Quaglino's can do Afternoon Tea, after-work drinks and sit-down meals. With so many strings to its bow, can Quaglino’s do its core trade properly? Was it any good? Time to find out...
Ideal for:
Casual dinner with mates
After work drinks
Date night
Ambience & Décor
The heaving bar area pre-9pm and the restaurant, once the live music started, at 9pm all had a lovely buzzing vibe. Quaglino’s interior has a 'wow' factor with the showpiece being the viewing gallery overlooking the entire dining area. The dining area's decorative central bar, pewter and gold staircase and polished fixtures all fuse to create a classy affair. The ornate columns and glass panelled ceiling give an imposing air to the space and makes the occasion feel special.
Service
Service was very slick and professional. We were well attended despite it getting busier as the night wore on. The waiters made some good wine suggestions and they were friendly when undertaking table service.
Food
Night started with cocktails. Whilst all the cocktails were delicious, the standout was the Q Clock (left). The cocktail is fed intravenously via a tube from the top to the funky-looking glass at the bottom, which is resting on an antique clock-face. It’s a martini-style cocktail that tasted as good as it looked.
Sadly the food was less spectacular. All the courses ordered had glaring faults. The starter of Hand picked Devon crab, brown crab parfait, shellfish jelly, pickled apple, wakame (below) sounded interesting. The crabmeat was encased in wakame (edible seaweed). The meat did not taste fresh as it had a hint of bitterness that alarmed me with the taste texture resembling tinned meat. The wakame was meant to have sweet tones,
but got none of that. The brown crab parfait was dollop of bland redundancy on the plate. The shellfish jelly tasted fresh and the pickled apple added a different texture, but it was a collection of fancy ingredients that amounted to not much, with the bitterness killing all other flavours. This was a rare occasion where I could not bring myself to finish it.
The Wild duck, orange braised endive & port marinated daikon (left) looked appetising. The best aspects were the accompaniments; tasty Daikon and the endives were a welcome twist. The duck was overcooked and tough to cut. I needed a steak knife and developed cramp before I gave up and left this dish too. I drowned my sorrow on the table's Sauvignon Blanc.
Quaglino’s had all the tools for a great dining experience; stunning interior design, live entertainment and professional service. However, the food was such a disappointment, it ruined a great night. The max I could muster was a D rating.
Photos of Quaglino's and more can be found on Instagram here.
Final grade: D
Final comment: Great décor, good service, but rubbish food. Not returning for dinner.
Hashtags: #D #Expensive #Continental #GreenPark #Quaglinos #Cocktails #QClock #GreatService #DevonCrab #Crab #CrabParfait #ShellfishJelly #PickledApples #Wakame #Duck #Endive #Daikon #AllOccasions #BrilliantDécor #BusinessMeetings #Casual #Contemporary #Cosy #Drinks #Eclectic #Elegance #LiveMusic #Modern #Multicultural #Terrible #Apple #Dates #FineDining #Japanese #Fusion #Jelly #Meat #Quirky
Comentarios