The Square

If perfection is your cup of tea, then The Square is definately for you!!

Stylish decor, slick service, precision cooking, lively atmosphere and tempting wines are all on offer in abundance here.

Our booking was for monday lunch and we were lucky enough to arrive 15mins early and be offered apperitifs in the lounge. We ordered two glasses of vintage rose champange, which was one of the finest i've ever tasted. A few minutes later we were shown to our table amonst a sea of suited business types, and although all the talk must have been about profit margins, corporate take-overs, and share holder buy-outs, it gave the full dinning room a good 'buzzy' atmosphere.
The menus arrived, and a bread basket was offered. Now.....in my eyes this is the biggest test for any restaurant, if the chefs take the time to make sure the bread is good (and remember, the customer doesn't pay for the bread), then the rest of the food (which the customer is parting with thier hard earned for) should be even better. This bread was fantastic, well seasoned and beautifully presented.
We were able to choose from four available menus, a la carte, tasting, daily and christmas. I think i would have been happy to order every dish, on every menu, but after much deliberation we plumped for the a la carte, and choose our three courses. however, before our chosen meals arrived we were treated to two delicate 'amuse bouche' to get our juices flowing.
I won't go into too much detail of the meals we ordered, although i do feel compelled to try and convey the skill with wich they were cooked. Every item on every dish was cooked exquisitely. Pasta was al dente, jus was rich yet light, cuissons were spot-on, foie gras was silky and soft and froths held their airyness. Every section in the kitchen was cooking to the highest standard, Philip Howard has definately found the right formula for his brigade of chefs.

Some may say this is one of the most expensive places to eat in town, but our bill, for two with wine, water and the vintage champers came to 200. But when you consider the sheer quality of the experience, i felt like i was ripping them off by only paying my 200 quid!

It is very rare that i leave a restaurant with a feeling of COMPLETE satisfaction, but The Square effortlessly filled me with that feeling, as i'm sure they do to 99.9% of the people who eat there.