All reader reviews by Abbie

The Modern Pantry

I like what they've done with this place. We ate in the restaurant one evening last week Trendy inside, bright and airy. The food is very different and I like what they've tried to do with the menu using healthy ingredients and really working on combinations of taste. I had the beetroot bruchetta to start which was delicious followed by the onglet steak. The food was presented in a rustic fashion, was colourful and tasty and...'modern'..! I can imagine this would also be a lovely place for brunch/lunch.

Saturday, November 22, 2008
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7

Paper

From the website this place looks like quite a classy one but on arriving it was quite the opposite. We went to eat in the restaurant but first had to pass 2 sets of security staff and walk through a metal detector... We were then asked if we wanted to put our coats in the cloakroom...for £2 per item! I've never been to a restaurant where they charge you. The warning bells should have started ringing then but we gave it the benefit of the doubt and decided to go with our plan of eating in the restaurant. We were shown to our table and asked whether we would like a drink. I ordered a Whisky Sour, which I presumed, being a cocktail bar, wouldn't be a problem but the waiter didn't know what it was so I had to spell it and write it down for him. We then waited over 20 minutes for our drinks to be served in which time the music had been turned up so loud that we were yelling at each other across the table and had to ask for it to be turned down but then realised it had been turned up so loud because there was different music playing in the adjoining room which they were trying to drown out. Essentially, what i'm saying is that this place is primarily a club...which happens to serve food. The food was average considering the price at £16 for a steak and potatoes. If you are looking for a Sketch Brasserie type evening don't go here because you won't get it. If you're a group of friends out on a night where you want to go to a club but think it would be best to eat something before the night begins and you're not short of a few pennies then this is your place. A typical boozy 'West End' hangout in my opinion.

Saturday, November 22, 2008
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2

Gordon Ramsay's Boxwood Cafe

Had a wonderful lunch at Boxwood on Sunday. Set lunch was £28. Started with a perfectly golden salmon fishcake, followed by a delicious roast of melt in the mouth beef with yorkshire pudding and veg and topped off nicely with a simple vanilla pannacotta and strawberries. Service was excellent (we didn't wait or want for a thing). The only downside is that it was a beautiful day and it was downstairs with no natural daylight but that's only a small complaint.

One suggestion to the restaurant - get firmer seats on the lounge seating as we on that side of the table had to sit on cushions to be up to table height.

A great place to spend a Sunday afternoon :)

Thursday, August 28, 2008
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7

Hawksmoor

Cocktails were great - especially the variation whiskey sours. The barman was happy to explain all the ingredients. Steaks were pretty good too and cooked beautifully (but I would say you should expect that at £20 per steak). Shame about the service though.

We weren't in any particular hurry so were fine to wait at the bar for 25 mins, wait for our order to be taken for 20 mins and in general, do a considerable amount of waiting that we wouldn't normally be happy doing.

A lesson in putting things down gently on the table wouldn't go amiss.

A waiter spilt a glass of red wine on my partners suit and shirt. Accidents happen, and we can forgive them, but the general attitude from the staff could only be described as apathetic. Shame, it's left a rather bad taste in our mouths....

Unfortunately, with so much choice in London where the service is far better, I don't think we'll be eating here again.

Friday, November 09, 2007
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5

The Fat Duck

Our party of six visited for the first time on Saturday night. What an experience!

On arrival we were seated at a roomy circular table and given time to settle into the atmosphere which was light, warm and buzzy. After a few minutes we were offered champagne and handed the 'wine bible' as mentioned below. 4 opted for the matching wine menu and we 2 decided on a lovely nutty Mersault to share. After our champagne had arrived we were handed the menu and we all decided on the 'tasting menu'. **Don't be put off by what you read, believe me, the combinations sound crazy but they really work!

The courses are detailed in the review below and I agree with much of what is said but I have to disagree with the comment about the oyster with passion fruit and lavender. This, was above all the most sophisticated dish on the menu and must have taken much perfecting. The passionfruit puree was just the right level of acidity to work perfectly with the natural salt taste that oysters have! The adorning horseradish crisps were a perfect touch and gave a little kick that left your tastebuds wanting and built you up to the next dish (mustard icecream and red cabbage gazpacho). Although this was perfectly eddible and the combinations worked very well together, I did find it a little on the vinegary side - but my friends would probably disagree!

The 'trifle' was amazing; the pea puree evened out the powerful quail jelly with langoustine cream sandwiched between and topped off with a perfect foie gras parfait (I think the moans from the table told the other guests how great we all thought it was!).

The three women on our table found the the salmon and licorice difficult but on the contrary, the guys thought it was one of the most amazing dishes on the menu. We all loved the classic lamb dish and found the desserts wonderfully fun! (Especially the sherbert fountain with vanilla dipper!)

Although we had opted out of the wine matching menu, our friends were good enough to let us in on a touch of the magic and if we had the choice again we would definitely go for the matching wines. They set the foods off perfectly and included an interesting Sake and a delicious late harvest Riesling. We were certainly poured more than a few mouthfuls!

The staff were attentive and friendly at all times. We were extremely impressed with the fact that every single member of staff we called upon knew exactly what each of the ingredients were and where they were sourced from (to the extent that they could tell us how many quails made the quail jelly!). There was a strong sense of a team work amongst them which meant that we didn't want for anything at all.

All that's left to say is that we were all in agreement that our tastebuds went on an amazing journey on Saturday night; one that we'd like to live again when the menu changes in the future! I would highly recommend going in a group as most of the fun was had in discussing the others opinions and interpretations! It was well worth the 12 phone calls to get a reservation!

Monday, April 02, 2007
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9