Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's

I was so disappointed by my visit to this restaurant this week. My food was cold and both courses had the appearance of a pre prepared plate, with the fish then placed on for serving. Sadly despite this my food was still cold. The sea bass was less than 2 inch square. Service was poor, slow and the objective seemed to be to get us through the wine as quickly as possible.

Did not like the iPad wine list - gimmicky.

We had to wait 10 mins for the bread - it was "in the oven" and was burnt when it arrived.

This was my first visit and I was so looking forward to it; a real shame.
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Tony Emms
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Saturday, January 05, 2013

Not really impressed. It was a bit like a comedy show to me.

I called shortly before 4 on a Sunday to book a table at 6 the same day, the lady could not take down simple details like phone number and surname, and certainly did not originate from this city.

Arrived at the bar around 5, mentioned I had a reservation to the barman, he called the restaurant to confirm the arrival, they could not find my booking (the bar is very good at Claridges, as are the bar staff, my complaint is not about them) in the restaurant. I told the bar man that I had only booked shortly before and it cannot be.

I ordered a bottle of Ruinart rose, which I intended to continue with through my meal.

The bar man came back asking me to write down my surname and I told him that the lady taking the reservation had great difficulty taking down a 5 letter surname which I spelt out to her four times, so I offered him my contact number that I gave, hoping the receptionists in London who couldn't understand a clear (not cockney) Berkshire/Surrey/St. John's Wood 'London' accent, may understand numbers better than letters.

The reservation was found, but nothing was to be said of a person employed to answer a telephone but could not speak the local accent. I would hazard a guess she was from somewhere in between Yorkshire and Scandinavia.

Finishing my second glass, I asked to be transfered to the restaurant. I was presented with a bill. Wondering why, I dare not ask and paid it not knowing if being transfered in Claridges talk means a dine and dash.

The waiter carried my bottle with him, so seemed that they understood that I was not discarding of 3/4 of a bottle of Ruinart. I was seated, and asked, if I wanted an aperitif. Obviously I stated that I would like to continue with the Ruinart. Water was pushed onto me, I took sparkling if I was going to be forced. A sommelier arrived asking if I wanted the wine list, I told him about my Ruinart that was nowhere to be seen.

I called over the head waiter after another five minutes passed, asked where is my Ruinart.

Canapes or so called canapes arrived, these were a slice of watermelon and what tasted like potato rosti fried in dirty oil, I did not know what exactly it was though because this restaurant insists on staff that cannot speak english.

The Ruinart finally arrived after my first bite of watermelon, the excuse, the lady who took it as I arrived in the restaurant put it in the fridge. I did not argue, I was getting sober and irate with the service and drank up.

The slice of watermelon (haute cuisine in anyone's book) started to taste good with the champagne but the rosti? still reeked of stale oil.

Another canape, cauliflower soup with what looked to me to be morels, however it was again a non english speaker delivering it, either way it was a type of mushroom. Cauliflower repulses me, and I'm sure it does many others, so I applaud the choice for a course which I had no choice over. It didn't taste bad but I don't eat flowering warts.

So, thus far, I've eaten potato rosti, a slice of watermelon, and cauliflower. Just saying people. Just saying. Does this sound like fine dining to you?

Continuing, the starter arrived, ravioli with lobster, this was redeeming, perhaps because I'd chosen it? Nonetheless, fresh lobster meat, plenty of it, good pasta skin, just a pleasant dish, and yes it seemed like fine dining to me.

Next, there was grouse, and the skin, was, wait for it, floppy and charred, and the meat underneath, raw as can be. Now, I love raw meat, I go wild for Cipriani's carpaccio, or a Steak Americaine in Brussels, but nor did I order raw game, nor am I appealed at eating a wild animal raw.

Sauce was good, vegetables with it were good, it was a well executed dish, apart from the key factor, just as there was no mention that I was having an amuse bouche of jokes, there was no mention that I was going to be served raw, not rare but raw and charred GAME. I ate it nonetheless.

With this I had a half bottle of Brunello, which I could not finish, but the waiters were reluctant to take it away until i mentioned to them that I want dessert wine, not this now.

I had the chocolate fondant for dessert, which was good, and the pre dessert was good too but once again I did not know what I was eating, with the language barrier, I didn't ask but I'd hazard a guess that my server's home towns were Novosibrisk, Ranchi and Abuja.

So. Thoughts. Bad service, some good food, some practically lethal, and the rest from a carnival. I'd go to Charlotte Street.
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vwgu25
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, October 15, 2012

I had a Sunday lunch here and to be honest was not that impressed. I mean the food was perfectly acceptable but places like the Maze Grill and Petrus are slightly better value for money.

The service was slow and sitting on my own in the middle of the dining room was awkward. The atmosphere was a typical hotel one, just with more hight class clientele.
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Mr CM - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

We had a three course meal from the Sunday lunchtime menu. The food was exceptional and the staff extremely helpful and welcoming. From the moment we tasted the delicious amuse bouche we knew we were in for a treat. The price was very reasonable considering it is Claridges. We will come back again to treat ourselves to an evening meal the next time we visit London, if we can get a table.
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6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Monday, January 16, 2012

Had new years day lunch at Claridges, what an experience! Service was exceptional and food amazing.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Monday, January 02, 2012

oh dear. how the mighty have fallen... eating here last night was an expensive disaster. We have been eating here for years and our grandparents before us, but this will be the last time. This used to be my special occasion failsafe, but oh how times have changed. The service used to be quietly professional but has changed into a room full of cheap labour. Waiting staff everywhere all looking extremely nervous, it was chaos. We chose to splash out on a very expensive bottle of wine and then proceeded to wait an our for our starters. The room filled up and tables who came after us were all eating before us. We got the impression they were all having the tasting menu, for which our a la carte choices were compromised. The apologies were flowing and then, and it was beyond awful, a senior member of staff began a conversation with us to fill in time. It was obvious he had outstayed his welcome but he continued to tell us tales of his mother in law and wife not getting on. It was an attempt to fill in time whilst our very late food arrived, and was horribly inappropriate and deeply unprofessional. By now, after waiting so long we had finished our beautiful wine and had to make do with 2 glasses of something else with our food. Our experience was ruined and we hadn't even eaten yet. The starters were ok, but just ok. I chose lamb as a main and, being a chef was completely unimpressed with the confit shoulder. I showed my husband how waterlogged it was when i pressed it with my fork.. ..We were offered cheese as compensation for our wait, which was frankly not enough. My husbands tarte tatin was just that, nothing thrilling, we were shocked again. It seems that the man who once scorned t.v chefs for leaving their kitchens is the worst perpetrator of all. Gordon its your team in the kitchen, you should be ashamed.
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RP - View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, December 07, 2011

well, i have to partially agree with the review below. I am a big fan of ramsay's food and I have been here for lunch a few times and have never been able to fully get to grips with the food. I have enjoyed it in the past, but this time it was just not hitting the right spot. It is true everything seemed a bit rushed for a lunch service and the food..... well, was not the best. I had the five course taster, and although i did enjoy some courses, the main meat course was, well....mmmm, dry and overcooked- inedible i think. Whilst i was offered another option, its not what you expect, and its kind of spoils the event. Oh, well, yes there are plenty of other choices around and I highly recommend some of them, but not this one for the price anyhow, at the moment.
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dnw
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Thursday, November 10, 2011

this place is mainly for tourists being able to say "I was there". Room is ok (because it´s Claridges) but too many tables and you get to hear all conversations around, service is very poor for a top notch resrtaurant, all in a hurry and very little attention to details, food very disappointing, tiny portions, almost cold and tastless apart from the salt no original flavors. It seems that after a while this hype chefs restaurants are like a super fast food with no edge and no objective other than to make money with a brand. At we least we now now we will never go back and will save some of our friends their money. definitely not worth a single star. For a 3 star experience go to Paris, Ducasse, le V, Taillevent and others are of another planet compared to this one.
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steph Fulham
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Sunday, October 23, 2011

Went to Gordon Ramsey's at Claridges last Saturday the 17th September for my 60th birthday. Have been 3 times before and as usual staff were very attentive. However, the food was disappointing this time, my plaice was underseasoned and my son left most of his first two courses. My son ordered a birthday lemon torte at a cost of #35.00 and went it came with candles it had some cherries and straweberries on it, howedver when I got it home they had been removed cant understand why., I will be contacting restaurant and finding out why they took the fresh fruit off.

Will try the Savoy next.
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8 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, September 19, 2011

i took my nan to gordon ramsay @ claridges for her 85th birthday, we had a lovely lunch. it was the set lunch menu and well worth every penny, the staff were superb, the food was top notch and the whole day was just an amazing experience, we will be back and have recommended it to others.
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lisa ridley - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, August 04, 2011