L'Escargot Marco Pierre White

i went to l'escargot last month and it was the worst experience of my life, the food was terrible, i could cook better than these professional chefs. the service was a joke and the waiting staff were so rude. and upon leaving one of the chefs was smoking outside and i looked at him and he had a go at me, absolute disgrace, never goin back
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jason koumas
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, May 10, 2009

I've eaten at l'Escargot last week, and it has been a very good experience, the atmosphere, service, food, the welcome all have been amazing. One of the manager (Jerome) was very friendly, funny and professionnal, thanks to him again and will defenetly come back.

L'Escargot still one of my favourite french restaurant in London.
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William R.
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 26, 2009

This used to be my favourite place in London but sadly the last time I went (December 2008) I was left disappointed. I can see now how its lost its Michelin star for 2009.

The wine and food were of the same high quality but the service level had dropped to below poor. Some staff had trouble with their English (It's a french restaurant so you expect french staff but not to the extent that you have to speak the language to get a correct order) and so got our orders wrong - Blue beef came medium, still water instead of sparkling, side vegetables and one of the coffees never appeared.

Some of the food arrived cold - this may be because the restaurant was so busy before Christmas that they could not manage the numbers (we did eat at 9pm) or perhaps was due to the large number of junior staff who made pretty basic errors. One of the other reviewers mentioned the lack of topping up glasses but one member repeatedly interrupted 2 of my party in a tete a tete to place or collect dishes (they could have just approached from the other side rather then going between them).

I would forgive new restaurants for this but L'escargot is a London institution with a fine history and needs to raise its game urgently.

One of the previous head chefs has his own restaurant now which manages to provide the high level of service L'escargot had - it would only take a little work to get it back up to speed and I hope it does very soon. The food, as I mentioned, is still very good and I look forward to returning but will not rely on it again if I need to impress until I've re-tested it a few times.
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Alice
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Monday, January 19, 2009

Had a set menu on the third floor as part of a group of 20 or so. Was very disappointed with both the food and the service.

Despite a couple of our group being absent, I was placed at the top of the table with no way to tuck my legs under the table because of the table legs. I had to eat everything at arms length!

Staff were far from attentive, bordering on the rude! The dishes themselves were really very plain, certainly not what I expected.

Dishes were all served stone cold and I had to ask for more wine several times. At one point the waiter seemed so annoyed at my request to refill my glass that he filled it almost to the top!

Would not consider going back.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Saturday, December 13, 2008

I took my fiancee to the Picasso Room for our anniversary and enjoyed the meal.

Service was initially brusque, but the sommellier soon softened the tone with a firm but excellent suggestion for an aperitif. His character and love of French wines was evident, and we enjoyed talking about our likes and dislikes, and the bottle (white) he suggested matched our mixed choices perfectly, and was a truly interesting wine that enhanced the meal.

My partner advised that the Scallops to start were perfect, whilst the Crab lasagnetta that I chose was very different, delicate and full of flavour.

My Pork Belly main course was of a fine quality, but wasn't 'special' enough really - I should have been more adventurous. On the other hand my partner's Hare was superb.

Desserts were delicious and the amuse bouches were lovely.

Expensive really for what it is, but the room is interesting if you like the Picasso stuff, and the food is very well prepared and presented. The staff are friendly if a little brusque, however it would be churlish really to complain.

My biggest disappointment was that I gave the sommellier my email address as he offered to remind us of what the wine choice was, and to recommend some others which we might like... it never materialised. Shame.

Worth a try, and probably pretty reliable, but not sure I'll go back anytime soon as there are so many other places to try.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Saturday, December 13, 2008

Hi did eat last saturday in l'Escargot restaurant on the ground floor, the room was lovely, with a good service, with the french touch and the food was really good. We'll defenetly come back to l'Escargot. Thanks to all your team, my girl friend was very happy.

Well done!
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JAMES
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Went here last Saturday night and what a disappointment. Service was all over the place and food nothing to write home about either. Wine order was taken after the starters were served. Then the sommelier (whilst the only pleasant indivdiual of the evening) went to pour the red wine into a used white wine glass before I stopped him. Dishes served to the wrong people. Then we had a cheeseboard with some of the cheese having seen better days but we did eat the pieces that were okay. Did complain and eventually the manager came over after 15 mins with a new cheeseboard but we did not want it at this stage. He then offered it to our other halves and walked off with some comment in french. We did take the service charge off the bill but it was never even queried as to why. Such a shame as the restaurant itself looked lovely and had a nice buzz
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I wnent to L'Escargot with a couple of mates a couple of Thursday's a go and had an excellent evening.

The room is quite brightly lit and stately on a compact scale. We were given a good table which was roomy and comfortable. The restaurant was busy without being packed. A nice lively hum rather than buzzy. The difficult to achieve ambience of relaxed but formal dining was achieved with ease. The staff were absolutely impeccable. From the cloakroom girl, to the waiters, there was style and. Timing was perfect. Service was respectful without being stiff. The sommellier was outstanding. We wanted great wine at credit-crunch prices and he delievered every time - a subtle, low-acidity Gavi kicked things off nicely. We then had an excellent bargain Italian red with our mains (can't remember what it was though!) followed by a perfect Alsace Gerwurtztraminer with the cheese.

The food was precise and well executed. It was classic French, without frills or pretention. It wasn't stellar but it was very good. The menu was short but packed with dishes you'd want. We had the lamb, cod and duck for mains and none dissapointed.

We lingered at our table and were left to it.

I really enjoyed L'Escargot and will be back.
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Kev - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Saturday, October 18, 2008

My girlfriend and i went to l'escargot for a few reasons. Firstly because it was a marco pierre white restaurant, (we'd been to lucianos and were very very impressed) and secondly, because of the name and its past michelin star prowess, (as mentioned on there website).

The overall look and cleanliness was good, staff were polite etc, however, they didnt seem to be particularly alert - forgetting my steak knife, telling us the toilet was up stairs, and thats 3 flights with the lights off!! (the picasso room was out of use) We asked two different people and not one thought to say that there were toilets next to the bar on the ground floor. The whole place lacked any real sparkle, there was not much atmosphere and our food was gastro pub standard and not a great one at that. VERY disappointing!
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andrew mackenzie-gillanders
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Monday, September 08, 2008

I have had a number of very pleasant and enjoyable meals at L'Escargot over the years which is why I was so disappointed by my experience last week. We were there to celebrate a birthday but the service was so awful that we could not wait to leave. The food itself was a let down with dishes poorly presented and over cooked. The whole affair was rather sloppy and the waiter that served us was so rude we had to complain to the manager. All in all a disappointing and expensive experience. Will not be returning any time soon....
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Dushy Sivanithy
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, August 06, 2008