“He’d get kicked off the show for food like this!” – ex-Masterchef judge John Torode wins poor ratings for his Smithfield yearling; fans do praise the “good choice of breakfasts” and other British fare, but critics say “he should be ashamed” of the “woeful” cooking and “shambolic” service.
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Some of the meaty dishes can seem a bit of a challenge, but the stand-outs at John Torode’s Smithfield newcomer are of “standing-ovation standard”, though some dishes are “too rich”. “I would recommend [this restaurant] with my whole (fat-busted) heart to a gang of gourmands who don’t just want to eat, but to eat and discuss what they’re eating, and maybe argue about it a bit. But I’m not sure I’d recommend it to a person who just wanted to have fun. Maybe, people, the clue is in the name.”
AA Gill (26th October 2009)
3/5 stars
After regaling us with his Out of Africa-esqe week shooting a baboon, the critic visits John Torode’s latest opening in the “little gastrocluster of aching trendiness” that is Spitalfields. The dining room has the kitchen in the middle, and so a room that “ought to be rather splendid” is turned into “an awkward, cramped corridor”. Service is “nervous” but he finds the menu “interesting and smart”, the “star” of which is the roast chicken. “Pudding is pies and tarts. I’m tempted to say so are the customers”.
John Walsh (19th October 2009)
Food 3/5 stars, Ambience 4/5 stars, Service 3/5 st
The first-floor dining room of John Torode’s Spitalfields operation may be a “curious L-shaped structure”, but the critic finds it “a welcoming place on a rain-swept autumn day”. From the “very Anglo-Australian” menu he samples dishes that seem to fall into a pattern where the main feature is small and underwhelming, but saved by more “interesting” accompaniments. However, not even the “delicious” sides served with the “roast grouse” can redeem such a “melancholy plate” – this “controversial dish”, served rare, “tastes of death”.
Jasper Gerard (19th October 2009)
3/5 stars
“[T]here is lots to laud”, at John Torode’s Spitalfields newcomer, says the critic. He has two criticisms: the name “sounds like soap”, and the “other quibble is price”. ‘The Luxe’s menu makes Simon Cowell's birthday party look good value. Towards the end of the 19th century Spitalfields was regarded as the worst criminal rookery in London, a reputation Torode seems keen to restore by charging £29 for a steak.”
Marina O'Loughlin (15th October 2009)
2/5 stars
“Could do much, much better.” Those five words really tell you everything you need to know about the critic’s view on this recently opened upstairs section of John Torode’s Spitalfields newcomer, which she says “lacks everything you might reasonable expact from hospitality: generosity; warmth; a damn good feed”.
David Sexton (8th October 2009)
1/5 stars
“The Luxe is a well-presented restaurant and as you sit down you feel sure you’re going to have a good time there, albeit at a steepish price. Then the food starts to arrive ...” – an extract which tells you all you need to know about this first review of the upstairs dining room at John Torode’s Shoreditch newcomer. Might it just be ‘early days’? Doesn’t seems so: “as one dish succeeded another, it all began to seem too consistently ill-conceived and heavy-handedly executed to be just a chapter of accidents”. Ouch.
Guy Dimond (24th September 2009)
4/5 stars
The critic visits the ground floor café and basement bar of John Torode’s new Spitalfield venture (the main restaurant not yet being open). The restaurant will focus on poultry, and the chicken paillard he samples downstairs is a “tasty free-range bird, juicy and simply served”. He is impressed by the other dishes he tries too, and likes the “large and light and airy” space.
The Luxe is just next to Spitalfield market, and is a large building with a bar on the ground floor, dining room on the first floor and private dining room above that. Like its sister Smiths of Smithfield, there is an emphasis on meat, though there are also fish and vegetarian dishes on offer. Starters are £5.50 - £12, main courses £13 - £28.50, vegetables £3.50 - £4.50 and desserts £4 - £7. The atmosphere was fairly boisterous, the noise levels amplified by the wooden floor. There is an open kitchen, and we noticed dishes waiting a surprising amount of time under a heat lamp at the pass, something some of our dishes later suffered from.
Zoe Williams (23rd November 2009)
AA Gill (26th October 2009)
John Walsh (19th October 2009)
Marina O'Loughlin (15th October 2009)
David Sexton (8th October 2009)
Guy Dimond (24th September 2009)
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