Semplice, Mayfair.

[david goodfellow]

Michelin starred and boasting "Best value set lunch award Tatler Magazine 2009" Semplice certainly seemed appealing.

Chef Marco Torri has a very impressive cv, as has Giovanni Baldino, manager and co owner.

We liked the high decibel room with its golden wave walls, interspersed with zebrano relief and low lighting.

We plumped for the high value lunch which was £25 for three courses including coffee and a glass of wine. Some of you may be relieved to know I lost my notes so this review will be short.

I remember that I had some superb bucatini with ham, can't remember what the wife had, nor can she. We both had a very generous serving of Tagliata, an Italian classic dish of good quality sirloin steak which was accompanied by some fluffy mash and a pond of tasty sauce.

We chose an extra course off the carte,Roast wild Duck, scottish mixed mushrooms, new potato, globe artichokes, red wine sauce. This was tasty, but unremarkable in as much that it was a simple dish. Desserts were well, not memorable.

What was memorable, was the shoddy service and the worst bread that we have eaten in any restaurant this year, it was a shocker.

By her own admission my wife has weak wrists, but still could not manage to tear this hockey puck in two.

Our young lady servers managed to miss the water glasses on three separate occasions with one spillage requiring one of them to put a napkin over to dry it out. Now I know that we males are prone to missing our target sometimes but not three out of three.

The smartly dressed ladies next to us were happy bunnies except that when the one closest to me became animated the whiff of stale talc (or was it cheap perfume)added an unwelcome aroma to my meal.

We had parked the car in a multi storey off Oxford St about eight minutes away from the restaurant and the ticket was in the four hour zone, which gives you some idea of how painfully slow this lunch had been

Perhaps things were destined on this day not to be perfect, we have certainly had more than our share of great experiences recently, so its perhaps good to be philosophical, having said that I am not inclined to make another visit anytime soon.

Edited December 3, 2009 by david goodfellow (log)

[Man]

Oh oh David, looks like we have to update our two years old review! If things are so dire service-wise and unenthusing food-wise (even if it was the cut-price lunch) I wouldn't place any bets on their retaining their star. I know Baldino from the Latium days and he is very meticulous with staff training - if this kind of service is tolerated something may be afoot...

There are so many other Italian options available in London now, the scene is really changing fast in this department. As I wrote here a few weeks back, for simple but fine Italian food I was impressed by the new chef (ex Latium) at Osteria dell' Angolo. I was deeply disappointed by Dolada, on which I had set too high expectations. My favourite remains Latium.

On Sunday I am having my first Heinz Beck-like experience at Apsleys...which however will come just one day after Hibiscus, so it's going to be a tall order to impress!

[david goodfellow]

Oh oh David, looks like we have to update our two years old review! If things are so dire service-wise and unenthusing food-wise (even if it was the cut-price lunch) I wouldn't place any bets on their retaining their star. I know Baldino from the Latium days and he is very meticulous with staff training - if this kind of service is tolerated something may be afoot...

There are so many other Italian options available in London now, the scene is really changing fast in this department. As I wrote here a few weeks back, for simple but fine Italian food I was impressed by the new chef (ex Latium) at Osteria dell' Angolo. I was deeply disappointed by Dolada, on which I had set too high expectations. My favourite remains Latium.

On Sunday I am having my first Heinz Beck-like experience at Apsleys...which however will come just one day after Hibiscus, so it's going to be a tall order to impress!

Giovanni Baldino is a seasoned campaigner, a consommate professional, with the ability to charm the birds from the trees. Sadly he can not clone himself and his staff let him down.

Apart from the water incidents, one of the young ladies could not answer any questions as she did not understand or speak English.Another (male) waiter laid the table for a savoury course even though we had progressed to dessert. Service was extremely slow although I put this partly down to the kitchn.

The food was not at all bad but apart from the bucatini it was mediocre, not really my idea of Michelin quality.

Moving forward to your weekend it looks to me your in for a real treat, here's hoping your reports will be of the positive nature

[Man]

Moving forward to your weekend it looks to me your in for a real treat, here's hoping your reports will be of the positive nature

I can confirm the one on Hibiscus will be positive (though from today's experience talk of 3* is excessive).

[Man]

Semplice has folded, at least in its present from. The website has vague talk of closure till mid-September to reopen with a new menu. What it really means is that chef Marco Torri won't be there any longer. Baldino the manager had already left a while ago (rumour is that he'll appear at Novikov at some point).