All reader reviews by JG

Duck & Waffle

I have to agree with some of the reviewers here in that it's not cheap - in particular the wine list which is eye-watering to look at - but the food more than makes up for it. Although their signature dish is the duck & waffle it ought to be the foie gras 'all day breakfast' which is ingenious in design and heavenly to taste. The crab on toast was light, fresh and well seasoned. The rabbit rillettes were quite heavy and a little bland. The arancini was excellent.

The views are amazing so do ask if you can get a window seat. Avoid the bar as it's full of loud, brash suits which is a shame as it looks great as well but I guess you don't get to choose who goes there!

Thursday, September 20, 2012
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6

L'Auberge

I can see why L'Auberge gets such good reviews. We had never been as it is a little out of the way but having passed by so many times we decided to try it out.

We went there last night and it could not have been a more charming experience. The lady that greeted and served us all night was a delight and was very engaging. Her husband is the chef and he cooks divinely. I had the camembert starter followed by rabbit which were both delicious and my friend had the scallops and the venison. The venison deserves to have a poem written about it - it was tender beyond words and the flavour was exquisite. To finish we had cheese and an orange tart with peppercorn sorbet. The orange tart was a combination of crisp pastry with an almost creme brulee-consistency filling and a caramalised sugar top. The peppercorn sorbet worked wonderfully with the dessert and although I had ordered the cheese I will be back to try the orange dessert - it was that good

All in all a great dining experience at a very reasonable price

Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10

Hawksmoor Guildhall

I went here shortly after the Guildhall restaurant opened as I missed out on the soft launch. The restaurant itself is huge and I would imagine that if it is not at least 2/3rds full it could look quite empty and lacking in atmosphere. That said the night that we visited it was fairly full.

We ordered some cocktails whilst we were perusing the menu and they came promptly and tasted delicious. Having been to their sister restaurant at Seven Dials I was looking forward to the ribs that they serve there (Tamworth belly ribs - which are to die for) but sadly they didn't have them on the menu at Guildhall :(

My partner chose half dozen oysters to start with which were declared delicious and I had the mushrooms on toast which was lovely although a little on the salty side. For mains we both had steak (why choose anything else!) and whilst his cut was amazing, my bone-in-sirloin was way, way too salty. These comments were passed back to the waiting staff who in fairness took them on board and took the offending steak off the bill but I was a little disappointed as the meal that I had at Seven Dials was just amazing in every respect and I would expect them to get steaks perfect each time as this is something that they specialise in.

Service was a little slow at times in terms of trying to attract the attention of the waiting staff and also there was quite a large wait between our starters and mains.

Thursday, December 08, 2011
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4

Opera Tavern

I ate here a couple of nights ago and it was the second time that I have been here for a pre-theatre bite and drink. The wine list is nice however it contains predominantly Spanish wines so with Spanish wines not being my forte I asked for assistance from the waiter whose recommendation was very good. The food arrived quickly and was of good quality. I had the foie gras burger which was divine as was the Salchichó and the scotch eggs were extremely moreish. My friend had the octopus which was a little on the small side as a portion and we followed that with some lovely Mahon cheese.

The service can be a little hit and miss here however they are always charm personified. For instance when I was asking questions regarding the differences in the cheese selection the first waiter didn't seem entirely confident about what the various cheese were and had to ask for assistance from one of his colleagues.

Thursday, October 06, 2011
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7