All reader reviews by R

Aubaine (Regent St)

Things have clearly changed since the last review in Dec. 2010...

We chose Aubaine because all the other restaurants in Heddon St. were crowded and it wasn't: we should have guessed why...

The food was acceptable, but cold and overpriced (though it is just off Regent St.). The wine list was fine and probably priced at the higher side of average.

The waiting staff were perfectly pleasant, but didn't seem at all experienced, which created a poor impression.

The low point came with the arrival of ketchup and mayonnaise both in little Heinz pots! Even if Heinz were a French company, this would still have been totally unacceptable. The lack of presentation is one thing, but for a "French" restaurant to serve Heinz mayonnaise.. !! When we asked for some French mustard, the waiter told us there was none. I called over the maitre d', who told me that the order had not yet arrived. When I pointed out that they sell Maille mustard at the Tesco down the road, he shrugged. However, to his credit, we were not charged for one main course.

In short, a well-located, nice-looking restaurant let down by indifferent food and mediocre service. Not at all an authentic French experience. What a shame.

Friday, July 08, 2011
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3

Kulu Kulu Sushi (Brewer St)

In life, you usually get what you pay for and at Kulu Kulu, you don't pay much. I have just been there for lunch and paid £11 per head!

The food's not comparable with a typical Japanese restaurant, but the cost is a small fraction (try going to Zuma!). This is not Japan and the staff at somewhere this cheap aren't going to be Japanese, so there's no point bleating about the food not being up to Tokyo standards.

I just took my daughters there as an introduction to Japanese food and it worked well. If you don't like raw fish, there's plenty of cooked food on offer.

The atmosphere may not be that exciting, but it feels very much like the equivalent in Tokyo.

Friday, July 08, 2011
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 10

Piccadilly Spice

I think I must have gone to a different restaurant from your other reviewers and deeply alarmed by their praise.

My evening at the Maharaja on Denman Street was one of the worst culinary experiences of my entire life and one whose effects I am still feeling the morning after.

Given its location, Maharaja will always have a clientelle, but this, presumably, is why they make so little effort with the food.

First, the service and atmosphere were fine - exactly what I would expect from an Indian restaurant of this sort. We were also given complimentary brandies, which was welcome.

Value for money was poor, even given the central location. Main dishes were £3-4 more than they should have been (i.e. should have been 25% less).

The real problem was the food, which was a charicature of a bad Indian meal. To start, there were stale, oily papadums. For the main dishes, what little taste there was came from powdered spice: zero natural flavouring. I should have expected this though, as both our dishes were an alarming shade of lurid pink. Looking around, other diners' food looked almost identical to ours (shades of pink): could everyone really have ordered the same dish?

Overall, an experience I am trying hard to forget.

Thursday, April 07, 2011
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2