Dinner at Claridges 29th January 2011 at 6.30 pm.
Discussion
These are my opinions and i am not interested in a debate !!
Dinner at Claridges 29th January 2011 at 6.30 pm.
We arrived early and were shown to our table immediately a good start to the evening.
Presented with the menu and the wine list, although the concept of the wine list on the iPad is a great idea in principle it still requires refinement, in so far as there did not seem to be any further information with relation to the wines available, so in reality it is not self service as you still need to speak to the Sommelier.
Myself and my wife both had the taster menu. I must applaud the restaurant for having a taster menu with not just read meat on it, so I was able to enjoy the taster menu.
Let me some up the experience it one sentence it was like “being at the Yo Sushi of Fine Dining.”
Within 1.5 hours we had been forced to eat 6 courses, which by any expectation is a lot of food in such a space of time, it was like being cattle on a conveyor belt being forced to feed.
The food itself in my opinion was nothing special, the lobster ravioli was over cooked (pasta and the actual lobster meat itself). The fish was very well cooked for my main course but again the lobster pieces were overcooked. The Veal with shepherd’s pie, the mash potatoes on top tasted like smash, there was also a peculiar taste in the meat and the only way I can describe it was a chemical taste weird and not very pleasant. This maybe an issue with oven's or cooking method, all I can only say is it was not nice!. I did not send my dish back as I did not want to make a fuss however I did make the staff aware. The veal was cooked well and was overall nice, however again I could not pin point but something with this dish was not very pleasant on the pallet. Overall I think the food really lacked “Star Quality.”
The waiters table was located directly behind us and the waiters were making unprofessional comments about fellow diners, in earshot of us. The staff were chatting about the man in the white shirt they were also discussing each other and their roles from a earlier meeting, I assume prior to service. A female member of staff were discussing this for around 10mins. I feel this type of conversation should occur outside of the dining room. This is unacceptable behaviour in a restaurant of such reputed quality, it is very unprofessional and distracting.
Manager type person asking us what the special occasion was, for us to be dining at Claridges. Does there have to be a special occasion for us to dine here ?. Can we not go out and enjoy fine dining just for the sake of it.
On discussion and placing our complaint the Maitre’d agreed that there were far too many customers for service he also stated the chef had brought this to the attention of management. It would also seem the staff are also unhappy and yet not being listened too let alone the customer. The demand to eat at Gordon Ramsey's restaurants from the general public seem to be at the detriment of the level of service and quality of the fine dining experience. I would not rate our experience as fine dining I would rate this conveyer belt - pile them in high and get them out. I personally had far more enjoyable experience in the York & Albany with excellent food/ service and atmosphere. The Maitre’d also stated that you compete alongside La Gavroche, based on our experience there is no competition between the two restaurants at all, La Gavroche wins hands down.
Please excuse my language, What really pissed me off was that 3 weeks earlier I had been turned away from a lunch booking at the restaurant when
I was wearing trainers, jeans and a shirt – which is justified and acceptable. On the evening in question a fellow diner arrived wearing trainers, rolled up khaki sports trousers so I would question the validity of actually allowing this diner to be present in the dining room at a dinner service on a Saturday evening. I was turned away from my lunch booking yet this diner was allowed to dine ?. From my perspective I have ended paying £244, around £140 more then I would have done for lunch for a meal that frankly was average at best and experience not very enjoyable.
Excerpt from Gordon Ramsey.com “Dress code Smart. No trainers, shorts or sportswear“ and Claridges own website “Dress code: smart, jacket preferred.” So I ask the question why was I turned away for a lunch booking yet another diner for dinner on a Saturday night was not treated the same but allowed to dine, so this some form of covert discrimination ?.,
I would like to round off by stating the food was average, service mediocre and attention to detail poor. I would rate the experience as a 6/10 at best. This all points to the reason why the restaurant have lost the Michelin star and is a long way off from regaining it, but we will wait to see on this point.
Please note that this is not my first time at such a restaurant but it will be my last at Claridges, the experience was poor.
Dinner at Claridges 29th January 2011 at 6.30 pm.
We arrived early and were shown to our table immediately a good start to the evening.
Presented with the menu and the wine list, although the concept of the wine list on the iPad is a great idea in principle it still requires refinement, in so far as there did not seem to be any further information with relation to the wines available, so in reality it is not self service as you still need to speak to the Sommelier.
Myself and my wife both had the taster menu. I must applaud the restaurant for having a taster menu with not just read meat on it, so I was able to enjoy the taster menu.
Let me some up the experience it one sentence it was like “being at the Yo Sushi of Fine Dining.”
Within 1.5 hours we had been forced to eat 6 courses, which by any expectation is a lot of food in such a space of time, it was like being cattle on a conveyor belt being forced to feed.
The food itself in my opinion was nothing special, the lobster ravioli was over cooked (pasta and the actual lobster meat itself). The fish was very well cooked for my main course but again the lobster pieces were overcooked. The Veal with shepherd’s pie, the mash potatoes on top tasted like smash, there was also a peculiar taste in the meat and the only way I can describe it was a chemical taste weird and not very pleasant. This maybe an issue with oven's or cooking method, all I can only say is it was not nice!. I did not send my dish back as I did not want to make a fuss however I did make the staff aware. The veal was cooked well and was overall nice, however again I could not pin point but something with this dish was not very pleasant on the pallet. Overall I think the food really lacked “Star Quality.”
The waiters table was located directly behind us and the waiters were making unprofessional comments about fellow diners, in earshot of us. The staff were chatting about the man in the white shirt they were also discussing each other and their roles from a earlier meeting, I assume prior to service. A female member of staff were discussing this for around 10mins. I feel this type of conversation should occur outside of the dining room. This is unacceptable behaviour in a restaurant of such reputed quality, it is very unprofessional and distracting.
Manager type person asking us what the special occasion was, for us to be dining at Claridges. Does there have to be a special occasion for us to dine here ?. Can we not go out and enjoy fine dining just for the sake of it.
On discussion and placing our complaint the Maitre’d agreed that there were far too many customers for service he also stated the chef had brought this to the attention of management. It would also seem the staff are also unhappy and yet not being listened too let alone the customer. The demand to eat at Gordon Ramsey's restaurants from the general public seem to be at the detriment of the level of service and quality of the fine dining experience. I would not rate our experience as fine dining I would rate this conveyer belt - pile them in high and get them out. I personally had far more enjoyable experience in the York & Albany with excellent food/ service and atmosphere. The Maitre’d also stated that you compete alongside La Gavroche, based on our experience there is no competition between the two restaurants at all, La Gavroche wins hands down.
Please excuse my language, What really pissed me off was that 3 weeks earlier I had been turned away from a lunch booking at the restaurant when
I was wearing trainers, jeans and a shirt – which is justified and acceptable. On the evening in question a fellow diner arrived wearing trainers, rolled up khaki sports trousers so I would question the validity of actually allowing this diner to be present in the dining room at a dinner service on a Saturday evening. I was turned away from my lunch booking yet this diner was allowed to dine ?. From my perspective I have ended paying £244, around £140 more then I would have done for lunch for a meal that frankly was average at best and experience not very enjoyable.
Excerpt from Gordon Ramsey.com “Dress code Smart. No trainers, shorts or sportswear“ and Claridges own website “Dress code: smart, jacket preferred.” So I ask the question why was I turned away for a lunch booking yet another diner for dinner on a Saturday night was not treated the same but allowed to dine, so this some form of covert discrimination ?.,
I would like to round off by stating the food was average, service mediocre and attention to detail poor. I would rate the experience as a 6/10 at best. This all points to the reason why the restaurant have lost the Michelin star and is a long way off from regaining it, but we will wait to see on this point.
Please note that this is not my first time at such a restaurant but it will be my last at Claridges, the experience was poor.
Ej74 said:
These are my opinions and i am not interested in a debate !!
Dinner at Claridges 29th January 2011 at 6.30 pm.
We arrived early and were shown to our table immediately a good start to the evening.
Presented with the menu and the wine list, although the concept of the wine list on the iPad is a great idea in principle it still requires refinement, in so far as there did not seem to be any further information with relation to the wines available, so in reality it is not self service as you still need to speak to the Sommelier.
Myself and my wife both had the taster menu. I must applaud the restaurant for having a taster menu with not just read meat on it, so I was able to enjoy the taster menu.
Let me some up the experience it one sentence it was like “being at the Yo Sushi of Fine Dining.”
Within 1.5 hours we had been forced to eat 6 courses, which by any expectation is a lot of food in such a space of time, it was like being cattle on a conveyor belt being forced to feed.
The food itself in my opinion was nothing special, the lobster ravioli was over cooked (pasta and the actual lobster meat itself). The fish was very well cooked for my main course but again the lobster pieces were overcooked. The Veal with shepherd’s pie, the mash potatoes on top tasted like smash, there was also a peculiar taste in the meat and the only way I can describe it was a chemical taste weird and not very pleasant. This maybe an issue with oven's or cooking method, all I can only say is it was not nice!. I did not send my dish back as I did not want to make a fuss however I did make the staff aware. The veal was cooked well and was overall nice, however again I could not pin point but something with this dish was not very pleasant on the pallet. Overall I think the food really lacked “Star Quality.”
The waiters table was located directly behind us and the waiters were making unprofessional comments about fellow diners, in earshot of us. The staff were chatting about the man in the white shirt they were also discussing each other and their roles from a earlier meeting, I assume prior to service. A female member of staff were discussing this for around 10mins. I feel this type of conversation should occur outside of the dining room. This is unacceptable behaviour in a restaurant of such reputed quality, it is very unprofessional and distracting.
Manager type person asking us what the special occasion was, for us to be dining at Claridges. Does there have to be a special occasion for us to dine here ?. Can we not go out and enjoy fine dining just for the sake of it.
On discussion and placing our complaint the Maitre’d agreed that there were far too many customers for service he also stated the chef had brought this to the attention of management. It would also seem the staff are also unhappy and yet not being listened too let alone the customer. The demand to eat at Gordon Ramsey's restaurants from the general public seem to be at the detriment of the level of service and quality of the fine dining experience. I would not rate our experience as fine dining I would rate this conveyer belt - pile them in high and get them out. I personally had far more enjoyable experience in the York & Albany with excellent food/ service and atmosphere. The Maitre’d also stated that you compete alongside La Gavroche, based on our experience there is no competition between the two restaurants at all, La Gavroche wins hands down.
Please excuse my language, What really pissed me off was that 3 weeks earlier I had been turned away from a lunch booking at the restaurant when
I was wearing trainers, jeans and a shirt – which is justified and acceptable. On the evening in question a fellow diner arrived wearing trainers, rolled up khaki sports trousers so I would question the validity of actually allowing this diner to be present in the dining room at a dinner service on a Saturday evening. I was turned away from my lunch booking yet this diner was allowed to dine ?. From my perspective I have ended paying £244, around £140 more then I would have done for lunch for a meal that frankly was average at best and experience not very enjoyable.
Excerpt from Gordon Ramsey.com “Dress code Smart. No trainers, shorts or sportswear“ and Claridges own website “Dress code: smart, jacket preferred.” So I ask the question why was I turned away for a lunch booking yet another diner for dinner on a Saturday night was not treated the same but allowed to dine, so this some form of covert discrimination ?.,
I would like to round off by stating the food was average, service mediocre and attention to detail poor. I would rate the experience as a 6/10 at best. This all points to the reason why the restaurant have lost the Michelin star and is a long way off from regaining it, but we will wait to see on this point.
Please note that this is not my first time at such a restaurant but it will be my last at Claridges, the experience was poor.
Have you sent a letter of complaint?Dinner at Claridges 29th January 2011 at 6.30 pm.
We arrived early and were shown to our table immediately a good start to the evening.
Presented with the menu and the wine list, although the concept of the wine list on the iPad is a great idea in principle it still requires refinement, in so far as there did not seem to be any further information with relation to the wines available, so in reality it is not self service as you still need to speak to the Sommelier.
Myself and my wife both had the taster menu. I must applaud the restaurant for having a taster menu with not just read meat on it, so I was able to enjoy the taster menu.
Let me some up the experience it one sentence it was like “being at the Yo Sushi of Fine Dining.”
Within 1.5 hours we had been forced to eat 6 courses, which by any expectation is a lot of food in such a space of time, it was like being cattle on a conveyor belt being forced to feed.
The food itself in my opinion was nothing special, the lobster ravioli was over cooked (pasta and the actual lobster meat itself). The fish was very well cooked for my main course but again the lobster pieces were overcooked. The Veal with shepherd’s pie, the mash potatoes on top tasted like smash, there was also a peculiar taste in the meat and the only way I can describe it was a chemical taste weird and not very pleasant. This maybe an issue with oven's or cooking method, all I can only say is it was not nice!. I did not send my dish back as I did not want to make a fuss however I did make the staff aware. The veal was cooked well and was overall nice, however again I could not pin point but something with this dish was not very pleasant on the pallet. Overall I think the food really lacked “Star Quality.”
The waiters table was located directly behind us and the waiters were making unprofessional comments about fellow diners, in earshot of us. The staff were chatting about the man in the white shirt they were also discussing each other and their roles from a earlier meeting, I assume prior to service. A female member of staff were discussing this for around 10mins. I feel this type of conversation should occur outside of the dining room. This is unacceptable behaviour in a restaurant of such reputed quality, it is very unprofessional and distracting.
Manager type person asking us what the special occasion was, for us to be dining at Claridges. Does there have to be a special occasion for us to dine here ?. Can we not go out and enjoy fine dining just for the sake of it.
On discussion and placing our complaint the Maitre’d agreed that there were far too many customers for service he also stated the chef had brought this to the attention of management. It would also seem the staff are also unhappy and yet not being listened too let alone the customer. The demand to eat at Gordon Ramsey's restaurants from the general public seem to be at the detriment of the level of service and quality of the fine dining experience. I would not rate our experience as fine dining I would rate this conveyer belt - pile them in high and get them out. I personally had far more enjoyable experience in the York & Albany with excellent food/ service and atmosphere. The Maitre’d also stated that you compete alongside La Gavroche, based on our experience there is no competition between the two restaurants at all, La Gavroche wins hands down.
Please excuse my language, What really pissed me off was that 3 weeks earlier I had been turned away from a lunch booking at the restaurant when
I was wearing trainers, jeans and a shirt – which is justified and acceptable. On the evening in question a fellow diner arrived wearing trainers, rolled up khaki sports trousers so I would question the validity of actually allowing this diner to be present in the dining room at a dinner service on a Saturday evening. I was turned away from my lunch booking yet this diner was allowed to dine ?. From my perspective I have ended paying £244, around £140 more then I would have done for lunch for a meal that frankly was average at best and experience not very enjoyable.
Excerpt from Gordon Ramsey.com “Dress code Smart. No trainers, shorts or sportswear“ and Claridges own website “Dress code: smart, jacket preferred.” So I ask the question why was I turned away for a lunch booking yet another diner for dinner on a Saturday night was not treated the same but allowed to dine, so this some form of covert discrimination ?.,
I would like to round off by stating the food was average, service mediocre and attention to detail poor. I would rate the experience as a 6/10 at best. This all points to the reason why the restaurant have lost the Michelin star and is a long way off from regaining it, but we will wait to see on this point.
Please note that this is not my first time at such a restaurant but it will be my last at Claridges, the experience was poor.
I have no problem with any of your post except for this.
Also, if it's your birthday, they sometimes bring out a small cake for you (FOC) at least, they did when I went to Maze.
However, even if they didn't, I think you're being fussy for fussy's sake to be offended by that.
Ej74 said:
Manager type person asking us what the special occasion was, for us to be dining at Claridges. Does there have to be a special occasion for us to dine here ?. Can we not go out and enjoy fine dining just for the sake of it.
Most of their customers will be people eating there for a birthday or other celebration of some sort therefore IMO it's perfectly acceptable for the waiter to make conversation with you to ask if your reason is the same. If it's not, you only have to say no.Also, if it's your birthday, they sometimes bring out a small cake for you (FOC) at least, they did when I went to Maze.
However, even if they didn't, I think you're being fussy for fussy's sake to be offended by that.
Ej74 said:
or my personal fav :
La Gavroche - excellent year after year and met Mr Roux jnr last time i went
Had the taster menu there last year in the summer, I can't remember the number of courses but it took us the best part of 3 1/2 hours to get through it all. I don't think there is any air conditioning downstairs as it was incredibly stuffy. The atmosphere was a bit stuffy too. Woody Allen and his wife/daughter was sitting on the table opposite which was quite random! As far as the food goes I would say it is about on par with Petrus. Petrus like La Gavroche had quite a stuffy atmosphere but we ate in the kitchen so can't comment too much La Gavroche - excellent year after year and met Mr Roux jnr last time i went
On the other hand, Maze and the Ivy have much lighter atmosphere's and you can have a conversation without fear of being overheard the food is also excellent. The Savoy grill seems to be a good balance between the former and the latter two, also you are not rammed in and there is decent space between tables so although it's fairly quiet you can have a conversation without being overheard.
N.B. that is my experience of decent restaurants in London but should be taken with a pinch of salt as I am a relative heathen when it comes to fine dining
Letter of complaint sent - we'll see if I do get any response at all.
Re: Occasion for eating - when we walk into your local "Indian/ Chinese/ Thai" do they ask you why you are dining there ?
I am using a gross over exaggeration to illustrate my point !
I dine at nice restaurants for the feed not the free birthday cake !
ps. the birthday surprise at Claridges is a plate decorated with chocolate and a truffle with a candle in it !
Re: Occasion for eating - when we walk into your local "Indian/ Chinese/ Thai" do they ask you why you are dining there ?
I am using a gross over exaggeration to illustrate my point !
I dine at nice restaurants for the feed not the free birthday cake !
ps. the birthday surprise at Claridges is a plate decorated with chocolate and a truffle with a candle in it !
Sounds to me like you were offended by being asked whether it was a special occasion or not because you think it makes you inferior in some way; if you had been out for a birthday, you would have been pleased I'm sure to have been wished a happy birthday, seems to be a lose-lose situation for the poor waiter. Also, I see your point that you are annoyed you were turned away but the other trainer wearing chap wasn't, but does it really matter? If the aforementioned chap had turned out to be badly behaved then fair enough, but he wasn't, did it totally spoil your evening because you saw somebody in trainers?
Rufus said:
Sounds to me like you were offended by being asked whether it was a special occasion or not because you think it makes you inferior in some way; if you had been out for a birthday, you would have been pleased I'm sure to have been wished a happy birthday, seems to be a lose-lose situation for the poor waiter.
You could have given him a big smile and said 'I'm so rich I can eat here any time I like!'. It just depends whether you have a postive or negative mindset.Trainer issue pissed me off as i was turned away previously for wearing trainers (which i don't have an issue with - that's life my own hard luck). It clearly states on both the claridges & gordon ramsey website no trainers. So why was an exception made for this person ? he was not a guest. Stinks of double standards imho.
Occassion of meal - i don't care it if it is a birthday, marriage or death we should all be treated equally. Oh well if its not a special occassion should i not eat there ?. I never mention any special occassions when i usually dine as i'm there for the food not the free cupcake or chocolates. It was the tone and intent of the comments made by the manager not waiter !.
I should have followed my gut instincts and walked out, it's what i usually do , but becoming somewhat more mellow in later life and saved the wife from embarrassment.
I simply ask the question how many fine dining restaurants have you been to where you ate 6 courses in 1.5 hours ?
Occassion of meal - i don't care it if it is a birthday, marriage or death we should all be treated equally. Oh well if its not a special occassion should i not eat there ?. I never mention any special occassions when i usually dine as i'm there for the food not the free cupcake or chocolates. It was the tone and intent of the comments made by the manager not waiter !.
I should have followed my gut instincts and walked out, it's what i usually do , but becoming somewhat more mellow in later life and saved the wife from embarrassment.
I simply ask the question how many fine dining restaurants have you been to where you ate 6 courses in 1.5 hours ?
Re the chap in trainers, I would suggest he is probably either a very regular customer, a consistent big spender or somehow connected to Ramsay (be it important business contact, friend etc). Basically somebody they didn't want to p
s off.
Sounds like it was a waste of money, I don't think I'd have been willing to cough up full whack if it is as you described.
s off.Sounds like it was a waste of money, I don't think I'd have been willing to cough up full whack if it is as you described.
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