The Albemarle

well the grill at browns was referred to me by a friend. As he told me the food quality had changed in past three months period. the shrimps i ordered were tasty and the flavours were mild and marvellous. the wellington was cooked to perfection. the side veg were cooked accurately. the desserts were good aswell. service is friendly. all to all i will rate it as a very good experience.
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raj mehta
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Went here with some of my family for Sunday lunch wondering what to expect

the reviews are so mixed- however firstly the service discreetly perfect

Dorchester like(the old Dorchester of course) the food , well we had

the smoked salmon beautifully carved the roast beef possibly better than

the Dorchester used to be, lovely desserts.

Adjacent to us sat a well known Lord and his family and it was somehow

pleasantly apt to hear the waiter murmur from time to time"more cabbage my Lord" etc.

The polished wood , the civilised ambience , the bar where they mix the best

bellini I have had anywhere including the Harry s Bar in Venice or

indeed the Savoy.

All in all only the Goring exceeds it for old fashioned charm and then only slightly,

both are excellent.
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alan fowle
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Monday, November 12, 2007

food has changed, still good but, la carte was better before, not anymore degustation menu, service very poor, even in an empty dining room you have to stand up to get attention of the waiter and get some more bread, also had to pour the wine myself in my customers glasses..., bill was overcharged of £170 by an extra bottle we never had, disappointed totaly
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

While not exactly cheap this was the most amazing meal I have had in years. I too had the smoked salmon and gravadlax and was impressed when the whole salmon was wheeled out and the starter prepared in front of me. So much care was put in to it that I almost couldn't bear to eat it. I appreciated the fact that the gravadlax was optional as some people might not have wanted this.

I had langoustine ravioli with lime cream sauce as a main course and it was sublime. If I could afford it, I would eat there every day.

There were more waiting staff than guests when I was there but this just meant we received a lot of attention. As there was no music playing, and the clientel was mainly older men, it is not somewhere to go with a raucous group, but the food is amazing so I would highly recommend it. Only down side was when one of those older men lit a cigar while I was eating my dessert. He was on the other side of the room but it smelt so strongly that I couldn't taste my dessert, and can't even remember what I had. Hopefully this wont be a problem much longer.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Monday, September 11, 2006

I could not agree less with the other reviewer of this restaurant.

Having visited The Grill quite a few times for various Sunday lunches, I can only say that you would be hard pushed to find a better level of service in any London restaurant: the waiters are attentive without being overbearing, and nothing is too much trouble.

The last time I was there, one (out of four) of my group had ordered a starter, and the remaining three of us were offered some (complimentary) smoked salmon.

The roast beef and yorkshire puddings are the best I have tasted, with an excellent wine list to boot.

My only criticism would be that the famous five varieties of that perfect Sunday drink, the bloody mary, have been reduced to one.
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Samantha Williams - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, May 14, 2006

The old saying ‘you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover’ certainly holds true when it comes to this restaurant – inside the cover of this newly refurbished hotel and restaurant, the quality of the service and staff were, well, not particularly well suited to this kind of restaurant – it bit like buying Dickens and finding Hello! Magazine inside.

The catalogue of disappointments included drinks not arriving when we ordered them, and when we reminded the waiter, still taking ages to arrive, the sommelier recommending a wine over another one, then not actually having it, lengthy delays in between courses – main course didn’t arrive until 2.20pm. Other lowlights included ordering the smoked salmon and gravadlax for starter only to be asked ‘if I wanted some gravadlax with that sir?’

The real problem seemed to be with the waiting staff. No-one seemed to be looking after our table, just a succession of various people who generally looked like they had got off at the wrong stop on their way to work somewhere else, and mostly somewhat confused by the concept of attentive service.

All in all, forgettable food, unforgettable service and not somewhere I will be rushing back to this decade
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Tim Wood
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Monday, April 10, 2006