Matthew Grant

Are you saying that the 50% discount menu is not as good as the 100% menu. If this is the case surely it is a different menu and shouldn't be advertised as a discount. If you're getting a 50% discount it should be on exactly the same kind of service and food as those paying 100%. Otherwise the promotion should be for "a cheap meal with different food at 1880" I think your comments were ill advised Connor, I hope the backlash from that comment isn't too severe! I can see the headlines now "Manager says 50% discount customers can't expect good food at 1880" Edit disclosure : Amended Conors title

Quite clearly destined to fail - they haven't served the fondant potato with the rack of lamb!

You have to fear for this Restaurant because it's prices were just more than we had/have ever seen inLondon before. Incidentaly the downstairs restaurant has always been a gallery during the day and restaurant at night. Are you saying that it is now a permanant gallery?

She was a showgirl...

It surprised me as well! presumably chosen to keep it below the 15% mark.

I forgot to mention - 14.5% service charge Has this been mentioned before? Service is truly outstanding though.

Nice early dinner here on Friday night. Started with slices of Jesus De Lyon with a caper dressing on top. Rachel had Mushrooms a la Grecque with a couple of slices of Pain Poilane. Rachel had 3 large lamb chops for her main course, accompanied by potatoes fried in duck fat and a bowl of rich "sauce" with peas and a lovely smoky flavour provided by the bacon. I had 3 perfectly cooked fillets of red mullet in a nice oily tomato sauce accompanied by steamed new potatoes. Finished with cheese which had a conatined a sensational slice of Bleu D'Auvergne. I really like the restaurant, not mindblowing but good honest food and excellent/outstanding service. Nice way to finish off a heavy weeks dining

Rasoi Vineet Bhatia on Monday night, Am I the first to use RVB? After Andy's dissection of the other reviews there is not a whole lot to be said but I'll reiterate some of it. The cutlery and crockery looks wonderful the long thin blades of the knives look great but Rachel complained that hers wasn't sharp enough. The service was amateurish. This is a restaurant that is going to serve high end food - lets call it Haute cuisine with an Indian influence to try and take the stigma out of paying top notch prices for Indian food. At £65 a head I want that service to be smooth and effortless. Unfortunately we have a Maitre D' who seemed intent on taking our order for drinks after our waiter had already done so and then managed to do the same with our food order. Waiters didn't know who was eating what (on other tables at least, we had the tasting menu). The waiter with the bleached hair ran around doing everything in our area on the ground floor at the front of the restaurant he was not ably assisted and I felt the service should have been a slightly more formal, unfortunately it was more akin to my local curry house. The area we were sitting in was too small and felt a little crammed and private conversation was impossible so while we listened to the man next to us give his wife a credit card for her Birthday and his son hand over a handbag we had to keep our conversation low to the point that we couldn't hear each other. A little background music required perhaps? Anyway onto the food Watermelon and ginger shot - watery and lacking a punch Grilled spice crusted scallop, chilly mash - good quality scallop, lightly dusted with spice which didn't overpower the flavour of the scallop. Chilly (restaurant spelling) mash was a nice foil and contained little heat. Wild mushroom khichdi, mini papad and makhani ice cream. Our waiter described this as a Risotto - this is something the restaurant needs to get away from. Its not risotto so in the interests of individuality don't call it one. Excellent khichdi, balanced delicately with some truffle oil and a wonderful ice cream which was predominantly tomato. Sounds awful but this worked a treat. Wonderful use of spices Spiced crab and lentil soup, crispy crab cake - Outstanding, this was quite heavily spiced with pieces of crab throughout the lentil soup and a small crispy crab cake balanced above the soup. Unfortunately I felt this dish was at the wrong point in the menu as it was a very full flavour and perhaps overpowered the next course Grilled lobster, curry leaf and broccoli khichdi, spiced lobster jus, fried broccoli florets, sour spices and cocoa - The cocoa was perhaps unnecessary and I can't help but get the feeling that it was used because he enjoyed the method used to deploy it (i.e. tapped from a bag at the table Fat Duck style). In conversation afterwards he did acknowledge the Fat Duck and an American restaurant for the idea which he then started trying to incorporate into dishes. Anyway the Lobster was half a lobster with unnecessary Broccoli florets and a sauce which was a little lost after the soup. Possibly the weakest dish of the evening, nice but not amazing. Tamarind glazed quail, masala mash and basil naan - a very small piece of breast of quail (half a lobster but only a single breast of Quail?) with a sweet, slightly acidic sauce, nicely spiced mash which I think may have had some meat in it (anybody else notice this?). Then there was the Naan bread - with basil no less. There is no way this should have worked but what came out was the lightest most delightful piece of Naan bread I have ever eaten and the basil was unexpectedly complemetary. Asparagus, mustard and curry leaf ice cream, tomato-ginger juice - Now this was heavily influenced by the Fat Duck again although Chef Bhatia denied he had ever seen this dish although he had eaten there and referred to "Heston". A Delicate ice cream that could have been a little more distinct. It sat on top of chopped pepper, tomato, cucumber and then had a tomato and ginger juice poured around it - sound familiar? Lamb and morel korma laced with truffle oil, steamed rice cakes, coconut chutney - Well this was just excellent, meaty sliced morels (it would have been nice to leave them a little larger) with spicy and korma sauce which had excellent depth to it and a nice amount of chilli heat as well. Delicate lamb finishing it off. On the side small rice cakes with an inconsequential coconut chutney. The rice cakes were perfectly OK but I would have like to have seen a nod back to the roots of the cuisine and had just a small portion of wonderfully fragrant basmati. Chilled mango and cumin lassi, coconut ice cream - I can't remember this too well but I do remember it being a salt lassi which might surprise some people! Crispy marbled chocolate, chenna and roasted almond samosa, Indian tea ice cream - The Indian tea ice cream could have been the twin brother of a tea ice cream I had at the St James incarnation of Petrus, it was delicious and the warm samosa was a great way to end the meal. Nice Petit Fours including a lovely Betel nut chocolate. Overall an outstanding meal that needs a few tweaks to service and the room if it is going to be truly successful at the highest level. At these prices the level of service needs to stepped up otherwise it will become a one visit restaurant.

Fortunately I hadn't read any of the negative reports following my last post on this thread because dinner at The Square last night (Tuesday) was quite excellent. Lasagne of crab with a Cappuccino of Shellfish and Basil was exactly as it read on the menu. The frothy sauce complementing the delicate Lasagne perfectly and it left me utilising that sauce spoon fully. Sauté of Tiger Prawns with Parmesan Gnocchi, Cepes and a Truffle emulsion Was much appreciated by Rachel. Generous shavings of summer truffle (which I have found to be very good this year) sprinkled over the top of the Large prawns and cepes all dressed in a truffle emulsion that seemed to of been enhanced with some truffle oil but not to ill effect. Roast Turbot with a Crisp potato Rosti, Mousseline of Garlic, wild Mushrooms and Thyme was beautiful. Excellent quality fish, reflected in the £5 supplement, a meaty mushroom sauce complemented the Turbot and the mousseline of garlic was full of garlic flavour but with the raw heat removed. The potato Rosti was nothing of the sort and was more decoration than substance, thin straws of potato wrapped in a large cylindrical shape and cooked until crispy and golden coloured. Steamed Seabass with Lobster Raviolis and a Vinaigrette of Tomato, Lemon and Basil was a masterpiece in sauce making. The sauce matched the yellowy colour of the ravioli (which must have been good because I wasn't offered any) upon which the seabass was placed : perfectly steamed with its skin glistening. The sauce completing all the elements of the dish and achieving a perfect balance and not at all acidic which was surprising given its tomato/lemon content. Quite wonderful. A Raspberry Soufflé with Vanilla ice cream was as it said on the menu and a last minute change in order to Assiette of Strawberries brought, amongst other things, a miniature Strawberry Soufflé, Strawberry cheese cake made with Brillat-Savarin cheese (a slightly salty element to the dish was quite pleasant). Clientele were a mixture of KGB spies, football club owner types and businessmen spending on their business accounts. I hadn't been here for several years an in some ways the food hasn't moved on. It reminded of the 90's in an excellent way although I'm not keen on the room and the Scottish Maitre D' was a little hard to shake off at the end of the evening when we wanted to pay the bill.

Just because Jazz Musicians can make a noise for 4 minutes doesn't mean that it is good Jazz.

Whoops! That was Friday night not Saturday!

I'm visiting tomorrow and I was tempted by the tasting menu but I think I'll be going ALC now

We took the trip up North Last Wednesday and I was pleasantly surprised to find the youth wearing baseball caps not flat caps and people driving around in cars! It's obviously a dangerous place for a Southern Softy like me to be so Gary Marshall kindly escorted us from the station to the restaurant and joined us for a quick glass of the Deus beer which reminded me of a really big/heavy champagne more than a beer and was not unappreciated by myself or Rachel but I think Gary needs a little more convincing. There is nothing more that I can really add to the description of the dishes that have already been provided but favourites were the Langoustine with a heavenly fennel and Langoustine broth, a wonderful white onion risotto with a nice contrast provided by the hint of Espresso and a lovely balance kept to the dish by using a Parmesan air instead of incorporating the parmesan into the risotto itself. The Squab was also fabulous. Most "disappointing" of the starters was the Crab remoulade and even this was fantastic although I couldn't detect the Asparagus despite it being described to me. The Salt Cod was beautiful, large meaty flakes and the cannelloni of pork belly is indeed made with pork fat rather than pasta and topped with a Gribiche sauce. The Duck with chocolate Bon Bons as previously described was selfishly kept by my better half and we finished with Raspberry beer and a reconstructed Apple Tatin. Once again I forget what Rachel had for dessert. Our thanks to Anthony (Snr) who spent the afternoon entertaining us while we waited for our train home Overall a fantastic meal that gave me the "buzz" so lacking in London at the moment. I can't wait to return once that tasting menu is up and running. Superb!

We finally visited Tom Aikens on Saturday night, I wanted to love it but we both came away very disappointed. It's no exaggeration to say that each dish was so complicated that I can't accurately remember what we ate but I'll give it my best shot. We started with "Truffle" and "Langoustine". The Truffle dish had a buttery potato that overtook the dish completely, I think the dish also contained a ravioli of chicken wings with truffle and in a separate dish truffle with a chickens egg. The "Langoustine" really was a single roast langoustine an contained (amongst other things) confit tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, basil mousse, Sauternes jelly, chervil jelly I think) covering a Ravioli containing Langoustine meat amongst something else. "Suckling Pig" was a miniature pork cutlet which could have been cooked slightly less, a Lasagne of pork belly, a breaded skewer of Squid stuffed with pork and chicken Mousse which was under seasoned and left the Squid too tough. There was also slices of trotter stuffed with apple. "Monkfish" was, now where do I start. 3 or 4 pieces of Monkfish, dusted in something which had made the outside of the monkfish very dry although the meat in the middle was perfectly cooked. There was a smear of pepper sauce, there was a pepper crisp, tomatoes, Aubergine (cleverly baked, split down the middle and repositioned to look like a pear) there was a horrible buttery sauce in the middle of the plate, several macaroni covered in cheese and a whole host of other ingredients strewn around the rest of the plate. Rachel said she felt silly eating it "It looks like I'm a little child who's been playing with my food!" It really was looking like a road accident and there were a ridiculous amount of components to the dish. The buttery sauce in the middle was overpowering in the extreme. I tasted as much of the dish as I could but everything that had been in contact with the yellowy sauce was completely overpowered by it. Dessert of "Lemon" was a rice pudding which I found a little heavy, Lemon flavoured meringue straws, a lemon froth surrounding a lemon sorbet and I'm sure there was some more lemon in there somewhere. Overall not a bad dish but by this time I was tired of eating and if it hadn't been a set price I wouldn't have ordered a dessert. Rachel's final dish has completely slipped my mind but looked a like a Martian landscape and was largely unappreciated. It should be mentioned at this stage that neither of us had completely finished any of our dishes (Rachel's main went virtually untouched), at no point during our meal were we asked if everything was OK and no comment was passed on the dishes that were left. Overall a massive disappointment. The style of cooking meant that everything was exceptionally busy and balance was not achieved, in fact the dishes had so many components that I Imagine that a balance would be impossible to achieve. It seems like Tom Aikens has a massive food arsenal to use, only trouble is he's tried to put it all on one plate.

Unfortuantely I never got to the chips - eaten without being offered

I'm pretty sure La Trompette had the Rib there from day one?

Marlyn, I don't mean to pick holes but on your site you have two people reviewing the same meal. The first (you?) says the second Quite a disparity wouldn't you agree?

Are you still paying?

The service is a mystery - I've always found this to be a strong point of the restaurant. The sea bass is alos a little strange, on my last visit we were advised that it would be served translucent and having seen the cooking method I'm very surprised that it was dry

Excellent dinner here on Monday night, the restaurant was full and is an indication of the restaurants quality although tonight we had slightly below par service. I can only really detail what I ate. I started with "Courgette flower and brandade fritter with tomato and olive salad", nice light batter with creamy brandade, excellent quality tomatoes and Olives. Other starters included "Mackerel salad with beetroot, grain mustard, watercress and pancetta", "Half a roast quail with stuffed cabbage, foie gras and tarragon" and "Vegetable risotto with red mullet and basil" all of which were much appreciated. For main course I had "Belly and fillet of pork with summer bean cassoulet, chorizo and salsa verde" which was exactly as it said on the menu, excellent pork belly which had been rolled, small slices of pork fillet which were nicely pink and a scattering of summer beans, Chorizo and Salsa Verde. Very nice indeed. The other mains were a "Côte de boeuf with hand cut chips and béarnaise sauce" for 2 people. This carried a £5 supplement but the quality of the beef was excellent and cooked perfectly rare, good thick chips as well. "Roast coquelet with herb stuffing, gnocchi parmentier, morels and pan juices" was as Rachel had a few weeks ago. This time Rachel chose "Confit and magret of duck with salade paysanne and pomme sarladaise". I only got to taste a small bit of the confit leg which was outstanding. All the dishes were met with approval from the rest of the table. I've forgotten desserts. I'm not an expert on wines so excuse my basic descriptions :lol: Larmandier-Bernier Blanc de Blancs 1er cru N.V. - First time I had tried this and very agreeable it was as well. Chablis 2000, Laurent Tribut - £32 - "delicious" seemed to be the general consensus but my personal favourite was: Cornas 1997, Alain Voge - £40 - which really was "Delicious" Overall another good meal but service was not quite up to the standard of the food. Nobody could answer our questions about the beef and coquelet beyond "it's Scottish" and "it's French" and two of the desserts came out several minutes after the first two. We had to pour our wine on several occasions - not something that bothers me too much if they don't pour the wine, but nothing worse than a waiter running up as you are halfway through topping up a glass.

But have you seen what London restaurants pay in rent! I appreciate that some things may be a little cheaper in London but wouldn't the property costs more than make up for it? Incidentally £45 for 8 courses doesn't seem nearly as excessive as £45 for 4 courses - regardless of the star.

How do you cook a potato in a tandoor? Quickly

A lot of people may disagree but I still like Nisbets. It's better if you've got a big order so that you get free delivery and discounts start when you reach the £90 mark. They often have specials which I find hard to beat. Good prices on Black Iron pans which everybody should have I find it easier to order the brochure than to browse on the net where they don't seem to have quite as much stuff although this may just be an illusion. http://www.nisbets.co.uk/

Why is this the most ridiculous? I have the English version and aside from some of the hard to find ingredients it is fantatically written and very beautiful. Lamb with curry jus (excuse the dark picture) Fillet of beef with bacon (accompanied by my own poor looking parmesan and onion tart)

There was Argentinian beef in my local Tescos a couple of days ago, not specially advertised or priced. They also had Brazilian beef in boxes and it actually looked fairly decent!