Restaurant Review

The second in this series concerns a recent visit to Leiths of Soho (41 Beak Street) which happened on 29 March.

A small restaurant (space for around 40 diners) and a Monday evening meant that the diners could be spread out.  It did get busier and the next table was taken by a couple of smokers.  It is a free world so no ranting - I would have preferred not to have suffered the smell but they did not persist once the food arrived.  The decorative style is modern and attractive.  Wooden floor, tables etc.  A long "thin" dining room.

A simple menu offered some attractive choices and unusually my wife and I did not choose the same items.

I started with sweetbreads and she had lobster ravioli.  As is often the case we then taste each others food and decide that one or other has "won" by getting the choice right.  Whilst I enjoyed my sweetbreads, I think it is fair to say that the lobster ravioli "won" this time around.

There are specials of the day and I chose one of these - the steak.  My good lady had selected the duck and the breast came a little pink together with a confit of leg.  As I had selected medium the steak was too rare for my wife so I got to eat the whole of this and I enjoyed it. I had a taste of the duck and whilst it was not as good as one experienced elsewhere it was certainly very good.  We had a small dish of vegetables between us.

For wine a bottle of Chilean Alamos Ridge was highly acceptable.

To end the meal my wife had an excellent chocolate souffle and she considers this one of the best souffles she had  - enough to make a return visit worthwhile.  I had the selection of cheeses (I rarely eat something other than cheese unless it looks very attractive).

Total bill (including a bottle of water and "optional" service of 12.5%) was £97.59, so under £100.  The quality of the food was good, nothing wrong with the service or location.

Afterwards my wife observed that there was no canned music and that it was a restful environment with no need to raise voices and a relaxed approach to proceedings.  Well worthy of a visit for good quality food. The Good Food Guide rates this as a 4 which in my view is a little on the low side as may soon become apparent.

A few weeks ago we were visiting the theatre (Memories of Water - starring Alison Steadman, Samantha Bond and Julia Sawahla - excellent entertainment) and prior to the show decided to visit the Criterion at Picadilly Circus which is now part of the Marco Pierre White empire.

With limited time we arrived slightly early (17:57 for 18:00) and the welcome was less than welcoming.  Yes I know they open at 18:00 but they perhaps need to be a little more flexible?  The reception girl was a little off hand to say the least.

The time available meant that we could not spare the time for a visit to the full menu and instead were restricted to the menu designed for those taking other entertainment and the comments should be viewed against that restriction.  The interior of this brasserie/restaurant is quite amazing, shimmering in gold.  It is fairly narrow but stretches back a long way from the street, a small bar to the left and a few tables at the entrance and then numerous tables - so yet another large dining hall but stylish.

My potted duck to start was excellent, although the other half did not enjoy her starter anywhere near as much.

For main course we both chose guinea fowl (the other two main choices were fish and for some reason neither of us wanted to eat fish).  The guinea fowl, served in a white sauce, was fairly bland and disappointing.

I finished with cheese and this ended the meal well.

Something does not quite gell - I suppose I was expecting the food to be better than it was and this could be explained by our use of the pre- theatre menu.  It is a lovely setting and the service is perhaps a little too much for something billed as a "brasserie".

The Good Food Guide rates this as a 6 and I feel this is over-rated on our (one-off) experience, compared with say Leiths of Soho.