“Opulent chandeliers” don’t succeed in creating a particularly sparkling atmosphere at Gary R’s luxurious – but “atmosphere-free” – dining room, near Marble Arch; reports divide on whether the food is “brilliant” or “underwhelming”, but the most striking feature is just how little feedback, of any sort, the place inspires.
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Business - yes, Children's facilities - high or special chairs, Private rooms (capacities) - 22, Last orders - 10.15 pm, Closed - closed Mon, Sat L & Sun
“Good. But good enough?” That’s the questions asked – but not really answered – by Giles Coren’s stand-in, reviewing the fancier of the two Gary Rhodes establishments at a Marble Arch hotel.
John Walsh (9th July 2007)
Food 4/5 stars; Ambience 3/5 stars; Service 5/5 stars
The Indie’s man has to penetrate a “huge” front door – “like the portal to an upmarket torture chamber” – to experience Gary Rhodes’s already much-reviewed new restaurant. Inside, the décor is apparently a “paradox of restrained opulence”. Presumably, this meant ‘parody’ – always willing to educate ourselves, we looked in vain for any philosophical musings on the nature of the supposed paradox. But at least, for once, we’re spared the tidbit that this is Rhodes’s effort to regain a Michelin star.
Terry Durack (25th June 2007)
17/20
The critic kicks off by noting the sheer effort that had gone in to half a grape, which which he began his meal at Gary Rhodes’s “ambitious” and “quietly lavish” new Bayswater restaurant… “and that’s just one of the appetisers.” He could end the review at that point, he says, “because this one dish says it all. It says high craft and due diligence; it says richness and lightness; and it says eat me.”
Marina O’Loughlin (12th June 2007)
3/5 stars
“Boy, does it mount up” – the bill, that is – at Gary Rhodes new fine dining operation. Once you’ve been “anaesthetised by some intense, tenebrous luxury”, however, the whole experience is “rather jolly”, despite a setting which combines “Gothic lugubriousness and nouveau riche glitz”.
Mark Palmer (4th June 2007)
8/10 points
Reviewing Gary Rhodes’s new operation, the Telegraph’s man comes to broadly the same conclusions as Mrs M (below) on both the cuisine – “Rhodes does French and all the Michelin set pieces are on display” – and the “look.” He’s not so sure about designer Kelly Hoppen’s “first restaurant venture” either.
Fay Maschler (4th June 2007)
4/5 stars
This is “Rhodes's most recherché endeavour yet”, concludes Mrs M, with “the oxtail stews and Jaffa Cake puddings” for which he is famous discarded in preference for “French classicism”. The small dining room room may be a “vulgar” place, “which resembles a fetishist boudoir”, but “anyone interested in finesse in cooking” should give it a whirl.
Joe Joseph (26th November 2007)
John Walsh (9th July 2007)
Terry Durack (25th June 2007)
Marina O’Loughlin (12th June 2007)
Mark Palmer (4th June 2007)
Fay Maschler (4th June 2007)
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