“Nothing hits the right note”, say critics of Gordon Ramsay’s tenure of this long-established Chelsea bistro; it would be fair to say, though, that it “was never really known as a destination for amazing food”, and that the cooking – while still “entirely unmemorable” – has improved somewhat of late.
Keep your own review of Foxtrot Oscar using our diary service.
“Isn’t this the sort of stuff people rip out?”, said our guest. We don’t think so: if you found a plasticised wall covering of the sort now gracing this relaunched Chelsea bistro, you’d p...
more
Press Reviews (6)
Marina O'Loughlin (27th March 2008)
2/5 stars
Ms O’L uses her review of Ramsay’s recent Chelsea re-launch for general musing on “What is Big Sweary up to?”. For those interested in such a topic, it’s certainly an interesting overview.
Guy Dimond (7th February 2008)
“This might be the first restaurant from Gordon RamsayTM to be an underachiever”, says veteran reviewer Guy Dimond. (Has he really never been to Banquette or La Noisette?) Even the faithful, it seems, are unimpressed by Ramsay’s relaunched Chelsea bistro, which is “so lacking in soul and the food is so unremarkable that you wonder why you didn’t stay home and cook instead”.
Mark Palmer (5th February 2008)
Mr Palmer has an up-and-down meal at Gordon Ramsay’s relaunch of this Chelsea bistro. “[D]espite the success of the starters and puddings”, however, he concludes that he doesn’t want to go back “because this isn't a local restaurant any more. It's another occupied square on Gordon's Monopoly board.”
Richard Vines (31st January 2008)
3/4 stars
The financial news service’s critic is impressed by Gordon Ramsay’s relaunched Chelsea bistro, where he finds “an accessible and enticing menu, good cooking, friendly service and the kind of buzz others might need chemicals to create”. (The news section of Ramsay’s own website, indeed, hails the “impressive praise” accorded in what it claims is the establishment’s “first review”. Can Gordon’s people really be unaware that Fay Maschler at the Evening Standard panned the place two days before?)
Fay Maschler (25th January 2008)
2/5 stars
“A hang-out no longer, just another soulless, prissy restaurant with uniformed staff who talk to you as if reciting a training manual”. Mrs M is not remotely impressed by Ramsay’s relaunch of this Chelsea institution – she seems to feel this all the more keenly of an establishment which, in the old days, for all its faults, no one could have accused of lacking character.
Jan Moir (25th January 2008)
“The room is too small, the bill is too big and although the food may be better than it once was, this is a restaurant that has lost its soul in the refurbishment. In catering terms it is a perfect example of how far we have come, how much we have lost and what is really important about dining out.” Ms Moir comes to pretty much exactly the same conclusion as Ms Maschler.
Marina O'Loughlin (27th March 2008)
Guy Dimond (7th February 2008)
Mark Palmer (5th February 2008)
Richard Vines (31st January 2008)
Fay Maschler (25th January 2008)
Jan Moir (25th January 2008)
Follow hardensbites
Become a Harden's fan
