Hush?

[Akiko]

Has anyone eaten here?

I've been to have drinks but have never had dinner and am curious....

[Andy Lynes]

I ate there when Henry Harris was head chef and as he's now moved on, my opinion is not going to count for a great deal. However, I didn't like the space, the upstairs restaurant is open to a bloody great noisy bar, you get the feeling that the food is not top of the agenda there. Maybe that's why Henry didn't last very long there (although he refuses to talk about it. To me at least!).

http://www.hush.co.uk

[Scott]

Unspeakably bad.

Had dinner there last night - not my idea I hasten to add.

prices stratospheric for quality of cooking - ok'ish.

Within 10 minutes of finishing our starter, the main's had arrived - which as we had just ordered another bottle of white was most inconvenient. Within 55 minutes of ordering, we had dessert menu's in our hands. we then told them to take them back, bring us some red wine and go away until we were ready. When we explained that we were unhappy with the rush, our waiter agreed with us but said it was policy of the house!!!

Yes, of course service was slow, of course the bill was wrong, of course they tried to bully us into taking a different bottle of port to what we ordered - all de rigeur for the calamity of hush.

The food - now, I'm pissed off.

My starter of scallops, was perfectly ok. 3 trimmed, and gently seared scallops on a bed of artichoke with salsify & spinach. not exciting, but correct. very meagre portion for £13.50.

now my beef main looked the part, it really did - if you can't be adequate, at least look the part.

Thick fillet, topped with gruyere & a tomato concasse, on a bed of spinach with cubes of 'truffled celeriac'. I believe a truffle may have been waved in it's direction, but I can't be certain.

The meat was chewy & sinewy, with the texture of rubber. How a fine piece of beef ends so poor I don't know. it wasn't inedible, it aspired to adequacy, it might have been ok at Little Chef, but for £26 I felt like calling the fraud squad.

Sides are mandatory, portions are neither big enough or interesting enough to go without. We ordered 2 spinach and 2 spring vegetable at £5 each! Once these arrived, they apportioned amongst the 4 of us such that I received no spinach, and another no vegetable.

We mentioned that we ordered 2 of each, and were swiftly rebutted that we had indeed received 2 of each.

My vegetables comprised of, 1 baby corn stalk halved length wise, 1 baby carrot, 1 inch piece of braised celery & 2 tiny, spring onion stalks. All very badly overcooked.

This was 1/3 of 2 serves spring vegetables. I could have picked them all up in a single swoop of my fork. the spinach, was no more plentiful on the plates opposite me. £20 worth of sides????

Instead of desert, I had cheese. 3 small'ish slices served to me with quite tasty walnut bread. The waiter did not, and it turned out, could not identify them for me - if you serve them straight from the kitchen, surely someone knows what they are!!!!!!!

The wine list was not bad, though the markup's quite fearsome.

A very nice Katnook estate Sauvignon blanc, 2001 from the coonawarra. Aromatic, hernaceous and a nice fine, mineral finish. £32.50 for a wine they wholesaled from Bibendum at approximate £8.95.

Cascabel 2000 Shiraz, southern fleurieu winery, just south of Mclaren Vale. Now I know this wine well, as I am familiar with the couple of make this baby. it's great value, mouthfilling shiraz. Not overoaked, faintly peppery, sweet fruit & a gamey complexity. Wholesaled for about £9.95 from Bibendum, sold at Hush for £35.

The Cascabel grenache was house red at Petrus & Chez Bruce a year or so back at £16 on the list - just a bit of reference there.

with 4 bottles of the modest wine, the bill came to £110 each for 4 of us.

over £50 for food. Now in this, there was no Amuse served, no pre-dessert or petit fours with coffee. I don't especially value these touches, but that money I can't believe they weren't offered!

I have certainly had worse meals, but never a more overrpriced one.

The price is (2?) michelin starred, the quality - neighbourhood bistro.

deeply unacceptable

Edited May 30, 2003 by Scott (log)

[StephenT]

Sides are mandatory, portions are neither big enough or interesting enough to go without.  We ordered 2 spinach and 2 spring vegetable at £5 each!  Once these arrived, they apportioned amongst the 4 of us such that I received no spinach, and another no vegetable. 

We mentioned that we ordered 2 of each, and were swiftly rebutted that we had indeed received 2 of each.

Ah, you should follow the "never order more than one of the same side dish" rule for just this reason

[SamanthaF]

mmmm.....so you'll be rushing back then?

I'd have been crying - just think what you could have spent £110.00 on in London - that's at least half a pair of shooes

[circeplum]

and the guys behind it (roger moore's son and his permatanned pal) have just bought che, so be afraid ...

m

[Scott]

mmmm.....so you'll be rushing back then?

I'd have been crying - just think what you could have spent £110.00 on in London - that's at least half a pair of shooes

what could it have bought?

an adequate meal !!!

[CheGuevara]

a few issues ago - restaurant magazine came out with a cover story on moore jr. - as andy suggested, food is not the predominant preoccupation of the management at his restaurants. moore jr. described his competitive advantage, better termed differentiation, as a space for jet setters and those who wish to be, where they can relax and enjoy themselves without the undue attention usually bestowed upon such individuals. what a load of bollocks as you'd say here. its worth noting nevertheless, that you wouldn't expect most of today's "jet setters" - the justin timebrlakes of our global society, requiring labels to distinguish quality - to appreciate anything more than a grilled-cheese, so maybe he is doing the right thing, financially speaking.

-che

Edited May 30, 2003 by CheGuevara (log)

[Akiko]

HEY! There's a lot to be said for a good grilled cheese sandwich...

Thanks Scott, I know better now about eating at Hush...

[CheGuevara]

HEY!  There's a lot to be said for a good grilled cheese sandwich...

Thanks Scott, I know better now about eating at Hush...

especially when you're lugging behind a wretched hangover!!

-che