The Square review by G. Norval
Well, after much anticipation and consideration, I thought I'll chuck my tendencies to stick to the 'Ramsay regime' of restaurants (My wife and I frequent most of the restaurants under his 'control') and try something 'new' for a change so to speak!
I decided on 'The Square' and expected sparks and fireworks seeing as its a 2* institution but to my let down all I found was a watered down versoin of a 1* restaurant in my very very honest opinion. We arrived to what was a very 'bright' dining room (goodness is there no dimmers in this place) with very little atmosphere - maybe it could be a good idea to dim the lights slightly and create a more 'intimate' enviroment to dine in.
The menus and winelist however arrived promptly upon our arrival - BUT we weren't highlighted on the 'specials' of the evening as is the norm in restaurants these days. We were offered bread rolls but we had to prompt the waiter for butter after we waited about 10 minutes after we were offered the bread rolls. On the second time around with the bread the clumsy waiter dropped 2 rolls under my table (to his own embarrasement I may ad) and was scrambling under my table to pick these up. Overall thus the waiting staff just didn't seem up to scratch for a 2* restaurant. Wide choice of menu - I opted for a starter of Crab Lasagne (a signature dish here I believe), brilliantly cooked, well presented and very rich...big thumbs up to this I can absolutely not fault it and it was delicious! My wife had one of the special starters of the evening which was scallops with new season morels and a minted pea puree, this was average by haute cuisine standards and one of the scallops were very much overcooked - how does this happen in a restaurant of this standard...or supposedly 2*...Michellin I prompt you on your methods of rating please!
My wife opted for the assiete of pork, which if done well is always a delight in top restaurants - althought tasty the presentation was a joke, to me it looked like hacked pieces of pork chucked over a leek with a bit of pomme puree on each side - offcourse this is what you pay premium for squire...me dont think so, what a shame!
I opted for the fillet of aged beef which was served with a red whine jus, foie gras, bone marrow, this came at a supplement of £10 which I dont mind paying for a great gastronomic experience, but once again this was just ok - for aged beef the fillet was on the tougher side (more tender than steak but not as I know well aged fillet should be).
Now for dessert - always a highlight for me, but once again what a joke (not really), we both opted for pear with tiramisu...here is what we got, each got a hunk of tiramisu, with what seemslike three different versions of espresso reductions, there was also the espresso ice cream and the salted caramel creme (this was so salted you couldnt eve stomach it)...an honest disaster on a plate - their pastry chef should let his head down in shame, not in my opinion the makings of experimental cooking - I get what he/she was trying to do but it did not come together - the taste of espresso/coffee was so overpowering (and I love coffee used in desert and have a great love for tiramisu) that it totally spoiled it! It couldve done with something very sweet, maybe laced with vanilla to cut through all this 'coffee'.
We each had a glass of Kir Royale as an apertif, and bottle of red at a reasonable £95. The total bill came to £309. Now - i honestly dont mind in parting with my £ but this price for what was on offer, I feel very ripped off to say the least!
Restaurants like, Petrus ,which honestly deserves 2* rating put The Square to shame! Even though saying that my last visit to Petrus was a slight let down too...however its still a strong favourite of mine. Maybe we just dine out too much and we are too fussy, however, at premium you expect premium and the best of the best in return - thats how it should be, a good honest price for good honest real haute cuisine!
Anyhow, I am going to rest my case now - I was considering visiting The Ledbury but if 'mom' (The Square) acts like this, dear oh dear what is daughter (Ledbury) going to act like, no thanks! Sometimes its better with sticking to what you enjoy and what is known to you!
Amen!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Overall rating 
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
review comments
G. Norval
You sound like a complete burk. The Square is a world class restaurant and one of London's most consistently fine dining rooms. I have been many times over the years and have always enjoyed superb food and wines.
RP - Saturday, May 10, 2008
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