Harden's survey result
Summary
Operating to a no-frills “time-tested formula – How do you like your meat cooked? Would you like red or white wine?” – this Paris-based operation offers an “excellent, no-choice menu of salad, steak & frites, all of which are delicious” and “at an extremely good price (including a second helping if you’d like one)”. There’s “no booking and a permanent queue” at the two London branches (Marylebone and the City), so “get there early” for an “unbeatable meat fix”. “What’s in the addictive secret sauce?” – “who cares when it works so well!”
Summary
“Still the best cheap steak in London” for fans, despite growing competition – these “bustling” and “tightly packed” Paris-based ventures thrive on an “unchanged formula (steak + salad + frites + secret sauce + French staff outfits + bustle)” with branches in Marylebone and the City, whose permanent queues testify to their winning style. “A bit bish, bash, bosh but great fun”, they “do what it says on the tin, without grandstanding or ludicrous pricing (are you watching Hawksmoor?)”.
Summary
“So long as you don’t mind queuing and the fact that there’s just one item on the menu” – “entrecôte, salad, secret sauce and sublime frites” – this Gallic duo in Marylebone and the City can offer “a wonderful evening of no-frills dining”, and it’s an “obsession” to more ardent fans . “The only pressing question is ‘house red or Bordeaux’” – while the “hugger-mugger seating and bustle is all part of the charm”. The original Paris branch opened 60 years ago in a bankrupt Italian restaurant – hence the name.
Summary
“Formulaic… but it works a treat”. These “jolly” French steakhouses thrive on their “excellent and simple” format. “There’s just one choice on the menu, but it’s brilliant”: salad to start; then steak (“tender and delicious”) with “their magic secret sauce” (“the start of addiction”), plus “piles of hot fries”. (To follow there’s “a wide selection of desserts.”) “No wonder there’s always a queue, but it’s worth it, even though the inside is really crammed and can be chaos.” With the closure of the Soho branch, the remaining outposts are in Marylebone and the City. Top Tip – “ideal for a business lunch”.
For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte (Group)?
Restaurant details
Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte (Group) Restaurant Diner Reviews
"Catch up with an old friend and we chose Le Relais for an early evening dinner. Very much a 'what you see is what you get' - i.e. reliable, good food (with steak as the main course), with a French twist, in a 'buzzy and busy' environment, for an extremely good price! This includes, of course, a second helping if you'd like one! Excellent value too - three courses for two for only £89.95 (excluding wine, although their House Red is pretty good)."
Opening hours
Last orders: 10 pm
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