Fine Dining in London without breaking the bank

[Voltar]

That's good to know, booked in there, in a few weeks time.

May be an odd suggestion but I've been going there for 11 years now and what I'd recommend is drinking their tea not the wines. Cocktails are ok there though but the tea selection and quality is very nice. My standard there is to order vast quantities of dim sum and then dessert. Their mains are nice but very expensive in my view for what they are and often I end up not having dessert as a consequence then regretting it.

Make sure you save room for dessert. I'd urge you to try the ribs and have the scallop siu mai.

Whilst downstairs looks awfully cool if you're under the stairs it's noisy and most of the seats are uncomfortable downstairs. It's more relaxing upstairs in my books and the seats are a bit more comfortable.

 

[oli collett]

May be an odd suggestion but I've been going there for 11 years now and what I'd recommend is drinking their tea not the wines. Cocktails are ok there though but the tea selection and quality is very nice. My standard there is to order vast quantities of dim sum and then dessert. Their mains are nice but very expensive in my view for what they are and often I end up not having dessert as a consequence then regretting it.

Make sure you save room for dessert. I'd urge you to try the ribs and have the scallop siu mai.

Whilst downstairs looks awfully cool if you're under the stairs it's noisy and most of the seats are uncomfortable downstairs. It's more relaxing upstairs in my books and the seats are a bit more comfortable.

I was about to say that Yauatcha is great value if you stick to dim sum/desserts but the mains can push the bill up! It's quite good to pop in just for dessert/take away as well

 

[Glaucus]

Good stuff, so how would you just do dim sum? That is what I'm interested in. How many dishes each or what? Never had dim sum before. Other than self cooked.

 

[FrenchTart]

Good stuff, so how would you just do dim sum? That is what I'm interested in. How many dishes each or what? Never had dim sum before. Other than self cooked.

Think of it as being like tapas in terms of how you get the dishes.

 

[oli collett]

Think of it as being like tapas in terms of how you get the dishes.

Yup - It's not traditionally meant as a dinner thing but it works, especially if there's a group of you so that you can have a ton of different dishes

Although if you're going down that route for eating around that way, you could stop at Bao first and mix it up, and maybe even finish at one of the bakeries in chinatown..

 

[Voltar]

Good stuff, so how would you just do dim sum? That is what I'm interested in. How many dishes each or what? Never had dim sum before. Other than self cooked.

How I do it:
Order 8 dishes between 2 to start with. I go hungry and eat a lot. Each dish there generally has 3 bite sized pieces.

I'd suggest you order say 5 and some ribs and see whether you need more. You don't wait ages for the food so it's not a problem to get more.

 

[Scam]

Another shout for La Trompette although it is out in west London so may not fit the bill. We've been to Helen Darroze at the Connaught which was amazing. Two star set lunch in the heart of Mayfair. Beautiful building to impress if you like the traditional Mayfair look.

 

[OracIe]

Smiths.

 

[Scottland]

Odette's is quite reasonable

 

[rexehuk]

Two places in Mayfair that I like...

iRobert (italian)
Tamarind (indian - with michelin stars and normal restaurant prices! looks like they've gone up!)

 

[Glaucus]

May be an odd suggestion but I've been going there for 11 years now and what I'd recommend is drinking their tea not the wines. Cocktails are ok there though but the tea selection and quality is very nice. My standard there is to order vast quantities of dim sum and then dessert. Their mains are nice but very expensive in my view for what they are and often I end up not having dessert as a consequence then regretting it.

Make sure you save room for dessert. I'd urge you to try the ribs and have the scallop siu mai.

Whilst downstairs looks awfully cool if you're under the stairs it's noisy and most of the seats are uncomfortable downstairs. It's more relaxing upstairs in my books and the seats are a bit more comfortable.

Food was amazing we had 10 dim sum and 1 noodles between three of us.
The venison puffs omg, the softshell crab was also great.
But the pudding Oh my just amazing, especially with the matching drink. Even if matching drink was £16. Honey jasmine pudding.

Atmosphere is a bit trendy and style over comfort. Chairs are horrible unless you're 5ft0 amd that was upstairs. Can't fault the food though.

 

[Cleisthenes]

I'm going to Duck & Waffle tomorrow, I've been recommended the Eel, Duck & Waffle and Doughnut by the Head Chef, does any one have any other recommendations? Have you been, how did you find it?

 

[randomshenans]

I like it, went for breakfast. Dan is a good dude.

 

[Cleisthenes]

I like it, went for breakfast. Dan is a good dude.

Excellent, I'll be trying as much as I can manage then

 

[the-evaluator]

I'm going to Duck & Waffle tomorrow, I've been recommended the Eel, Duck & Waffle and Doughnut by the Head Chef, does any one have any other recommendations? Have you been, how did you find it?

I thought it was just about ok. The food was good (the ox cheek benedict was wonderful) but the service was poor. We had to ask twice for a menu and then when we were ready to order we couldn't get the attention of anyone so I walked up to a couple of staff that were standing talking and said I would like to order.

When the waitress came over we told her what we wanted but she didn't write any of it down. She repeated back the order and got pretty much everything wrong. She then came back with a pen and paper and wrote it down.

The food was good though, I can't fault it.

You're definitely paying a premium for the view as I found pretty bad value for money. I know it's a London restaurant but I left feeling a bit ripped off.

I wouldn't go back there.

 

[Cleisthenes]

I thought it was just about ok. The food was good (the ox cheek benedict was wonderful) but the service was poor. We had to ask twice for a menu and then when we were ready to order we couldn't get the attention of anyone so I walked up to a couple of staff that were standing talking and said I would like to order.

When the waitress came over we told her what we wanted but she didn't write any of it down. She repeated back the order and got pretty much everything wrong. She then came back with a pen and paper and wrote it down.

The food was good though, I can't fault it.

You're definitely paying a premium for the view as I found pretty bad value for money. I know it's a London restaurant but I left feeling a bit ripped off.

I wouldn't go back there.

Thanks for the write up.

The food being good is the most important part for me, plus the view will be nice to have. If the service is lacking then that'll be reflected in my tip, but it's bonkers if it's as bad as you say. Hopefully my experience is better!

 

[the-evaluator]

It's entirely possible that the experience I had is out of the norm but it has meant I won't return.

The waitress didn't seem at all impressed when I asked to remove the 'optional' service charge. In my eyes a tip is earned not a given and there's no way a tip was warranted.

 

[Voltar]

Food was amazing we had 10 dim sum and 1 noodles between three of us.
The venison puffs omg, the softshell crab was also great.
But the pudding Oh my just amazing, especially with the matching drink. Even if matching drink was £16. Honey jasmine pudding.

Atmosphere is a bit trendy and style over comfort. Chairs are horrible unless you're 5ft0 amd that was upstairs. Can't fault the food though.

Awesome, glad you enjoyed it. The venison puffs are always on my standard order and are amazing

I also find the restaurant uncomfortable, but I'm willing to suffer that for a good feed. It's not wonderfully comfortable upstairs but downstairs is worse and has added noise factor. I'm a pretty big guy so the lack of decent chairs or even just comfortable chairs is I must say one of the most annoying parts.

But hey, it's great food and fine dining in London without breaking the bank.

 

[Scam]

When the waitress came over we told her what we wanted but she didn't write any of it down. She repeated back the order and got pretty much everything wrong. She then came back with a pen and paper and wrote it down.

Reminds me of the Jay Rayner article :

Please stop taking my order without a notebook. I don’t know you. I don’t know whether you are Francesco the Famous Memory Man, or were off your **** last night on crystal meth and can now barely recall your own name. I don’t trust you to remember what I ordered. Write it down.

Funnily enough I was out last night at a Turkish pizza place near The Globe and the waitress didn't write anything down. When our pizzas came there was much confusion about which was which between two of our party, it got taken away, then it got brought back. It was ridiculous. Didn't help that the girl barely spoke english which is another pet hate of mine in restaurants/cafes etc.

 

[Glaucus]

Awesome, glad you enjoyed it. The venison puffs are always on my standard order and are amazing

I also find the restaurant uncomfortable, but I'm willing to suffer that for a good feed. It's not wonderfully comfortable upstairs but downstairs is worse and has added noise factor. I'm a pretty big guy so the lack of decent chairs or even just comfortable chairs is I must say one of the most annoying parts.

But hey, it's great food and fine dining in London without breaking the bank.

We were upstairs. It's annoying as the food is very good, the service is pretty poor though and the seats. Imo they're going for style over comfort with the décor, but the others thought it was to free up the tables faster.

Need to try and find decent dim sum in Bristol now. Big fan after that.