Blanch House

No longer a restaurant or bar. It is now a boutique hotel.
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KK
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I have received the SmartBox as a Birthday present from my step daughter in occasion of my birthday and I am writing to complaint and inform about the Blanch House that did not honoured The Term and Condition of the SmartBox Voucher and the poor level of service and embarrassment received by The Blanch House Team Members.

I would like to underline that we have followed the instruction enclosed with the smart box voucher to the letter since the booking.

We book a table for Friday 3rd September 2010 for 8pm since we were arriving from London and we informed reservation that 2 of us had the smartbox voucher however we book a table for four people to experience The Blanc House with our girlfriends.

Upon arrival, we wait for about five minutes before somebody opened the door to gain access, however was not a big issue since we were waiting for my friend to park and we decided to stop at the bar to have some cocktails and experience the famous and award-winning cocktails you were advertise.

We informed the bar that we had a table booked and we took a table on the areae and upon the waiter arrival we ordered one cosmopolitan, and two vodka martini cocktails straight up with olives, and one diet coke. The waiter asked which vodka we were prefer, I asked Absolute Vodka but in a snobby way told me we don’t Absolute Vodka and told us which Vodka were available, I was a bit disappointed but I did not make a fuss for the vodka I was more surprised and disappointed to have being served a vodka martini with three stuffed green olives with pimiento, a famous and award-winning cocktails bar serve it with a queen green olive. My partner saw the expression of my disappointment but I did not want to spoil the evening for anybody.

We nearly finished to drink our cocktails and I thought the waiter was approaching us to ask if we wanted another round, instead he went to close the windows curtain and from far away asked us are your cocktails ok? We answered fine, thanks. Another waiter, the one who actually open the entrance door at first, approached us and told us your table is now ready, please follow me.

We promptly stood up and followed him, in a nearly empty restaurant were only two table were occupied, I felt rushed up but I though that may were expecting some other tables.

I promptly informed the waitress that I had the smartbox voucher, she reply I am sorry we do not accept vouchers here. We reply we actually mention about the voucher when we book the table; she said ok don’t worry I see what I can do for you and gave us the wine list. After five minutes she came back and said for you I can do only a two course meal, starter and main courses. I was already embarrassed and not such a very good welcome. I did not have any choices left and I had to stay to avoid a disaster evening. We ordered a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and one diet coke for my friend to start and your waitress assumed straight away that was the cheapest from the vine list, just because we had the voucher. Eventually the diet coke was served after the starter because your waitress forgot to bring it on the table. I ordered for me and my partner the scallops and the beef steak with lentils, one of my girlfriend orders was same as us and the other member of the party had the rabbit for starter and the duck for main course.

We had such a terrible service and we felt very unwelcomed but the cherry on the cake was when I ask the bill and wanted to pay and the waitress told me that the credit card machine was not working in the restaurant and we had to go back to the bar to pay, however she also told me that the voucher was Also appear on the bill as COMP. I felt actually she was make sure we were leaving the restaurant as she rushed us again. What also was upsetting more is the credit card machine was not fix to a till but one handheld machine mobile; she could bring it to table. I have also notice when I went home that in your bill you have charged for everything, than including the service charge and then remove the comp which is also unfair. If you were more honest, you were removing the comp and than apply the service charge since already you were removing two courses meal from the voucher.
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Paolo Lacchini
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Sunday, September 26, 2010

Visited Blanch House with three friends as part of the Argus 'Dine for £10 offer' and, unlike some others on this site found it excellent value for money! The staff were very welcoming and although there was no-one else there when we arrived it didn't feel awkward at all. The decor is very plain and white which might not be everyone's taste, but I was much more interested in what was on my plate and the efficient service meant there wasn't a lot of time for sitting around staring at the walls. The staff offered us warm bread rolls and were generally attentive without being overbearing, plus they knew the answers to all the questions we asked about the food, which is always good!

I had ham hock terrine with juniper sauce which was delicious and beautifully presented (but tiny!). For my main I had salmon in beurre blanc sauce which was cooked to perfection. I suspected the portions would be small so also ordered a side-dish of roast potatoes and was surprisingly full by the end of the two courses. I think it was a little unfair to pay extra for the side dishes especially as the portions are obviously smaller than a lot of people would be used to.

Afterwards we went to the bar for some absolutely amazing cocktails - the best I have ever had, served charmingly. The bartender was very happy to help us choose what to have from the huge menu and answer all our questions about the ingredients we didn't recognise without making us feel stupid, even though I think it was clear we weren't going to spend as much as their average customer might, so I can see some places not being very intersted in our custom.

Overall: for the two courses for £10 this place was amazing value and the staff made us feel very welcome. Not sure if I could afford to go back for the regular a la carte menu very often but will defintely be going back for those fantastic cocktails on my birthday!
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KC, Brighton
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Friday night and taken up the Argus offer. It's reasonable to say that had the offer not been running the restaurant would have been empty. Welcoming staff however a unfortunately an unwelcoming atmosphere in the 'trying-too-hard' white box room that serves as the restaurant was lacking as was any warmth or sense of occasion. The food was no more than average, even accounting for the 'Argus budget menu'. Overall worth a visit but not worthy of a revisit. The experience on offer needs to relax a bit more.
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stig gardiner
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Saturday, February 27, 2010

Staff where extremely friendly when entering Blanch House. We sat for a cocktail before being seen to our table. Menu looked excellent and wine list comprehensive but not over bearing.

The food lived up to its reputation and was beautifully presented and tasted excellent. Sadly the service, and one particular lady, let the the whole evening down. Having to wait for 15 minutes to get your wine topped up and then only after asking is not what I call attentive staff. Then when the meal was finished we waited for just under an hour for anyone to come to our table. Granted there was a large group in the restaurant and much of the attention went on them but at the expense of all the other diners. When we finally did ask for the bill we were told "really busy at the moment, can't you see".

When the bill did finally arrive and we politely declined to pay the 12.5% service charge we were told "I don't come to work to get shouted at and abused".

Good food severely let down by one staff member.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, September 06, 2009

Oh my goodness, where do I start! I went for dinner at Blanch House this weekend and it has to be one of the best meals out I have ever had. From the outside my friends and I were a little confused about where the restaurant actually was, mainly because it is disguised as a house. But a buzz on the doorbell saw us seen in to a fabulously designed chic bar area with wonderful staff. The cocktail menu was to die for, and they are extremely good at recommending things based on your tipple of choice, whether you want fruity or creamy and prefer long or short (I say this meaning the staff had encyclopedic knowledge of the extensive cocktail menu). I had a 'duck soup' (which contained Havana rum, chilli syrup, jam and cardamon among other things) and a 'strawberry and balsamic' mojito, which is self explanatory.

We were then shown into the dining room, which has a gorgeous minimalist white theme. The waiting staff were fantastic; most were french, unpretentious, exceptionally well trained, polite and attentive but certainly not over-bearing. They also discussed my gluten-intolerance with me and made every effort to check the ingredients in everything I ate without any prompting. The food was excellent, and at £35 for 3 courses extremely good value for money. The highlight had to be the chocolate and almond fondant pudding - I had not expected to be able to eat this (being a coeliac) but it was entirely GF and my god was it gorgeous. Both of my friends had serious pudding envy! After dinner we retired to the bar for another cocktail; we would have happily stayed there all night if we hadn't had other plans!

I cannot recommend this restaurant enough, and I am looking forward to taking my partner there next time I'm in Brighton with him.
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Kate Irvine
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, March 16, 2009

My partner and I had lunch there last Friday and we both thought the food was excellent. The decor is a bit minimalistic and the white pvc chairs were looking a bit grubby, but overall a very good experience.
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David Wicks
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Saturday, February 14, 2009

We dined at Blanche House last night and had a great time. Lovely staff, great cocktails. Unfortunately this was all let down by the food, which, despite sounding rather interesting and adventurous on the menu, was surprisingly bland. Nothing wrong with the execution, just rather insipid and lacking in flavour. The starter of snails arrived with snails out of the shell on a small kebab skewer. They were possibly a little overdone and hence a tad chewy, with very little to accompany them to add flavour to the texture. Perhaps the expectation of plenty of garlic coloured our judgement, but we both felt rather disappointed with the dish. The mains were equally dull. A spicy chowder with fish tornadoes had no hint of spice and was simply a lump of fish atop some diced parsnip in a weak broth. The fillet was served on top of polenta, and only came alive when eaten with the large capers. The highlight of the meal was the cheese board, which we both savoured as an oasis of flavour in a desert of blandness. I would recommend the cocktail bar for a drink, with one of the best cocktail lists I’ve seen but I couldn’t recommend dining there unless the chef takes a long hard look at the style of cooking and starts providing some fare with a bit of flavour.
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Chris Lewis
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Thursday, February 05, 2009