Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s

Took my wife to Gordon Ramsay’s last month because it was our anniversary and I wanted to surprise her with a good night out. I had the table booked way in advance and there were absolutely no problems with that. Both me and my lovely wife were incredibly impressed with this place. Right from the entrance the exquisite looks of this restaurant stroke us. And the way that the staff effortlessly weaved round the tables made me realise how low the standards are everywhere else. Oh and the food was simply amazing. I had the pot-​roasted label anglaise chicken and my wife chose the summer truffle consommé with spätzle. Both meals were perfectly prepared especially with the fine wine we were offered to go along with the dishes.
Visiting this restaurant is definitely an experience to remember and would recommend it to anyone looking for a special evening with a special person.

Oh how I wanted to enjoy this experience! I had eagerly awaited and anticipated dining at one of the best acclaimed and Michelin Star rated Gordon Ramsay restaurants for more than two years. I was happy that I was able to obtain a table, and excited once I arrived.
I chose the a la carte menu, where I could choose one appetizer, one main course, and one desert. For the appetizer I chose the «Gravlax of beetroot with celeriac remoulade and pickled cucumber salad». After a pleasant mini hors d’oeuvres plate to whet my appetite, they served me the appetizer. I anticipated a balanced flavor profile, with sweet, sour, earthy/​savory and bitter elements. What I actually received was a highly imbalanced dish, where the lovely earthy tastes of the beet, mushroom and truffle shavings were drowned beneath a large dose of palate-​busting red wine vinegar. Nevertheless, I managed to finish most of it, but primarily due the fact that I had already waited nearly forty-​five minutes to receive it (!)
For the main course, I chose Ramsay’s Signature dish, his «Fillet of beef Wellington with prosciutto, Somerset field mushrooms and pommé dauphinoise.» I was informed that there would be a £10 up-​charge for the dish, which I accepted, since I had anticipated this moment for so long. Then I waited, and waited, and waited… for nearly an hour for it to show up. Once it did finally show up, they made an event of the presentation, quite entertaining. They set aside half of the Wellington, under a silver cover, the other half they placed in front of me, cutting the pastry end off as a separate small portion and placing both the end and the nearly perfectly prepared steak on a small pour of Au jus, next to some stemmed greens and with the ever-​so-​slightly undercooked Pommes à la Dauphinoise (I was hoping to see a little more browning on the top).
The main issue was the Wellington itself. The beef was warm, but completely pink, except for the slightest hint of brown on the edge, more rare than medium rare. The underside of the pastry was doughy and raw. The Server, as if to compensate for the undercooked product, over-​seasoned it to the point that salt dominated the palate. The stemmed greens did nothing to offset this, their bitter note in stark contrast to the Wellington. The delicious potato dish did offset my disappointment, albeit ever so slightly.
At this point, I was starting to feel fatigued over the sloooowww service. Despite the likelihood that the desert was already prepared hours ago, they still took another twenty to thirty minutes to deliver the desert to me. It was quite good actually, but was tarnished by the service, where they delivered it and did not bother to inquire whether I might like tea, coffee, or espresso with it. I actually felt worse for the adjacent table, whose service was every bit as slow as mine, but whose party of six were hosting a lady’s 80^th birthday party. They expressed their disappointment and I expressed mine.
Overall, my service, start to finish, exceeded two and a half hours. My only compensation was they agreed to remove the surcharge for the Wellington. I would rate the restaurant a three for the good-​but-​not-​great food, but due to the glacially slow service provided by the kitchen and staff, I am subtracting one star, making the total just two stars. Gordon Ramsay, I feel quite let down by you! Perhaps you should return your focus to your own restaurants and restore them to the standards that you demand of numerous other restaurants you work with.

The only other Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant I have tried is Bread Street Kitchen which is a lot more casual and trendy eatery so really didnt know what to expect other than it was on my bucketlist and I can now officially say I went!
The hotel is very grand, and a little pretentious for my taste to be honest, and the service was confusing. When we asked one of the waiters what we should order for food, the guy wasnt very helpful – aparently everything on the menu is delcious?. The other waiter when we ordered our drinks was super helpful.
We went with the three course tasting menu which ended up being a whole lot more
We started with an amuse bouche of mini duck confit sandiwches, and were served a small soup to cleanse our palate while we enjoyed our apertifs.
The starter I started with: Loch Fyne smoked salmon terrine with Cornish crab and horseradish: good but not super memorable
We were served with the scallops which were awesome. (complimentary)
Main: Pan-​fried monkfish tail with celeriac, lobster, braised lentils and Madeira. Really good!!!
Dessert: The dessert was a flat out ehh. sounded delicious — hazelnut panna cotta, but turned out to be really to super heavy and i was literally in a food coma and slightly uncomfortable which is never the way I want to feel.
I even mentioned to the waiter it was too heavy and i didnt like it, and if you spend as much as you do there, you would think that someone would have offered some type of consolation but nothing!
If someone else is paying I would go again but not on my dime…

My friend really wanted to eat at one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants, it’s been on his bucketlist forever so we decided to go on Monday night. Located inside Claridge’s hotel, a very classy setting indeed, Gordon Ramsay’s fine dining fits in well here. We were seated right away and were asked right away what we wanted to drink. We asked for the wine list, which was on an iPad! We selected a red wine and slowly and surely, compliments of chef light bites were on our table. We were given menus which listed options for either the three or five course meals. There was no way I was doing five courses so my friend and I both went with the three course for 70 pounds/​person. Before each course we were given a little something as compliments of the chef to wet our appetite.
Our first courses were scallops and the yellowfin and tuna tartare. I thought the scallops were overcooked, well, at least the one that I had was. My friend said that his was fine. It was good, but not anything amazing. As for the yellowfin and tuna tartare, this was seriously lacking flavor. It tasted fresh, but it didn’t taste like there was any seasoning at all.
Our main course and the highlight of the night was the Beef Wellington (an extra 10 pound supplement for two people). I had no idea what beef wellington was before I ordered it, but my friend insisted we had to get it because it’s Gordon’s specialty. The servers brought it out on a fancy platter and cut it in front of us. From what it looked like, it was a cut of beef with a croissant-​like puff pastry layer on the outside. He added a little au jus to top it off. We got it cooked medium rare and it was delicious. it was definitely the best dish of the night.
For desserts, we got the raspberry soufflé and the chocolate fondant. The raspberry soufflé melted in your mouth. Tasty, but nothing extraordinary. The chocolate fondant was cool because they light it on fire and was very rich in flavor. If you’re a chocolate lover, you’ll probably love this.
What’s nice about fancy restaurants like this is that they constantly give you something to keep you busy. I can’t even remember how many «compliments of the chef» things they gave us. Although it was a lovely experience, I think once was good enough for me. The food was good but not out of this world by any means and for making your wallet a whole lot lighter, I was expecting a little more out of this world action, ya know what I mean?

This was one of the highlight meal’s of our trip. First of all the hotel itself is exquisite, the next time I’m back in London I’ll be back to experience its afternoon tea. The staff at both the hotel and the restaurant itself are everything you would want from a five star spot. The restaurant is beautiful with high feelings and the place feels elegant without feeling too stuffy.
My mom and I went with the 3 course meal for 80 pounds. We were first given our choice of bread, and then asked if we wanted another selection. Then came the first amuse of goat cheese on potato hash browns and watermelon with a champagne gelee. Both bites were lovely. The next amuse was a cup of sweet corn soup which was amazing. For my first course I had the scallops with white asparagus, the scallops were perfectly cooked. My main was a fantastic dish of monkfish tail, lobster and lentils.
The pre-​dessert was a delicious orange creamscicle type dessert, hard to describe but very tasty. For dessert we opted to wait for the raspberry soufflé which was perfect, light and fluffy with a nice hidden raspberry sauce at the bottom. Truffles and homemade marshmallows ended our meal.
To summarize, this was a lovely and decadent meal. Don’t avoid it because it’s owned by a TV personality, it really does stand up on it’s on accord. The price is a little high, but I honestly felt like it was more than worth the price for the experience.

This place definitely lives up the hype. It’s a shame this place lost its Michelin star recently but hey it was a lot easier to get a lunch reservation. Now, I don’t usually like the fu fu fluffy décor you typically see at a place like Claridge’s but it didn’t feel as pretentious as I thought it would.
They give you a couple of options at lunch — but I went for the 3 courses for 30 pounds. I thought the tasting menu was a little absurd because it was pretty much the 3 course one plus. just an extra course. I thought every course was amazing.
The service was amazing without it being too stuffy. It was a real treat!

Gordon Ramsay at Claridges
— Besser als Hells Kitchen oder die Geister die ich rief —
Im Mai diesen Jahres wollten wir ein paar Tage nach London. Nachdem wir Hotel und Flug gebucht hatten, suchten wir noch ein interessantes Restaurant. Wir hatten schon viel von Gordon Ramsay gehört und dachten uns, das wir es mal versuchen. Nach etwas Recherché fiel unsere Wahl auf das Gordon Ramsay at Claridges. Reserviert haben wir für den 17.05.2012 Abends 18:30 Uhr.
Mit etwas Verspätung, der Londoner Tube sei Dank, kamen wir an. Uns wurden die Jacken abgenommen und wir wurden zu unserem Tisch geführt. Kaum Platz genommen erschien der erste Kellner, begrüßte uns und fragte ob wir einen Apéritif haben wollten. Ich entschied mich für einen roten Portwein und meine Frau für einen Ruine Art rosé. Nach kurzer Wartezeit bekamen wir die Gläser und vor unseren Augen wurden die Köstlichkeiten eingeschenkt.
Dann wurden uns Brotstangen mit einem Dip auf den Tisch gestellt. Danach bekamen wir die Menükarten vom Kellner Nr. 2 gebracht und erklärt das alles leider in einer sehr hochnäsigen und arroganten Art. Die Karte bestand aus 2 Teilen. Der erste Teil war das Menü Prestige bestehend aus 5 Gängen zum Preis von 80 Pfund. Der zweite Teil bestand aus Vorspeise, Hauptgang und Dessert a la Card für 3 Gänge zu 70 Pfund.
Wir entschieden uns für das 5 Gang Menü.
Als Vorspeise nahm ich Pressed foie gras, confit of rabbit and smoked duck with green beans, pickled shimeji and spring truffle
und meine Frau nahm Yellow fin tuna two ways, herb-​seared and tartare with baby spring vegetables and sauce vierge.
Zwischengang für beide war Ravioli of lobster, shellfish and salmon with a lemongrass and chervil velouté
Als Hauptgang nahm meine bessere Hälfte Pan-​fried monkfish tail with lobster, celery purée, braised lentils and Madeira jus
und ich entschied mich für Vanilla-​marinated Cumbrian veal sweetbreads and roasted rump with citrus glazed baby endive, lemon and caper sauce.
Danach gab es ein Pre-​Dessert, welches hier unverständlicher Weise als Gang gerechnet wird, um dann als Ende unser Dessert zu bekommen
ein Dark chocolate with a honeycomb sphere and milk chocolate sauce .
Dann bekamen wir die Weinkarte in Form eine ipad. Eine schöné Spielerei aber in meinen Augen fehlte der Sache die Klasse welche in ein Fine Dining Restaurant gehört. Wie gesagt ein schöner Gag mehr aber auch nicht.
Unsere Wahl fiel auf zwei Gläser Chianti 175 ml zu je 10 Pfund. Es wurde auch noch 125 ml angeboten zu 7,50 Pfund. Wobei hier schon das Problem war. Der Wein wurde am Tisch eingeschenkt ohne Test unsererseits ob er denn ok für uns ist und wir konnten nicht feststellen ob es wirklich die 175 ml waren die da eingeschenkt wurden.
Wir bekamen einen Gruß aus der Küche in Form eines kleinen Erbsensüppchen was nicht so der große Hit war. Es schmeckt nach Erbsen mehr kam dabei nicht rüber. Dann wurde uns Brötchen und Butter gebracht.
Dann ging es los mit unserer Vorspeise. Als die Teller auf den Tisch gestellt wurden, wurde ich sofort an japanisches Ikebana erinnert Kleine Dinge wurden nett arrangiert.
Wenn das so weiter gehen sollte, würde ich wohl das erste Mal nach einem Fine Dining noch zur Burger Bude müssen. Die Vorspeisen schmeckten lecker, aber sie waren eben nicht gerade als groß zu bezeichnen.
Nach kaum 10 Minuten nach dem wir unsere Vorspeisen genossen hatten, wurde uns schon der Zwischengang gebracht. Die Teller wurden vor uns gestellt und in der schon vorhin bemerkten arroganter Art erklärt was wir denn da so vor uns hätten. Wobei die Finger des Kellner immer knapp über dem Essen hinweg huschten. Der eine Ravioli der uns hier präsentiert wurde war schmackhaft aber eben auch nicht so der Überraschungshit. Auch hier konnte man die nicht vorhandene Größe des Gangs bewundern.
Als die Reste vom Zwischengang, also die leeren Teller in diesem Fall, abgeräumt wurden baten wir die Bedienung Nr. 3 darum etwas Zeit bis zum nächsten Gang zu lassen da wir nicht auf der Flucht waren und unseren Abend geniessen wollten.
Es dauerte diesmal 15 – 20 Minuten bis unser Hauptgang kam. Diese hatten eine vernünftige Größe und waren sehr schmackhaft.
Danach wurde der Tisch komplett abgeräumt und wir warteten auf unseren 4. Gang, das Pre-​Dessert.
Das kam dann auch in Form eines kleinen Glases mit drei Schichten bestehend aus einem Gelee, einer Vanillecreme und Mangobrucheis. Das war sehr, sehr lecker aber eben kein 4. Gang, aber das wussten wir ja vorher.
Dann kam unser Finale in Form des Haupt-​Dessert. Es bestand aus einer großen Schokoladenkugel auf einem weißen Schaum die mit Krokant und etwas Eis gefüllt war. die Kugel wurde vor unseren Augen mit der warmen Milchschokoladensoße übergossen. Leider klappte der gewollte Effekt nicht so wie gedacht denn die Kugel schmolz leider nicht durch Soße.
Dieser Gang war die größte Portion des gesamten Menü und auch die heftigste. es war sehr schwer und mächtig.
Beim Abräumen der Teller wurden wir gefragt ob wir einen Kaffee

You just cannot get any better than this, I was treated like a King at my own banquet feast. I know I was not the most important person in the restaurant or the best dressed, I had just walked from Canary Wharf… but the staff and Manager treated me like I was their most important guest. Despite being dressed in jeans, T and hiking boots.
I had the Chef’s Lunch Tasting Menu,
Canapes
Ceviche of Loch Duart salmon, with avocado, ginger, ruby grapefruit and coriander
Pressed foie gras, confit of rabbit, smoked duck, with green beans pickled shimeji and spring truffles
Braised beef featherblade with cauliflower purée and baby spring vegetables
PreDessert
THE TOTALLY AWESOME Dark chocolate with honeycomb sphere and milk chocolate sauce.
Paired very nicely with 3 full glasses of wine (+ the malbec i ordered on the side). Wine is ordered via Ipad!
The entire experience (and that’s what I came for) lasted nearly 3.5 hours for me. The staff were very attentive of me. Waiting on my every whim.
That day they were filming in the private rooms and half way through my meal I had to turn my chair to the other table as the lights were very annoying. As soon as I had stood up and started to move my chair, 2 waiters came to see if I was alright, when I explained they reset my whole table and topped up my wine. As soon as they left the manager came and apologized.
The meal was presented in absolute passion and pride which it should be. Each dish was perfectly paired with the selected wines. Including a very nice Piedmont which I usually do not like that style of wine.
Perfection at it’s best I wish I had the time t go back during my trip.

In summary, this restaurant took me back in time in many ways with its décor, its formality without stuffiness, and its menu, which had many classics. It’s in the Claridge’s hotel, which is a landmark.
We started at the bar, where I ordered a gin martini, dry. This was my theme drink on this trip, I figured London would do a great job with it. This one was not up to snuff, however, not cold enough, perhaps that is common in London, those across the pond seem to have an aversion to ice I have noticed. The bartender was very formal, couldn’t even get him to smile. Ah well. The dinner was divine.
I had a sweetbreads, pig trotters in what looked like an Asian-​style wrapper, fried. A fantastic sauce around it, and a quail egg on one of the two rolls. Heavy, rich, and very good. Classic ingredients with a modern twist. Then we split the whole chicken with truffle sauce. Wow. Not complicated but melt in your mouth perfection. The sauce came in a nice little copper pot. Potatoes Dauphinoise, perfectly cooked with a nice brown crust on top.
The sommelier was very attentive and friendly because of course we kept ordering more bottles.
Desserts were all really good. Great experience overall.

Get to the Chase:
Pros:
1) Came here for new year’s eve dinner and it was absolutely worth every pence, quid, breath, morsel!
2) From the hotsy tosty fancy dining area with white drapings, violet/​purple velvet curtains and seats, to the piano player… this place exuded class, elegance and fine dining.
3) Gordon DEMANDS perfection, and consistent top performance, and THAT is embodied in every dish! I tasted it with every bite and it was just heaven on a fork and spoon. Words do not do the food justice, so i’ll leave it to you and to see what I chose to eat…
I’d recommend:
Starter: Ravioli of lobster, shellfish and salmon, lemon grass and chervil velouté
Entrée:Braised shoulder of beef with pommé purée and fricassée of wild mushroom
Dessert: Custard tart, Champagne rhubarb ice cream
Cons:
1) Price… but what do you expect, it’s London, it’s FANTASTIC food, it’s a very high society fine dining kind of place, and hey it’s Gordon Ramsey’s joint

As I’m on a (toilet) roll with my updates today, I’ll just add that I was impressed with the splash guards at the urinals in the gentlemen’s toilets. Claridge’s do seem to have thought of every possible convenience!

This is absolutely the best fine dining experience I have ever had. From start to finish; we were well taken care of.
The beef wellington was to die for! Dessert was amazing. After a brief conversation with our Maitre d’, we mentioned that we were from Canada. Well apparently they like us Canadians; The Maitre d’ went into the kitchen and shortly after brought out a small plate with some tasty treats compliments of the chef. It was a pleasant surprise to top off the night!

The Claridge’s is definitely one of those quintessential London hotels. Luckily I was able to visit this on someone else’s expense account. Even in a black velvet blazer and tailor-​made shirt I felt underdressed. The wall was decorated with photos of famous guests– Liz Taylor, Prince Phillip, Warhol. The fireplaces were roaring. And happy-​hour was in full effect.
I grabbed a martini in the bar, and waited for my friends to arrive. We were brought into Ramsay’s restaurant and given a preferential table as I’m assuming she came here often, was known by the management, and spent a pretty penny (or pence in this case). The British are consumed with formality and extravagance. This place goes beyond.
It’s all worth the stuffiness though. Ramsay definitely dispels the horrible reputation of British cuisine with his attention to detail and appreciation of flavor. Having seen his management style on Hell’s Kitchen, I can imagine the pressure the chefs endure each night to make sure the dining public are more than satisfied.
Other than really enjoying the food, I could definitely get used to having a guest with a bottomless expense account. Especially at a place like this.
Had some killer appetizers. Scottish scallops, lobster ravioli, and some perfectly grilled rabbit. For the main course I chose the John Dory fish accompanied with some mussels in a curry sauce, and coriander spiced pasta.
Definitely a place to check out if you want to dress up and run up the Amex. Nothing says «I’ve arrived» like swirling a snifter of cognac (who’s name you can’t pronounce) late night in the opulence of the Ramsey dining room at the Claridge’s.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge Hotel is one of his many UK restaurants, I couldn’t snag a table at Petrus or Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and instead decided on this based on Unilocal and Tripadvisor recs.
There are several types of fancy-​pants restaurants — one with tons of old people /​rich people, medium-​high priced, break-​the-​bank 10-​servers-​to-​1 customer ratio, and science project food (where you have no idea what you’re eating because it’s probably freeze dried). This is more the medium-​high priced, with great service but they were not as attentive as other places. No points docked here.
They offer a 3 course «a-​la-​carte» for 70 pounds, and a 6 course «prestige menu» for 80 pounds. The six course is tricky because they included in the 6 courses the amuse bouche and a cheese course (bleh). I’m afraid to know the bill after a bottle of wine an a glass of 19 pound champagne.
The food was quite good but not at par for the price. The lobster ravioli wasn’t delicate enough, the venison came with a really gross mushy paste… the standout was the bread (olive, onion, or potato) which came with two types of soft, melty butter and was warm, chewy, and delicious… mmmm. Decent ingredients, nice flavor ideas, poor execution. Keep in mind I’m kind of a tough critic when it comes to these types of restaurants. I haven’t been impressed by anyone’s tasting menu except Melisse (in LA), Nobu, and Joel Robuchon (in Vegas).
All in all, the service was good, there was free wi-​fi (shhh… the password is Claridges!), and the food was decent. I would recommend trying Gordon Ramsay’s Restaurant or Petrus instead (but book your table early!).

I went here for my birthday this year as a treat and we found a good deal for lunch for two people here.
The whole experience was a great pleasure, even though I was ill with a nasty cold so thus can’t remember exactly what I ate I can however remember a lot of what was a great pleasure and Gordon would be proud.
Possibly the best part was the truly delicious cheeseboard — what a wonderful selection and the waiter was so knowledgeable, also the port that they persuaded us (believe me, it didn’t take much persuading!) to accompany this with was lovely too and finishing with the surprise birthday cake and being sung to and some complimentary chocolates! Another winner in my book!
The service from start to finish was impeccable. Everyone we came into contact with — and there were a lot, were extremely pleasant, polite, attentive, very knowledgeable and friendly.
The only thing that I was slightly irked by was the fact that there was a 3yr old girl on the table next to us who was really noisy and annoying (I blame her parents for bringing her there, not her for being like this, she was probably bored and it’s not the place to take a child!), which surprised me in such an establishment.

Had a great lunch here — the lunch tasting menu was a good deal (for a once in a while special meal). As it was my first time in London, I felt it warranted one splurge =D.
All of the courses were excellent — starting with a chilled tomato consommé that was remarkable in how tomatoey (i invented a new word) it was! very crisp and refreshing way to start off the meal.
The roasted grouse and sous vide lamb courses were well done (although i could have used a bit of a sear on the lamb to provide a bit of contrast in texture), and the plating theme was based around slate slabs.
The panna cotta for dessert was rich and delicious (but so rich I couldn’t finish it all), and a nice complement to a lovely coffee service.
The restaurant itself was elegantly appointed, and getting the chance to check out Claridge’s was fun as well. It’s definitely a nice place to go for a special meal!

Restaurant fabuleux ! Plats d’ exception dans une ambiance tamisée ! Le prix est élevé mais ça vaut le détour !

wir waren gestern im claridges essen und waren absolut begeistert. meine frau gab bei der reservierung an, dass sie auf diverses allergisch war und jeder kellner oder oberkellner wusste bescheid, so war zb. der gruss aus der küche dementsprechend abgeändert. die qualität der speisen phänomenal, die kellner, der somelier — einfach das ganze personal unglaublich gut geschult und sehr sehr freundlich und zuvorkommend. klar zahlt man dementsprechend aber es war alles außergewöhnlich und den preis wert.

I was considering a few places but finally settling on Claridge’s for my birthday lunch and I do wish I had picked another place. When booking I told them it was for a birthday lunch so the table was away from the main seating area, in its own room just by the window. This turned out to be the birthday room as there were 4 other tables all celebrating. Kind of funny but nothing wrong with that, it was definitely the nicest part of the places.
The lunch started off with the sommelier coming over with an iPad with the wine selection. Slightly odd with the interior of the place but why not? the lunch started with an amuse bouche of chilled pea soup. This turned out, sadly, to be the best part of the lunch. The starter of orange-​cured sea bream, red and yellow pepper escabeche was an interesting combination of textures and flavours but didn’t work for me, especially the gazpacho sorbet felt out of place and didn’t add anything to the dish.
The main was pot-​roasted label anglaise chicken, summer truffle consommé with spätzle (couldn’t bring myself to have the Sunday roast) which wasn’t that interesting. The truffle flavour was quite nice (as expected) but the chicken was quite bland.
The dessert of dark, white and caramel chocolate mousse, lime ice cream with chocolate madeleines was like something you would get anywhere, no sign here why the place would have two Michelin stars. Was nice enough and that’s unfortunately all you can say about it.
The highlight of the meal was afterwards when the head waiter found out that it was my birthday and gave me a tour of the kitchen, going through all different parts and taking a photo together with the head chef, Steve Allen.
Good to have tried but there are plenty of other places I would go to instead of giving it another go.

Went for lunch and really enjoyed it. Didn’t have time to sit around, so it was a little hurried and wasn’t wearing a coat (I don’t think that I own a coat), which is recommended, but not required. In spite of all of this stuffiness, my experience was quite good. The waitstaff was great — very attentive.
They had 3 prix fixe menus offered, it didn’t appear that you could order off the menu. Went with the waitstaff’s recommendation and finished with a delicious cheese plate.

One of the first things that was done in preparation for my trip to London, was to make a reservation to eat at one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants. It sounds like a very touristy thing to do, I know, but after watching Hell’s Kitchen a couple of times on Fox (or Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America) I had to see what all the hype was about.
My friend Stephanie and I read the set menu probably a dozen times before we went to Claridge’s for lunch and they had apparently changed the menu before we got there so now there was a whole new selection to pick from.
The first thing that got my attention was the service. The place ran like clockwork. Everyone was dressed immaculately and there seemed to be at least 4 or 5 people who came by our table to provide us with different things and take different orders, yet we still knew who our actual waiter was since he checked on us quite frequently. I couldn’t have possibly wanted anything for more than half a second and someone was there to take care of it. Spectacular service.
I fully admit, I expected spectacular food and I’m happy to report that I wasn’t disappointed. I ordered a chicken dish for my main course and it was the most amazing thing I have ever put in my mouth. Well it was the most amazing thing I had ever put in my mouth… until dessert came.
For dessert, I ordered the honey crème brûlée on a hazelnut cookie with a scoop of raspberry sorbet on top. Never in my life could I have imagined that anything could taste so delicious. It seemed like an odd combination but I figured that after the appetizer and main (and a salad that was «compliments of the chef») that the guy knew his stuff. He does. I have dreams about that dessert — surely that’s not healthy.
Everyone says that Gordon Ramsay is kind of… well, kind of a jerk. What I’ve seen of him on TV doesn’t really dispute that but if the food I made tasted that delicious, I wouldn’t accept anything less either.

I was so disappointed! The food definitely did not live up to my expectations. Though the restaurant is beautiful, the tables are set too close to each other for my taste and the restaurant was too loud for a fine dining, 1-​Michelin-​star restaurant.
Food– The dishes were consistently too salty for my taste. The scallop with corn, langoustine risotto, and the rabbit lasagne were all just OK — not the best things I have eaten. The entrees, lamb and veal dishes were the worst lamb/​veal dishes I have ever tried. The dishes just didnt work– lacked balance and most importantly soul. My food tasted like it was just thrown together and the chef just didn’t care how he prepared the dish.
Though, it’s Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant and despite the beautiful décor of the restaurant, I will not recommend this place.
1 star for the décor, 1 star for the ½ friendly wait staff.

I was so fortunate to get a reservation at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. I originally wanted the one on Royal Hospital Rd, but it was completely booked. I didn’t know that I needed to make a reservation TWO months in advance. However, I was extremely delighted in their communication with me via email (Valeria was her name) and accomodating us at the Claridge’s location. They even called me in California from London to confirm my reservation! And let me tell you, I wouldn’t have traded my experience for any other.
My husband and I were the first guests to arrive that evening. At first, it was awkward because all eyes were on us. I thought to myself, we’re just gonna eat and run and this place won’t even get packed ’til later at night when we’re already gone… boy was I wrong! Apparently, it was a good thing we got an early reservation (6pm) cuz it was a 4hr dining experience. At one point, I even joked with my husband, «wouldn’t it be great if we could see the kitchen?! «
We decided to go with the Prix Fixe Menu. I can’t remember anything I ate, but it was DELISH! The staff was extremely attentive and courteous. The brits are such welcoming people. Almost every person that stopped by our table chatted with us, from the busboy to the restaurant manager. And you can tell they were genuine, not like LA/​OC people who just want a fat tip later.
When we were finished with our meal, we were about to ask for our bill. The manager actually came over to us and asked if we were in a hurry to leave. I thought that was strange and of course we had no where to go, besides back to our hotel. The manager then asked if we would like to TOUR the kitchen! OMG! I was like, YA! Are you kidding?!
He lead us to the back. It was such a clean kitchen too! No one yelling or screaming or throwing stuff across the room. Well, Gordon wasn’t actually there (he was busy filming in LA, of course). We also saw the little alcove (Chef’s Table) where a group of four were. The manager took a picture for us and it’s one of my favorite from our whole trip. All in all, it was probably the best dining experience I’ve ever had.