Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I hope in the Christmas period we may get to go to restaurants more often than normal, or even to go to restaurants that we would not normally get the chance to go to.


If anyone wants to discuss restaurants in London, you can do it here.


Last night I went to Langans with work. I first went there with a girlfriend nearly 20 years ago when it was probably a cool place to go but now it seems the average age there is 50ish or a bit more. But it was very nice and with a small group from work, we had a great time. Most diners were formally dressed and more than half wore ties which was rather surprising I thought.


Food 8

Service 8

Atmosphere 7

Value 8


They still have Michael Caine on the menu. I'm not sure if he still owns a bit of it.

Link to comment
https://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/topic/14650-the-christmas-restaurant-review/
Share on other sites

I was treated to lunch recently at Odins just off Marylebone Lane. Its part of the Langan family. Great artwork on the wall. Food was delicious - crab souffle to start and calves liver to follow. I think the set unch is about ?25 for two courses - bargain!
I love the understated gentility of Marleybone. I'd live there if I had the dosh. The Golden Hind (100 odd years old) and The Sea Shell are also up there. And then it also has a gem of a local boozer that still feels like a pub should do......with an old piano player playing 3 nights a week.
Oh sorry... restaurants. We really enjoyed Viajante the other day. An interesting and unique menu, with diverse influences. It has been accused of being pretentious - and some of the waiters were wearing daft art-student clothes - but the food was fantastic, and we both loved it. There's a very nice little bar there too, with reasonable-ish prices.

Recently I've been to:


Bistro Bruno Loubet. Very cool and relaxed, food was good but not amazing but a lovely evening full of Clerkenwell chatter; and


Bob Bob Ricard. Such fun! Take the girls. Press the champagne button. Act like a tool. I loved it; and


Hawksmoor. Put down your copy of Men's Health, alpha-males; today is a naughty day. Extra session on the Ergo tomorrow, mind. Great but damned expensive.


St John Bread and Wine. I just love it here. Simple and excellent - and a nicer room than Smithfields I reckon.

I recently treated my better half to dinner at Galvin La Chapelle. Definitely only for high days and holidays at those prices but beautiful food in a fantastic setting. The overall experience topped off by the wonderful, foodie staff who couldn't have been more helpful or charming - including giving us a great table but with a view of the pass so he could see into the kitchen (which he loved).

I loved Galvin La Chapelle also, pricey but worth it - feels like you've been out for a special treat vs. an over-priced meal.


Having a french other half, I do find a rather large proportion of our budget goes on eating out, and hence have been lucky enough to eat at some top restaurants. My opinions (others may disagree):

Didn't like Gordon Ramsey's flagship restaurant - service too intrusive, food far too rich, felt like someone's living room (that was years ago though).

Also went to Petrus but after Marcus Wareing took over (can't remember the new name) food was far too salty and service a bit meh.

Le Gavroche - love it. Totally old school and kitch, but guaranteed a fabulous time.

The Waterside Inn at Bray - my eyes still water at the bill, but everything was fantastic. Would highly recommend for a special treat (although not London, I know)

Joel Robuchon - fun, very tasty food. Not particularly relaxing or formal, if that's what you're going for

Maze - too frantic, food weird instead of fun. Like a bad Joel Robuchon.

I love a restuarant called Min Jiang in Kensington (pre-order the duck), fantastic views over London so best to go in the day. Not much atmosphere though.

The Square - impeccable service, food a little salty for my taste


Actually, we're looking for somewhere new to try for a lunch between Christmas and NY (we do that instead of presents - see what I mean about the food budget) so if anyone has any suggestions I'd be grateful too.

I haven't been to Galvin at Windows, I'd love to hear what that's like.


When I went to Maze I had something like a deconstructed BLT which was awful in so many ways, perhaps that's what stuck in my mind - and because it was close to when I went to Joel Robuchon where they did this little layered soup thing which was much nicer, perhaps I remember it even more. Hmm going to quickly check the menu to remind myself...


... oh it's changed quite a bit, it was a bit more 'out there' when I went there. Personally I prefer my 'cheese on toast three ways' to Maze. Weird vibe as well, maybe because it was a Sunday lunchtime before the financial world crashed.

Went to Goodmans with work a few months ago. The Chilean wagyu ribeye special was certainly the best steak I have ever had. Good selection of starters as well. The tempura king prawns with mango salsa were surprisingly nice, consideing it is a steak house. Also recommend the Goodmans ribeye.


Highly recommend The Ledbury. They used to serve one of the best value lunches in town. For 22.5 you could get 3 beautifully cooked courses. Hmm the soffule was to die for... I think they have put the price up to 33.5 now. The dishes are classic, but creative at the same time. Service has always been excellent for both lunch and dinner.

LadyTaTa Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I haven't been to Galvin at Windows, I'd love to

> hear what that's like.


The food is very good, the cooking was hard to fault. Fantastic view. But it's a pretty typical London fine dining menu... sometimes these places can seem a little deja-vu. Foie gras terrine, ballotines of stuff, a puree here, a foam there. Guaranteed formula for a Michelin star. Lovely to eat, but nothing new.

Went to Hakkasan last week for lunch (I was not paying). We had failed to get into any of the good restaurants in Charlotte Street (all fully booked) so I was surprised to see that there were only a few tables occupied at Hakkasan during the whole of the lunch service (and we stayed a long time!). The sevice was very good but I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the food, some of which was really not much better than you can get locally. I would not put it anywhere near the top of my list which is currently headed by The Square in Bruton Street.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • In what way? Maybe it just felt more intelligent and considered coming directly after Question Time, which was a barely watchable bun fight.
    • Yes, all this. Totally Sephiroth. The electorate wants to see transformation overnight. That's not possible. But what is possible is leading with the right comms strategy, which isn't cutting through. As I've said before, messaging matters more now than policy, that's the only way to bring the electorate with you. And I worry that that's how Reform's going to get into power.  And the media LOVES Reform. 
    • “There was an excellent discussion on Newscast last night between the BBC Political Editor, the director of the IFS and the director of More In Common - all highly intelligent people with no party political agenda ” I would call this “generous”   Labour should never have made that tax promise because, as with - duh - Brexit, it’s pretending the real world doesn’t exist now. I blame Labour in no small part for this delusion. But the electorate need to cop on as well.  They think they can have everything they want without responsibilities, costs or attachments. The media encourage this  Labour do need to raise taxes. The country needs it.  Now, exactly how it’s done remains to be seen. But if people are just going to go around going “la la laffer curve. Liars! String em up! Vote someone else” then they just aren’t serious people reckoning with the problem yes Labour are more than a year into their term, but after 14 years of what the Tories  did? Whoever takes over, has a major problem 
    • Messaging, messaging, messaging. That's all it boils down to. There are only so many fiscal policies out there, and they're there for the taking, no matter which party you're in. I hate to say it, but Farage gets it right every time. Even when Reform reneges on fiscal policy, it does it with enough confidence and candidness that no one is wringing their hands. Instead, they're quietly admired for their pragmatism. Strangely, it's exactly the same as Labour has done, with its manifesto reverse on income tax, but it's going to bomb.  Blaming the Tories / Brexit / Covid / Putin ... none of it washes with the public anymore  - it wants to be sold a vision of the future, not reminded of the disasters of the past. Labour put itself on the back foot with its 'the tories fucked it all up' stance right at the beginning of its tenure.  All Lammy had to do (as with Reeves and Raynor etc) was say 'mea culpa. We've made a mistake, we'll fix it. Sorry guys, we're on it'. But instead it's 'nothing to see here / it's someone else's fault / I was buying a suit / hadn't been briefed yet'.  And, of course, the press smells blood, which never helps.  Oh! And Reeve's speech on Wednesday was so drab and predictable that even the journalists at the press conference couldn't really be arsed to come up with any challenging questions. 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...