more to the food not just strange pairings. For the price I think that i would prefer to eat in other places.
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alan - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Thursday, April 14, 2011

probably the best restaurant in london at the moment , the food is simply stunning and the service excellent , tried the tasting menu which is not my normal thing but was massively impressed the chef is exceptionally talented .

well worth its second star
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shaneyp
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, March 18, 2011

Let's not beat around the bush - this is hands down the best restaurant in London, in a totally different league from the other contenders. I can't remember eating in a Michelin starred restaurant with such a relaxed atmosphere combined with friendly yet slick, totally seamless, professional service. Every customer is made to feel special, like a valued regular, and the charming Chef/Patron, Brett Graham, is happy to welcome guests into the kitchen for a chat after their meal. As for the food, it's innovative yet classic with genuinely jaw-dropping intensity and complexity of flavour. How it hasn't garnered a 3rd Michelin star yet is totally beyond me. This is that rarest of beasts, a Michelin starred restaurant you'll want to make your local; the kind of place where you'll want to make another booking after the starter. To paraphrase Greg Wallace, it doesn't get any better than this.
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mark jefferson
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, March 12, 2011

Cash in an ISA. Extend the mortgage. Or just plain save up for a while. But do go to The Ledbury. What will you get for £250 for 2 (glass of champagne, nice bottle of wine, couple of glasses of desert wine included)?

Smart, chic, comfortable, calm, understated surroundings with spacious tables and nice touches everywhere.

Relaxed but utterly professional service with a helpful sommelier, waiting staff who know the food and quietly go about their business without you ever really noticing.

A menu of glittering choices, showing off a range of techniques and no fear of using ingredients others might shun (mackerel and pork cheek both looked lovely).

Expertly cooked food with the odd bit of showmanship which will really have you smiling (my lapsang souchong smoked confit pigeon leg came with a glass lid on and the smoke still whirling around inside and was whipped off with great delight by the waitress which I couldn't help but give a small applause). Some lovely amuse bouche.

I chose a ravioli of rabbit to start. It was perfect. The missus had a ceviche of scallop thing with grated frozen horseradish. Both dishes were exquisite to look at. Not too complicated, beautiful in their simplicity, served on plates which really complimented the whole look.

I had been to the Ledbury before a few years back when it either had one star or was about to get it, and I had pigeon then which was one of the most memorable dishes I'd ever had, so I chose it again. The aforementioned leg being the clincher over the crispy pressed pork. The missus chose cod with cauliflower puree and parmesan gnocci.

Again both dishes looked immaculate. so much so I got the mobile out and took pictures! shame I can't upload them for you to see. The dishes were faultless. Perfection. The balance of flavours, the portion sizes, the look, the feel in the mouth, the smell, the taste. Just perfect. Except the parmesan gnocci didn't have much of a hint of parmesan in it.

We accompanied it all with a good bottle of white rioja after some helpful advice. The wine list is extensive and good fun to read.

Pudding. I had a chocolate torte which was a little too bitter and rich for me but maybe my bad for ordering it. The missus had a brown sugar tart which was the sweet equivalent of foie gras. Utterly rich and delectable. And because it was my birthday they brought me out the most beautiful decorated plate with a creme caramel flanked by sorbet on one side, ice cream on the other. Can't remember the flavours but they were heavenly and we ate it all even though we were full. irresistable. A little apple mouse/jelly concoction had preceded all this and there were delicious petit fours and a small gingersnap and foie gras mousse concoction at the beginning of the evening.

Staff were totally accommodating and we sat there for 2 and a half hours which seemed to fly by.

It's the sort of place that I feel one should never get used to. I listened to an American lady on the next table complaining to staff that they hadn't taken her finished plate quickly enough. I pray that I never get to a stage in life where eating in a place like that is such an ordinary thing that moaning about such a trifling matter instead of being enthralled by the whole experience is all I can think to do.

Oh, I forgot the quail's egg amuse bouche in that bird's nesty type stuff the japanese wrap prawns in and deep fry. with an abundance of white truffle. Again, perfect. Blimey there was a lot of food come to think of it. You don't leave hungry.

A truly memorable evening in a brilliant place. Amongst the best restaurants I've been to in London.
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benjamin163
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Sunday, February 06, 2011

I dined here for a weekday lunch last week.

I can only say that the accolades have gone to the chef's head. At over £70 per person for lunch (with no alcohol) it's totally obscene. Moreover, I left hungry. I don't have any eating disorder and appreciate portion control is part of fine dining. But when the serving can be blown away by sneezing and you have to eat a sandwich at home immediately after lunch, then something has gone wrong. Most restaurants throw in enough extras in way of amuses and extra courses to pad out the meal. That doesn't happen here.

The restaurant itself lacks any bar or sitting area and the room is quite lacking any character. The service is good and this is probably the best aspect of the Ledbury.

The amuse bouche was a small piece of rabbit (a beignet) in pine leaves. It was fine.

I ordered a la carte and for starter had the root vegetables baked in clay. I did enjoy this. Each vegetable was highlighted well.

My main was the suckling pig. It was too devoid of accompaniments and it is not a hard dish (being a staple on many menus). At almost £30 there were two bits of meat and one segment of carrot.

The dessert was a clemetine souffle and this was light, although the bottom was rather oily. The petit-fours were not impressive. A hard macaroon (don't know why restaurants bother with these when Laduree is doing a roaring trade in the proper thing). A horrid jelly, a sickly white chocolate and a marshmallow were the others.

Overall my main issue is the poor value for money. The food was well executed, but I feel well below two star status. The portion sizes are an issue. This might bring people to the old adage that you don't go for fine-dining to get full.

This might be true, so I will avoid The Ledbury in future.
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Saucewich - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Saturday, January 22, 2011

We ate here on sunday the 17th of october, could only get a table at 9.45pm, which was late but an indication of this lovely restaurant's popularity. The Service was good, organised, knowlegable but unlike other Michelin starred outfits not overly obstusive, which we liked. The staff are predominantly Australian with a few French chucked in and this leads to a more informal take on high end service, the staff were good fun and chatty without ever stepping over the line and getting too familiar, so a nice balance!!

Food was great, we had the £75 tasting menu, highlights were a ceviche of mackerel, beautifully balanced ensemble of tastes, textures and temperatures. An Heirloom tomato salad was lovely and fresh, nice touch with a Brick pastry Goats cheese and olive cigar and The Monkfish as a fish course was lovely too, amuse bouche, the quail egg was overcooked , bit disappointing and the desserts were not as good as what had come before it. The main dessert was an olive oil panna cotta with fig granite, fig compote and eucalyptus ice cream, nice idea but lacked the wow factor that the rest of the meal had had, maybe thats just my taste, but my partner agreed as well. Petit fours and bread were lovely and its a nice room and not ridiculously priced.

All in, i would definitely return and highly recommend it.
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David Campbell
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Had the pleasure of going for dinner with my wife on 30 July 2010 for my 40th birthday.

From the moment we arrived until we left we were made to feel very special and we were extremely well looked after by everybody from the restaurant..

We had the tasting menu with wine pairing and every dish was superb. My wife had the vegetarian tasting menu and i could not believe how good everything tasted.

A lovely suprise was a desert with Happy 40th birthday written on it in chocolate.

At the end of the evening we were treated to a visit to the kitchen where we met Brett and his staff. The fella was working flat out in a busy kitchen but he could not have made us feel more welcome and happily chatted away for a good while.

The bill came to £350 and to be perfectly honest it was a steal.

I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough. I am sure no one who dines here will be dissapointed.
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MARTIN & SARAH BARTON - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Saturday, July 31, 2010

What an amazing restaurant, went here for the first time the other night and was blown away. The food was execeptional, especially the celeriac baked in ash, which was presented for us beforehand. I had the deer and my husband had the pigeon, both out of this world! What really made our night was the service, especially Sarah who took care of us and made us feel at home. She was relaxed yet extremely entertaining, will definately be back.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Excellent food, lots of flowers and beautiful touches. The bill took an age to arrive which was annoying.
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Eamon Scrabley
7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, May 25, 2010