Gordon Ramsay at the London

[johnder]

When you walk through the door you immediately come upon a reservation podium/desk. The usually have between 2-3 people at this podium.

To the left of the desk/podium is the London bar dining room which has all the tables for dinner. Straight ahead is the bar, and on the right side of the room is the casual bar area with banquet seating.

If you walk straight ahead to the bar and hang a left and walk past all the tables for the London Bar, there is a set of double doors that lead into the main (formal) dining room.

[Ling]

Is the a la carte menu available at lunch?

[johnder]

I am not sure, I know they have a prix-fixe 3 course for lunch at $45.

You have a choice of 3 picks for each course. If I had to guess I would think they would have an a la carte too, but you may want to double check.

[SusanGiff]

My husband and I went for lunch last week. As I recall, there was the three-course prix-fixe with a limited selection, and also an $80 menu with a bit more on offer. I don't believe there was a straight a la carte (with each item priced separately). Nor do I recall why we went for the $80 one! More tempting stuff on that side of the menu, I think. But the $45 menu is a fantastic deal.

Susan

[Ling]

^Yes, I've seen the $45 and $80 menus. I thought the items on the a la carte menu looked much more interesting. (I was particularly interested in the sweetbreads.) Ah well. I'm sure it'll be a good lunch regardless.

[BryanZ]

Is there even an a la carte menu in the main dining room? I don't think there is.

Also, Augieland just made a great post about the GR Chef's Table in his blog. Certainly worth checking out.

[docsconz]

Is there even an a la carte menu in the main dining room?  I don't think there is.

Also, Augieland just made a great post about the GR Chef's Table in his blog.  Certainly worth checking out.

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Interestingly, there were a few items in his dinner that seemed to come from the Bar menu such as the beets and the scallops. Yje location of the table is a front row seat to the action, though nicely and safely tucked into an alcove. It does look as if it would be great fun.

[johnder]

Is there even an a la carte menu in the main dining room?  I don't think there is.

There is a 3 course prix fixe menu in the main room for $80. You can choose from 8 starters and 8 mains as well as desert.

[BryanZ]

Indeed. I don't know where people got the impression you could go a la carte in the main dining room.

[SusanGiff]

From the restaurant itself. When I checked out the PDFs of the menus online, I noticed that the more extensive (expensive) one is headed "a la carte."

Edited December 13, 2006 by SusanGiff (log)

[R Washburn]

From the restaurant itself. When I checked out the PDFs of the menus online, I noticed that the more extensive (expensive) one is headed "a la carte."

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Yes, I found that rather confusing, but I ended up ordering off the prix-fixe $45 menu anyway.

[BryanZ]

We'll file this under the "trainers" category and call it a day.

[bbq chef]

Had dinner there last night. Gordon was in house, said that he was there 7 days a week for all the services since opening. Even got to see him in action in the kitchen cursing at one of the commis.

[oakapple]

Had dinner there last night.  Gordon was in house, said that he was there 7 days a week for all the services since opening.  Even got to see him in action in the kitchen cursing at one of the commis.

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I think we'll see a lot less of him after the major reviews come out.

[Andy Lynes]

Gordon was in house, said that he was there 7 days a week for all the services since opening.

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Evidence to the contrary. Restaurant magazine in the UK also reported that Ramsay had been spotted dining at Nobu in London three days after the New York opening. Ramsay was also due to be cooking a gala dinner in Vere in Dubai on the 2 and 3 December.

[johnder]

Gordon was in house, said that he was there 7 days a week for all the services since opening.

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Evidence to the contrary. Restaurant magazine in the UK also reported that Ramsay had been spotted dining at Nobu in London three days after the New York opening. Ramsay was also due to be cooking a gala dinner in Vere in Dubai on the 2 and 3 December.

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In both times I was there for dinner (once in the main room and once in the london bar) he wasn't there unfortunately.

john

[docsconz]

Gordon was in house, said that he was there 7 days a week for all the services since opening.

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Evidence to the contrary. Restaurant magazine in the UK also reported that Ramsay had been spotted dining at Nobu in London three days after the New York opening. Ramsay was also due to be cooking a gala dinner in Vere in Dubai on the 2 and 3 December.

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In both times I was there for dinner (once in the main room and once in the london bar) he wasn't there unfortunately.

john

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While he certainly wasn't there while we were, we did have a late reservation. It is possible that he had been in earlier and left. It does, however, seem very unlikely that he would have been therre and in Dubai at the same time, so unless he didn't do that gala dinner that Andy referred to, he could not have been at the restaurant on the 2nd and 3rd of December.

[Ling]

Lucky for us, Gordon was there on the 14th!

more lunch pics here

[Nathan]

I ate at the London Bar last night.

The room was never more than two-thirds full. Crowd was 98% over 40 (the exception being a couple of young dates -- I mean "nieces" -- with older gentlemen). A fair amount of solo diners at tables. I ate at the bar.

The bar tenders are somewhat competent (decent sidecar, poor Old Raj martini -- even with my specifications), the cocktail list is composed of relative classics -- Pimm's Cup, Diablo.

Wine by the glass list tends expensive ($12-49) with most being in the $20 range. I had a very nice Albarino that I would have liked more if it hadn't been $20. I did notice one "bargain" -- 97 Chateau Yquem for $49. I imagine that there are similar relatively well-priced glasses and bottles at the high end.

menu is composed of small plates, very small plates. prices range from $12 to $20. two tasting menus are available: 4 courses (3 savory, one dessert) for $55 or 6 (4 savory, two desserts) for $75. these save you a few bucks over the alacarte pricing for the same dishes (one or two were not on the alacarte menu), but not much.

I had a late lunch so I went with three dishes alacarte.

began with the white onion velouté with duck ragout and shaved Pèrigord truffle.

this was terrific. creamy, smooth, velvety, redolent with truffle...presentation was very classic. Technically sound but earthy. I liked this a lot. at this point I'm thinking this place is a better version of Bar Room at the Modern, at a higher price point (the dishes are quite a bar larger at Bar Room).

then I had the arctic char and pork belly with sauerkraut and raisins. this was pretty good but not especially interesting. the arctic char dish at Bar Room (the place most roughly comparable to the London Bar) is better.

finished with the twice cooked poussin with prunes and in a foie gras velouté. The velouté was terrific (Ramsay really does these well by all accounts), the poussin was not. flavorless and over-cooked (is that the point of twice cooking?).

obviously this is just a small sampling of the menu. there is much that I wouldn't mind trying. but I'm more interested in the main dining room now...for the price of a full meal here (six-eight courses), you might as well eat in the main dining room and get the full experience. overall, I have to prefer Bar Room at the Modern....although individual dishes may well be better at the London Bar (that white onion velouté for instance).

[flinflon28]

I ate at the London Bar last night.

The room was never more than two-thirds full.  Crowd was 98% over 40 (the exception being a couple of young dates -- I mean "nieces" -- with older gentlemen).  A fair amount of solo diners at tables.  I ate at the bar.

The bar tenders are somewhat competent (decent sidecar, poor Old Raj martini -- even with my specifications), the cocktail list is composed of relative classics -- Pimm's Cup, Diablo.

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Interesting..when I went there for a drink the weekend before Christmas I sat at the bar and was told that they most certainly did not serve food there. I didn't want to sit at a table so it was a bit dissapointing. Had two modestly priced beer and left.

[Nathan]

hmmm...they didn't blink an eye. maybe they've adjusted to NY customs by now.

btw, I just checked, the retail on that 97 Yquem is $275 for a bottle (if you can find it...it seems to be out of stock everywhere).

that makes that glass price an extraordinary deal.

[Fat Guy]

While he certainly wasn't there while we were, we did have a late reservation. It is possible that he had been in earlier and left. It does, however, seem very unlikely that he would have been therre and in Dubai at the same time, so unless he didn't do that gala dinner that Andy referred to, he could not have been at the restaurant on the 2nd and 3rd of December.

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I have no idea where he was on any given day, however it's worth noting that he has a G5 at his disposal. The world is a whole lot smaller when you have a private jet. You can be in London for lunch and New York for dinner no problem.

[little ms foodie]

4 of us had really fantastic lunch at GR while visiting NYCl last month. A few months earlier we had eaten at Petrus in London and saw many similarities- I would say that the high level of service and the fabulous food at both these places have definately turned me into a fan of GR.

When we entered the London we were quite confused by the casual London Bar since we couldn't see the main dining room. We sat and had some very nice drinks while we watched many people come in very casually dressed and have lunch.

Then we were shown into the dining room which is much smaller than I expected and very beautiful. It reminded me very much of the room at Le Bristol in Paris.

(this picture was taken on our way out as you can see there are only a few people left and there is an iron on one of the tables! they asked all of us if we minded them getting ready for dinner service)

amuses were brought out- fab foie gras and cream cheese with truffles

and then another amuse after checking with us all regarding likes, dislikes, allergies, etc.

a gorgeous mushroom cappucino with black truffles inside, on top and these other beautiful tiny little mushrooms

when we inquired about how they find such teeny tiny shrooms our table manager brought out a whole little dish of them and told us about how they are grown. very nice.

wines were picked with the help of the sommelier (sp) and I have to say the prices and selection were excellent!

we all had the $45 3 course lunch

first courses included the ballotine of foie gras

butternut squash veloute with scallops and tortellini

pan fried mackeral

mains were the stuffed rabbit completely wrapped in proscuitto (it looked like a parma ham! )

and the roasted leg of lamb which was amazing!

the waiter was very nice to let my girlfriend and I substitute the cheese course for our dessert and we each picked 5 gorgeous cheeses- allow we both thought their goat cheeses were VERY mild in flavor.

the boys had desserts (can't remember what they were) I loved the halved berries stuffed in the this one

and the Gin jelly on this one!

Bon Bon trolley and digestifs finished off a very enjoyable lunch! will definately return for a dinner service there in the future

[Daniel]

Yesterday, we had a really average experience at Gordon Ramsey.. From the Service, the Room, and the Food we were really disappointed..

Service: There were a couple of things that really bothered me and a few things which were just service errors that I do not mind, but there were clear mistakes for a restaurant that wants to uphold a certain level of service.. The first mistake which I was really upset by was my experience with the wine steward.. After ordering the Prestige Menu, we were faced with the decision og wine.. I asked him if he could pair wine with the courses and if he could keep it down to a hundred dollars for the both of us.. He said there would definitely be no problem with that.. When the check came, our wine bill was 150 dollars.. That was really huge.. Whatever, its only 50 bucks more, but if you think about it percentage wise, I should have been asked.. Also, I had asked him to not serve me certain wines with certain tastes to them.. I felt my request was ignored again.. My Second major problem was one of our waiters had an incredibly strong accent.. His accent was so thick, I was unable to communicate with him.. It was very unfortunate that he served us cheese and final desserts.. "I have this selection of "Archh" Cheeses for you.. " I asked, "Ash cheese? What is Ash Cheese" No,no Archhhh cheese, arcchhhhh cheese" Hard? Hard? is that what you are saying? And it got worse and worse.. It really took away from the experience and we missed a lot.. It made everything uncomfortable.. After lunch we felt like we were being pushed out and that some how the service just stopped.. While waiting for our check there were people wait staff standing around having conversations in front of us.. One person shut off the lights to the dining room which started the room laughing.. I waited maybe 7 minutes for my change.. It was strange.

The room itself is nothing impressive.. I found small, it was hot, they left the door open to bar area and you could hear outside noise from the bar.. It was just ok.. I felt it was gaudy.. I liked the chairs, hated the huge red exit signs over the entrance to the kitchen and bar area.. Nothing special..

The food.. This is why I really come to a restaurant... Despite the problems nothing would have mattered if the food was superb.. But, it just wasnt.. Besides an extremely average to poor Venison Dish, everything was good..Nothing super exciting, but everything was good to above average..

Here is the amuse.. Which happened to be wonderful. Perhaps my favorite dish of the meal.. It was a tomato water gele with bacon onion cream.. Loved the tomato and onion cream together.. Nice little piece of bacon on top..

Foie Gras terrine with layers of smoked duck breast.. Served with pickled vegetables and celeriac puree, a brioche toast, and I think a beet sauce.. The drizzled sauce was tasteless.. This dish was fine.. I liked the idea that they played with putting smoked duck in between, however, I would have preferred no duck.. The brioche was nice, a little on the dry side.. It was really crumby..

Lobster Ravioli served over steamed romaine lettuce and fish stock.. I liked this dish.. The inside of the ravioli was just lobster with a little fresh herb.. The romaine was most likely pain fried and then steamed in the pan.. It had a little char taste. Dish was a little salt.. I would be happy to have this as an appetizer at a China Grill or some trendy place..

Inside:

Sea Bass with an assortment of stewed peppers then an artichoke veloute was poured over table side.. This was a delicate lovely dish.. Liked how the bright gentle pepper infused through out the dish.. The Sea Bass was cooked well. My girl thought it was ok..

Venison with roasted beet and mushroom sauce.. Then there was supposed to be some bittersweet chocolate sauce poured over.. This dish was a complete nightmare.. I was surprised that I was asked in the beginning of the meal how we liked our Venison cooked.. I jokingly said, barely cooked.. I said, just cook it very medium rare.. When the meat arrived it was a way over cooked.. Not to mention, I felt the Venison was gamey and not good piece of meat before cooking.. I gave my girl my beet, she gave me her Venison..

Here comes the cheese cart.. I felt the selection of cheeses was ok. Nothing overly impressive or hard to find cheeses.. The majority could be found at a Zabars or something.. Plus, we were presented this by a person we were unable to communicate with..

Next came a little pineapple granita served over a puree.. Nice little dessert..

Apricot souffle.. Thought the quality of the souffle itself was high.. There was a great airiness to the egg.. I liked the nuts and the ice cream you put in.. Really nice execution..

Finally we had access to the dessert cart.. Again, served by the man we were unable to speak with.. It was just easier to ask for everything on the cart.. My favorite thing was the marshmallow and the popcorn.. They also offered cotton candy, caramels, and various chocolates.. The macaroons we received were not good..

I dont know.. This place just really isnt for me.. I felt like the place was more style over substance..Too delicate, too cutesy, not enough real cooking or solid dishes.. I left unfulfilled and underwhelmed..

Edited January 14, 2007 by Daniel (log)

[little ms foodie]

Daniel that is horrible that your service was so bad, I would let them know! The wine thing is a big deal I think. I think we had the same server for the cheese and bon bons.

I'm very surprised that they left the door open to the other room but even if they had closed it you still wouldn't have liked it so I guess they can't change that, everyone likes and dislikes certain things. but the other points to your service are definately things that they should at least apologize for. How disappointing for you and you girl!