The Red Fort

This was our first visit to the Red Fort. The food was amazing and a real treat and service excellent. When I rang to book I did say it was for a birthday so a little bit of extra attention would have been so appreciated but didn't come .

What annoyed me was the charge for sparkling water £4.95 which wasn't even a brand bottled but looked as though it had been refilled from their own supply.

Anyway we loved the food so top marks there.
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Minerva - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Saturday, July 04, 2009

Myself and a colleague of mine went for the £12 lunch menu and were completely blown away by the food. Of course, the usual price of eating there is far higher, but £12 for lunch of this kind is excellent value.

I try and eat out and try new restaurants every lunch, and can say that this restaurant has been the best set lunch menu to date! I can't wait to go back...
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Saturday, June 27, 2009

I have visited this restaurant many times. The food is very good consistently: excellent starters and solid mains. The wine list is also rather good, and works well with much of the fare on offer.

However the service is spotty at best and, at least in terms of the hosts, rather poor. Increasingly over the years, my parties have been subject to booking mistakes and rude behaviour on the part of the hosts, even when we show up at re-confirmed booking times. This is a real mystery, and one that a few of my colleagues do not want to face again which is too bad.

In summary, with its great food The Red Fort could be one of London's tops. But its variable to rude service lets it down and time again.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Monday, April 06, 2009

The food was pretty tasty. Not the best curry but up there. The amuse bouche was a particulary nice touch. Nice room. But..

the prices are just too high. 15£ for a good but small portion of chicken murgh. £18 for a lamb dish (also small portion) £5 for steamed rice. £8 for a side dish of Okra. The service was also a bit lacking with all the attention being lavished on those who who obviously werent bothered with the prices. wasnt given a jacket ticket for the cloakroom and made to find my own jacket for instance. Ended up spending 75 while sticking to water and not having a starter.

For 6 times the price of a bog standard curry in brick lane you don't get anywhere near the difference in quality.
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Rollo - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Very overpriced average meal. drinks especially cost a fortune. I ordered a kingfisher beer and it came in a tiny little glass and cost £4. Restaurants at this price have to serve excellent food and it simply was not. They try and woo you with clever dishes like pheasant and rabbit - but they taste spicy and v. ordinary.
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Will - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Really disappointing on first and last visit. Food average, service complacent, and very expensive for a poor experience. I'll stick to my local tandoori thank you
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Saturday, October 25, 2008

The downstairs bar is the sole saving grace of The Red Fort. I understand the concept of "upscale" Indian, but no matter how much the staff play the "we'll need the table back in two hours" card, TRF is mutton dressed as lamb, and even then, not very good lamb. Small portions, bad quality meat, and tasteless vegetarian fare make TRF not worthy of a repeat visit. Shame, as I so wanted to like it.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Sunday, September 14, 2008

I thought it was a pretty good meal. Don't understand the reviews below, but my visit was enjoyable and I will be back. Food was really interesting and the decor was cool without being overly modern. Prices are what you expect in Soho restaurants of this calibre. Top marks!
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, April 14, 2008

We went back to this restaurant after a gap of some years but I wish now I'd read some of the recent reviews in advance. The decor was still pleasant, and the service attentive (overly so for my taste), but the real problem is the quality of the food and wine given the price you're paying. For the £130 I spent for two (including a £30 bottle of wine) I expect a high quality meal. The wine (a young Spanish red) was very poor for the price - I imagine it would go for around £6 in a supermarket. The food tasted OK (goodsauces, spices etc) but was let down by the poor quality meat, which bore the hallmarks of having been frozen. And £4.50 for plain rice! This is a place that has the luxury of a prime location in the heart of Soho and therefore doesn't need to try too hard to get people through the door. I was very disappointed. Seeing the other reviews it appears I'm not the only one who left the restaurant feeling violated by the experience, and I feel duty-bound to inform others.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Thursday, March 06, 2008

The staff seemed a little too eager for us to spend more money with a pre-meal visit to the bar downstairs, but once seated things were fine and the service was good and friendly. For general ambience this restaurant doesn't match upmarket places like Tamarind or Benares but probably offers a more authentic "Indian" experience.

However, it certainly follows their lead in terms of pricing, and this is where I have concerns. We were very happy with all the food we tried but the prices were considerably more eye-watering than the spices on our plates. I think £150 for three people, including drinks from the bar and water, but no wine, is serious money for this kind of dining.

Ours was a time-constrained pre-theatre experience and I would like to return with more time to relax, but I'll need to look out for a special offer on sites like this before making a booking.
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Kentishwanderer - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Monday, December 31, 2007