Sam S.
Yelp
I struggled to rate this place and thought about it for while and, decided that, the maximum I would give this place is 2.5 stars. Here is my view of the place:
Ambience - 4 stars
Service - 3 stars
Food - 2.5 stars
Value for money - 1 star
Wow factor - 1 star
We were invited to go here by some friends, who had a wonderful experience here, sometime ago and, we all concluded after tonight that, we would not go back here again. I had reasonably high expectations and, I was disappointed to say the least. The ambience here is nice and there is a big open kitchen in the middle. We were so hot by the end of the evening, due to our proximity to the open kitchen. They have a few private rooms for group dining and they looked really nice. All in all, a fairly big place. We were seated very close to a ledge and in a gangway, slightly inconvenient if you ask me.
When I made the booking I advised them that we had one vegetarian in our group and, that went totally unnoticed. If you are a vegetarian don't bother going here as, the choice is almost non existent. How a restaurant in today's day and age survives without any decent vegetarian option is beyond me. They had a salad which had ham, a beetroot starter and that was it. If you are a proper vegetarian you almost have no choice here. This is one of those places to be seen rather than, enjoy great food.
Had it not been for the bread, we would have left feeling hungry after three courses. The oysters I had was good but not worth the money. The monk fish main that was minimum two person order, looked great when it came out but was overcooked and lacked taste. The sides were also pretty tasteless. The cheese course was nice but nothing to write home about. The coffee at the end was horrible and burnt. We ordered a vegetable side and, specifically asked for it without tomatoes. The dish arrived and all it had was two vegetables and you can guess what one of them was :-(( Unbelievable and the staff were just like, ya whatever.
The staff, of which there was plenty, were very welcoming and started off well but as time went on they forgot things at least twice and brought us two wines which were not as advertised in their wine list. This is very poor for an expensive restaurant.
I certainly don't intend to go back here. In a city with some great places, the prices here are higher than many great restaurants and, more than some Michelin starred restaurants. I am sure they will do just fine without my patronage. I certainly would not recommend this place to any friends or colleagues. It's highly overrated and overpriced for what it is, a cafe with a nice ambience. I have never hesitated to pay good money for great food and unfortunately tonight, I did.