Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's

kazprincess

Lovely exprience with top food 22nd August 2008

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Four of us dined at Gordon Ramseys at Claridges last month and what an experience! As soon as we walked into the hotel we were treated with the up most repesect. The staff were amazing and they spent time asking us questions and having a general laugh with all of us. We were never made to feel out of place or anything, and all of us being in our 20's were a little worried about this before hand. We all do not look like we are millionairs - but was made to feel as comfortable as possible.
The staff really made this place great and i would say to anybody to go here just because of them!! We were even 20mins late but were never made to rush or anything which we were amazed about being 7.30pm on a busy saturday night!
Now the food - well what can i say!! The food was brilliant! I had the rabbit rostio to start which was just heaven!! Then i had the beef main course on smoked mash potatoe which was delicious! The the chocolate fondant which was rich and choclatey but clamed it down by a honeycone middle and orange sorbet.
I would reconmend this resturant to anybody! Yes you must book well in advance, and yes it can be pricey (£400 for four of us only with two drinks each) but its a must for a pure remberable dining experience which none of us will ever forget! Top marks all round.

chrisp

Luxury like no other 13th August 2008

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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Gordon Ramsay used to spend most of his working days in a kitchen, making food for people to eat. And he was really rather good at it too, his flagship restaurant in Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea achieving 3 Michelin Stars which, despite his recent more hands-off approach, it still holds to this day. And back in the days before F Words and Kitchen Nightmares and Hells Kitchens, when Mr Ramsay still claimed to cook in the restaurants he put his name to (an affectation long since dropped) came Gordon Ramsay at Claridges. Britain's best chef in Britain's best hotel cooking Britain's finest food. At least that was the plan.

For some reason, Gordon Ramsay at Claridges never achieved the level of success awarded to the Chelsea place. True, it has a Michelin Star, which is something, but then so does Benares and that's rubbish. Could it be that as his TV career was taking off Gordon just never bothered spending the time perfecting the kitchen at Claridges, or was he spreading his talent too thinly? Alain Ducasse famously has a string of 3-star places under his wing, proving it is possible to "farm out" cooking expertise to some extent. For whatever reason, Claridges just feels like the forgotten Ramsay venture, an experiment in the classiest of classy fine dining that never really got the attention from the big man it deserved.

However, I have a confession to make. I love Claridges. I love the cozy, hushed bar with the spacious leather seats and impeccable service. I love the stunning Art Deco foyer and Afternoon Tea room with the Dale Chihuly glass chandelier. And I still love Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, which despite a few niggles in the food department is a gloriously decadent way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

After a perfectly made martini in the bar to whet our whistles, we padded through to the dining room 10 minutes late, which turned out not to be a problem as our table still wasn't quite ready. This was actually a blessing in disguise as it allowed us to sample the lovely canapes of truffle mousse and taramasalata which I immediately recognised from my trip to Royal Hospital Road in February. A very good start.

Once seated (no more than 10 minutes later I don't think), we made our choices from the set lunch menu and sipped on a couple of glasses of house champagne. Pre-starter, appropriately enough for late October, was a pumpkin veloute, which was creamy and rich and expertly made but suffered only slightly in comparison to a divine truffle veloute I had been served at the same restaurant last year. Still, they weren't to know.

Starter proper was a duck liver terrine with beetroot pickle. Again full marks for seasonality which really paid dividends in the fresh taste of the beetroot. But some of the textures in the terrine were a little unpleasant - some slimy veg didn't really add much - and even some of the fois (though strangely not all of it) was dryish. Otherwise, not bad.

My main course was Welsh lamb fillet wrapped in (I think) parma ham with seasonal vegetables, and it was delicious. The lamb was juicy and tender and the vegetables were really interesting too - all sorts of things going on in the mix and was great fun working out the flavours in each mouthful. There was also a scattering of roasted pumpkin seeds to provide a bit of texture. More of an assembling of ingredients than a technically difficult dish, but I had no complaints.

For dessert I paid the £4 extra for a selection from the impressive cheese tray, and had a creamy but slightly bland goats, a Comte, an Epoisse-style gloopy cheese and a nice salty blue. I know I've said before I don't often pay for cheese in restaurants when I can get it myself for a fraction of the price, but I wasn't disappointed with my choices here.

Finally, before the bill arrived we were presented with 3 chocolate truffles, which was slightly odd as there were only 2 of us. Perhaps it was designed to create tension and conflict and Gordon Ramsay was actually secretly filming us for a starring role in his latest reality TV project. Either way, they tasted very nice, and I had the extra one.

The damage came to around £150, which is a lot but included some excellent wines by the glass and luckily I had a £50 voucher from my old job to go some way towards it. Service throughout had been as charming and efficient as you would expect in any of London's best restaurants, and the whole experience had been superb entertainment. I will almost certainly be back at some point in the future. I think I deserve it.

topruss

Excellent 23rd June 2008

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Dispite not being a fan of tv Gordon , i was dragged here by friend and it was worth it. Food was amazing and def return

amandajf

worth the wait! 5th April 2008

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We tried to book 2 years ago and my mother was rather fobbed off.
I went 5 months ago on spec on my own and was lucky.
Eventually we tried again and with a choice of 3 dates and 3 months notice we managed to get a booking.
The food was superb on both occasions. At lunch I had the more expensive 3 course menu at £70 at the former and most recently the £30 one. The latter was probably better value as all the food was superb.The service was faultless.As with most quality restaurants the house wines or by the glass were well enough selected that a pricey wine was not essential.
Compares very well with our other favourite restaurants such as the Square and Maze.

Janerx8

Once in a Lifetime?? 26th March 2008

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Where to start......this was perfection.
The setting - formal but relaxed.
The Service - outstanding. From the birthday present arranged for our table, the attentive but not intrusive service, the smiling faces of all that looked after us, to the tour of the kitchen before adjourning to the bar.
The Food - the best ever. The options on the menu made decisions difficult, but all courses were stunning.
I cant fault this place - I only wish I had the funds to eat there more often.

AlexHung

'Affordable' Ramsay experience 25th December 2007

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For the second year in a roll, my wife and I celebrated her birthday at Claridges. The food and service is still worthy of the Michelin stars. In Gordon Ramsay's restaurant empire, Claridges comes below Royal Hospital road and the menu and decor reflects that, but in a good way. The experience is much more relax and enjoyable compares to Royal Hospital road. The menu is less 'fancy', more down to earth food, but no less delicious! The wine list is very approachable and has a list of recommended wine so for those non-expert, it is easy to pick one.

We were lucky this year and were treated to a tour of the kitchen! We has the privilege of meeting the head chief and see how such as small kitchen managed to supply top notch food for over 120 covers.

Will we go back next year? Oh yes!

mif

Exceeded my expectations 9th October 2007

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The food and service in this place rocks. I initially went with skepticism, put off by the fact that they dictate what time you eat (there are set times you can dine) instead of you choosing what time you'd like to turn up. However after arriving, I realised the reason for that is for them to nail the food preparation so everyone can get through all the different scrumptious dishes. Without connections, it might take a while to secure a booking but it is worth the wait as the food is worth every pretty penny and there is a nice ambience in the restaurant. Most of the vast selection of wine is on the extremely expensive end of the spectrum but what else can you expect from a place like this. The sommelier is only too keen to help if you're not sure which wine to have.