L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

Great place, I have been on two occasions and both times enjoyed a delicious meal and great cocktails! The restaurant is trendy but laid back and the staff are friendly and helpful. Portions are small but worst ways if you’re still hungry you can always order more! Quite pricey but worth it, go you will not be disappointed!
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Nicola
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Monday, December 29, 2008

we arrrive on a tues night - no reservation but was offered a table in the upstairs restaurant - tables were quite packed together & people were listening to your conversation.however, the food is amazing - this is really fine food at its best - you will be horrified by the tiny portions but fear not - its rich & remember you are probably having many courses - a 3 courses turns out to be 5 ( with the little surprises from chef). the upstairs restaurant has blank dark decor but a different menu from the tapas looking restaurant downstairs - in hindsight would perfer the tapas looking area - so much more lively & interesting set up - you can watch the chefs ! if you love fine food then make this a must to do place ! my friend who does not like deserrts - was amazed by the souffle !
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miss socialite
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, December 21, 2008

This is now one of my favourite restaurants in London! I ate in L'Atelier last Friday evening before going to the theatre and thought the food and service were excellent.

My boyfriend and I each ate two small tasting dishes for starter, a main and a dessert. Coupled with the four beers we drank (neither of us fancied drinking wine) the bill came to £140 for both of us which I thought was very reasonable.

I had serious food envy when my boyfriend's dish of "quail stuffed with fois gras and truffle mash" arrived. It was sublime. Other dishes that I'd recommend include the mackerel tart, fois gras beef burgers, langoustine fritter and lobster lasagne (from the specials).

The French staff were extremely friendly and really helpful when we were choosing our dishes. Food, drinks and the bill arrived in a timely manner.

I will definitely be returning on a regular basis.
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Ewok - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, December 16, 2008

We had a wonderful meal in the upstairs restaurant last night to celebrate my birthday. We had the 9-course menu decouverte, which at £95 per person wasn't cheap, but frankly worth every penny as it was all so delicious. The atmosphere was really buzzy, much more so I thought than downstairs. The service was great - really professional and friendly without being grovelly (unlike Foliage where on returning to my table from the loo I was greeted with a "Welcome back, madame"!). Everything was paced brilliantly and we enjoyed a great bottle of Chablis. The waiters also didn't do the annoying (and common) thing of topping up the wine all the time to encourage you to buy another bottle. Wine list was fab too, from a nice looking Shiraz by the glass for a fiver to over a grand for some bottles! Definitely the best meal I've had for months, if not years.
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Suze
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, November 23, 2008

From the various reviews we had read, we hadn't realised that this is in essence a very elegant french take on a tapas bar. You mostly sit on bar stools facing the kitchen staff, a la tapas bar, and quite a lot of the food has spanish notes, like the jamon being carved in front of us.

We found the service attentive, from the meeters and greeters to the waiting staff. We did the pre theatre (or lunch) special menu and found the food interesting, (the main menu had lists of tapas and raciones sized portions, although they didn't call them that). The room conveyed a stylish atmosphere, quality dark wood fittings, with carefully directed lights on various objects and also where it was needed, on the food, not on us.

We accepted the offer of a glass of champagne on being seated, knowing it would be expensive but what the hell, and it was, £15 a glass if I remember correctly, but very enjoyable (and we did witness a group of people being advised to buy the bottle rather than 4 glasses).

We will return and probably try the upstairs more "regular" restaurant, which most don't seem aware of, we certainly were not! Or pop in for lunch and try a couple of the "tapas" with a glass of wine.
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Carol and Mike - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 5
Sunday, November 23, 2008

We went there on 07th November 2008 to celebrate my daughter's 25th birthday and I wasn't impressed by the service received. My husband's drink took half an hour and no aplogies or explanations were given for the delay.

We were rushed as if we were not welcome there and the waitress and waiters were rather rude. Plates were cleared whilst other people were still eating. On average we spent £100.00 per head and service charge was added to the bill which I declined to pay and was rudely asked why.

The food was very nice and it was such a shame that it was spolit by the lack of professionalism by the staff. We definately won't be going there again. We work too hard to be treated like 2nd class citizens.
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Sabina
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, November 11, 2008

£16 for half a small courgette!! come on now, honestly. Yes, it said small plate, but that is just taking the Michael. Just because it’s a Michelin restaurant does not mean you should charge these prices! at least put more food on the plate. We left the restaurant hungry after having spent nearly £80 for two people on nothing. Honestly, we felt cheated. Yes, Michelin restaurants are expensive, and we have been to quite a few, but we were very disappointed.

Another thing, what they do not tell you, or when you book for lunch is that you have to sit on quite high bar stools. What if you are unable to reach, or have a problem with getting that high? They did move us from the very cramped bar to a separate table, but still with the bar stools.

Will not be going there again.
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CL
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Monday, November 03, 2008

We went last night to celebrate a friend's engagement. The restaurant, fairly dimly lit, resembled an upmarket sushi restaurant rather than a french brasserie. The atmosphere is intimate and the service, absolutely first class.

The food is sensational - the ravioli langoustine is absolutely delicious and the seabass is also wonderful too. You are given a complimentary amuse bouche to start with and then asked to choose either two tasting starters and a main or two tasting mains and a full portion starter. The waiting staff were very attentive and upon hearing that my friend had got engaged - presented her with a slice of cake and a 'good luck' message written in a berry juice on a plate for dessert! As a girlie group, we often dine out at a lot of decent restaurants in London and I have to say that along with Chez Bruce in Wandsworth, L'Atelier de Joel Robouchon is seriously one of my favourite restaurants now!
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, July 31, 2008

Went on a friday night (13 June), and the place was empty which really surprised me. the atmosphere and decor is dark, cool and quirky which i liked. it reminded me of being in new york. the food was excellent. we liked all of our starters but the one that I recommend most is the langoustine ravioli (called La Langoustine)... yum! next best was beef carpaccio followed by Le Bar (sea bass and salmon tartar), followed by white asparagus.

for a main, my husband had steak tartar and crinkle cut chips and it was amazing. my only gripe was my sea bass (£30). it was very tasty but was so tiny and didn't come with any veg even though it was from the full main side of the menu instead of the tasting side. it was the size of a matchbox if you wondering just how small it was.

i had cheese afterwards and it was too big to finish (a bonus) and was pretty good. you don't get a choice but are given the usual 1 hard, 1 goats, 1 soft (camembert), and 1 blue. It came with raisin bread which i don't like so they had to bring me some other bread.

Now for the area where they really need to improve - Service! A summary: we had an early dinner booking so we could get to the theatre, but they weren't ready to seat us until 15 minutes after opening / our booking time, then we had to wait ages after we were sat to order a drink, a waitress bought us another tables' drinks, we then asked for our drinks to remind them we had ordered, then we had to ask for butter for our bread, and we had to ask for more water. they didn't describe the dishes which happens at other restaurants of that ilk. they really seemed inexperienced and needed more training. they weren't rude or anything, but just were very basic in their service. sort of what you get at a Strada or Wagamamas (which is absolutely fine for those places, but not a Joel Robuchon). also they seemed to be very obviously training new staff right in front of us which they could have done out of ear shot.

Our bill came to £185 for 4 tasting starters, two full size mains, 1 glass of champers (£10), 3 glasses of wine (£7 - £9.50 each), one port, service, and no coffee.
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Lisa
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Saturday, June 14, 2008

Went for the first time recently and throughly enjoyed it. Ordered from the lunch menu and was pleased to see the same skill and craft being put into the cheaper offering as for the a la carte.

The food was sublime the staff helpful (we had heavy bags as we were travelling) and the whole experience left us both in a great mood for the rest of the day (even with a long journey ahead).

The decor is great, the place is beautiful. Will be back soon for the a la carte and dinner. Can't wait.
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Shrimpy
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, June 13, 2008