Arbutus

Have to agree with some of the other reviews here and say this was a major let down. Everything from start to finish was poor. Waited 15 mins for drink order to be taken and then another 10 mins for them to bring the bottle. When it did arrive it had no label but they told me it was what I ordered. I pointed out that I had ordered a rose and this one was white and then it took another 5 mins to find the right bottle.

Food was okay but not great and one dish was forgotten.

After desserts we had a bottle of Champagne and as they were 7 of us on the table I expected the waiter to spread the bottle around so we all got three quaters, but no he pored 6 full glasses and one got none. (We ordered another bottle)

Even the table was not great, but 3 tables for 2 put together, with no space at the head so 4 had to squeeze on one side.

In a word poor!!!
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Chris - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Arbutus was, without a doubt, the biggest disappointment of the last year, to me.

The food would have been ok (nothing exceptional) but was over salted. I even tried me partner's starter and main course, over salted. When it came to eat my shepherd pie of rabbit leg, the amount of salt in it had made it inedible.

But the worst part of the meal came when a waiter asked me if everything was all right. I am not the kind of person who likes to complain, but that time I could not help mentioning the salt.

The waiter, then, felt like he had to mention my complain to the manager who could only reply to me with a cheap and insulting sarcastic comment: "I hope that your dessert in not going to be too salted, Sir".

Such a comment would have been bad enough on its own, but I had to hear it twice more from the waiting staff. Yes believe it or not, twice more: "I hope that your dessert in not too salted, Sir".

The deserts that, by the way, were just as good as the ones you find (bought in) in the pizzeria around the corner from your home.

At the end of the day I have only been a chef for 20 years I probably don’t know what I am talking about and deserved to be treated like a complete idiot. And why would you give any respect to someone who pays a £140 for a meal for two?

One Michelin star???
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LAURENT PIN
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Saturday, April 26, 2008

I went to Arbutus last night with 4 work friends and I have to say it was one of the finest dining experiences I've had in London. Two of us started with the squid and mackerel burgers and although a touch salty, they were absolutely superb. A great starter to a meal as it was light and fresh. Two others had the pigs head terrine and they agreed that it was fantastic - one of them had eaten a similar dish at the Goring and said that this one was far superior. The other guy had the courgette with lamb shoulder and he seemed pretty impressed by it. It was great to be able to have the carafes of wine so that those of us having the squid and mackerel could have a different wine to those having the terrine - the carafes are such a sensible and refreshing idea in restaurants, I wish more places did this.

For the main course, 3 of us had the rabbit in parma ham with liver and heart filling, and pasta with a jus of some sort. It was perfectly executed and was possibly the highlight of the meal, full of flavour and although rabbit can be sometimes a bit bland, this was far from it. The little penne pieces were an interesting accompaniment to it and worked very well. The other guys has the veal, which looked and apparently tasted divine, and the risotto with garlic leaves which was again, done to perfection.

After cheese, which were a tasty selection and well explained by the waiter as we were fairly clueless as to what some of them were, I had the chocolate soup with milk ice cream. It was a truly superb way to finish the meal - imagine the gooey part of a brownie and take all of that and put it in a bowl with some palette-refreshing milk icecream served on the side and that's what it was like. Definitely the best dessert on the menu. The others had a mixture of the cheesecake (which was faultless), the mango (not overly inspiring but tasty nonetheless) and the creme brulee which the others felt needed a bit more vanilla in it as it was a touch too plain custardy.

All in all, a memorable experience and I'll definitely be going back. We managed to get through a fair few bottles and carafes of wine and the bill wasn't too exorbitant, about £70/head which for a Michelin starred restaurant is pretty good. Next stop, Wild Honey I think, which I hope will live up to expectations after such a great meal here.
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Pete
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 25, 2008

I went to Arbutus with my boyfriend to celebrate my birthday. We had a fantastic meal, and were very impressed with the service - which was personal without being obsequious. I had a chicken liver terrine, and then pollack with chorizo. Both were excellent. The fish in particular was cooked perfectly; it fell into pearly white flakes at the touch of the fork. My boyfriend opted for the salad of ricotta and potatoes, and then had sea bass. The fish was, again, a notable success. We ended by sharing a creme brulee that we both thought was one of the best we had tasted.

The fact that you can order carafes of wine (250ml each) is a real bonus. We had three, from which I would really recommend the Douro (at about £9 I think). I had it with the terrine, and it was a great match.

This is the third time I have eaten at Arbutus, although this was the first time I had ventured on to the a la carte menu, the lunch and pre-theatre set menus being such good value. The chef and his team are clearly very accomplished, and are not let down by their front of house team, who are excellent.
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Hannah - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Ate at Arbutus on Monday night and came away rather underwhelmed. As other reviewers have noted, given all the hype when it opened and the award of a star, I was expecting more from the food and service.

What did we like? Availability of the bulk of the wine list by the 250ml caraffe is a great idea I wish other restaurants would adopt. The staff were friendly and service was pretty efficient. Food was average +, but hardly worthy of a star in my opinion.

What didn't we like? Some basic service mistakes e.g. giving us the next table's bill. The food was nothing exciting.

Overall, an ok meal, but not nearly good enough to make me want to go back.
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Jason
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Service was efficient yet a little cold. Starters were delightful - a light sliver of smoked eel with sweet vegetable coulis and succulent, chocolately beetroot; squid and mackarel burger was a triumph. Mains came quickly and were good. Shin of veal was solid, if unspectacular, and pollock was tender. At 80 pounds with vino, a little dear, but reasonable given the Michelin star and all that jazz.
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Chris Noon
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Saturday, April 12, 2008

We went to Arbutus on Maundy Thursday - we booked the day before for a 9:15 sitting as we were going out before eating. The main thing I want to say here (as the food has been done to death) is that the service was almost faultless and charming. Apart from a slight delay before we ordered our food, our waitress was helpful, friendly and efficient. Even more importantly, she was happy to bring us tap water - and refill the jug without our asking!

Our food was good but I didn't think it was spectacular. That is perhaps partly my fault as I chose the pig's head (which was a bit earthy for me - I think there was just a bit too much of it). My main course of veal was very tasty. My husband had the red mullet/octopus salad to start, which he didn't find overly exciting, then the rabbit with a side of rabbit cottage pie, which he really liked. We shared a tarte tatin for dessert which came a bit cold but was delicious. We had wine in the 250 ml carafes, which was great because we didn't want to drink loads but wanted white with the starter and red with the main - both were reasonably priced and good.

Overall, not the best meal I've had in London but tasty, good value for money and served almost impeccably.
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Anna - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Very disappointing. The food was mediocre - in fact the starter salad was dreadful and tasteless, the gurnard rather bland - the cassoulet far too heavy on the saffron and the potatoes almost raw. The worst part was the service - dreadful. We had to ask twice for a menu and several times for water, wine, bread and the opportunity to order pudding. The final insult was a request from the Maitre Di that we leave the table (this was about 10.20pm) despite the fact that there was no mention of a second seating at the time of booking or at any other time - and when there were a plethora of empty tables! When we got up to move, the waitress didn't understand why we were leaving and insisted that there was no one who needed the table and sat us back down again!

There are much better alternatives in the price bracket - I can't fathom the michelain star.
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Barbara
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Monday, March 10, 2008

This small and charmingly simple space in the heart of Soho began our evening (28.02.08) in a busy yet comfortable atmosphere, but in surroundings that lacked any real character or individuality. The decor is elegant, yet bordering on dull. The service at the door was slow and unresponsive, yet when seated at an uncomfortably small table for two where my girlfriend found herself sitting more or less on top of the cash register, the waiter moved us to a larger, more comfortable corner table immediately upon request. Service was incredibly swift for the first two courses, so much so that we went from ordering to dessert menus in just over 30 minutes. From here on there was a noticeable fall in the number of diners in the room and, perhaps because we were so determined to take our time and enjoy the evening, or perhaps because our waiters and chefs took their respective feet off the gas pedal, from dessert to coffee took a further hour and a half. The one element of the restaurant that was unfaltering, however, was the quality of the food. A starter of mackerel and squid burger with razor clams was possibly the best beginning to a meal I've ever had. A main course of sustainable and politically correct gurnard with macaroni, chorizo and octopus was faultless and packed with flavour. The final flourish came courtesy of a selection of exquisite cheeses from La Fromaggerie and a delightful chocolate "soup" which was actually more of a shallow soufflé in a bowl (with ice cream on the side). The portions could have been bigger, the size of the bill at the end of the evening smaller (£135 for two people with, admittedly, a bottle and a carafe of wine), but with food that good, there is no question that I'm looking forward to going back again for more.
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Willis Lee
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Friday, February 29, 2008

In Soho and we where looking for something new and different to eat from the usual sushi/pasta/pizza. I’d walked past this restaurant a few times and though I’d give it a try with my partner.

I can only describe it as another overpriced, disappointing place to eat in an even more disappointing (food wise) part of London.

I hadn’t even consulted any of the reviews before eating there so I had to be (slightly) impartial. This is something I regretted. Despite it being post theatre time and empty of some of the evening crowd it took ages to be served. When the food finally turned up, the portions were small, tasteless and simple not very interesting at all. I had to hastily order the dauphinoise potatoes to make it a more substantial meal and prevent me having to make a sandwich when I got in.

Try somewhere else and be little kinder to your wallet too.
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Italian Otter
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Friday, February 22, 2008