Quaglino's review by dawnage
I understand that when dining on a set menu the food may not be the most exciting dishes the kitchen can offer. However, such food should be representative of the quality of the kitchen; after all, the popularity of set menus mean that many diners will judge restaurants on what they get from meal deals.
If that is true, I can only assume that the cuisine of Quaglino's - which previously had a very good reputation - has declined woefully. My first course of black pudding, chorizo, bacon and poached egg salad was far, far too salty. The egg was absolutely necessary to make it even edible.This was served on a paltry, tasteless, dried-out bit of lettuce.
This was followed by herb-crusted halibut on a bed of spinach. The herbs were bitter, and overpowered the bland fish - which was already weakened by its watery spinach base. The simple butter dressing with it was ineffectual - I gave up on this dish two-thirds of the way through.
My husband was uninspired by his carrot and ginger soup starter, leaving about half of it. Things improved a bit with his main course of a potato and chive pancake with (another) poached egg. This was also served with spinach and a butter dressing - I expect that these ingredients are particularly cheap and therefore seen as appropriate for the set menu.
We both had a pancake with chocolate sauce for pudding, which was the best course of all - a surprise to both of us, given that neither of us are pudding people, preferring the savoury options. At least we both finished that course!
I had wanted to dine at Quaglino's for a long time, but was sorely disappointed. We were offered no side plates nor butter knives with our bread before our first course - yes, it may be the French way, but it feels impolite to me to mess crumbs all over the dining table. Also, the residual butter on my knife didn't improve my awful salad starter in any way!
The venue is large and impressive - and packed with tables - with a magnificent staircase and high ceilings. Quaglino's was virtually empty when we dined early on a Sunday evening, which was something of a mercy - I imagine the acoustics would be awful when the place is full.
Service is generally good - although this was no stretch, given the lack of other diners. We found those who waited on our table to be pleasant and attentive, regularly refilling our glasses with a decent white Rioja (although not too often, as that would be irritating). Alas, we had to wait for a few minutes at the cloakroom while the relevant member of staff was in the back room - that made the service seem a little less polished.
A great shame - there seems little point in returning to Quaglino's.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Overall rating 
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
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