The notes below are from a much happier meal in April 2005.
A basement, but one with a very high ceiling. At the far end is a wine cellar behind glass, and there are a couple of booths. There is also a love seat, and in general the atmosphere is romantic, with the lighting subdued, with spots picking out the centre of each table in a pool of light as at Hakkasan, though less well done. The clientele is definitely trendy – one blonde woman was wearing both a kimono and a tiara. Tables are a decent size for four, though I observed that a table for six just had two extra chairs stuffed in around the same table. The menu was tapas style. I had summer salad with mixed leaves and baby vegetables (14/20). This was followed by a small piece of sea bass pan-fried with a little beurre blanc; the fish was fresh and well timed, the sauce subdued (16/20). Next was roasted quail with sauce diable, the quail tenderly cooked and the sauce just a rich smear that did not overwhelm the delicate quail (16/20). Fillet of beef with mushroom duxelle was medium rare yet somewhat chewy, so presumably was not very well sourced (14/20).
Cheese is odd in that you choose and pay for each cheese individually. Camembert and Comte were good but the quantities were too big for a single cheese – much better to have a board and have a little of several (14/20). Tarte fine had good pastry, dessert apples and a fair vanilla ice cream (14/20). Coffee was of good quality (16/20). There was just one bread, a mini white loaf served warm and this was excellent (16/20). Service was flaky – they had lost my booking so I suppose I should be grateful to have got in at all given the place was completely full. Wine topping up was erratic, and getting attention also hit and miss. The wine list was good value, and with plenty of careful selections. Overall this was a very pleasant experience, and a fair price.
Further reviews: 09th Feb 2012
Alex Chambers
The restaurant does now offer a cheese selection option, though as with the other courses, if you go for it the portion of each is not what one would describe as generous. By no means perfect, but certainly one of the best places in the area to eat well at a reasonable price. Make sure to avoid the big names on the wine list as they seem to mark them up on a different scale to the lesser known growers- perhaps inevitable given the location and clientele, who always appear to be ordering rather average Chablis, regardless of their menu choice. If pushed, I'd give it one mark higher than Andy has!