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Review: Fifteen Restaurant London (founded by Jamie Oliver)


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Old 23-07-2008, 13:58
Victoria Sponge
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I went there last week for a birthday treat organised by my fella. Bless him, he knew I'd always wanted to go there!

There are two rooms in the restaurant, one is the Dining Room, and the other is the Trattoria. We went to the latter. Here is a sample menu: http://www.fifteen.net/restaurants/f...riaDinner.aspx

The service was very friendly. The staff were lovely and genuinely (I felt) wanted us to enjoy the experience. Some of the food was delicious (particularly the sausage ragu and gnocchi, and the spatchcock poussin with canellini beans) but some was just average (cod, pork loin starter, ant pasti). The desserts were very poor (we had the chocolate brownie and yoghurt berry cake).

As you can see from the menu, the prices are not cheap. If you want potatoes and veg with your main, they cost £3.50 each. They also add 12.5 per cent service charge. Yes I know it's optional but realistically no-one will have it taken off, especially as the management stress it goes to the Fifteen foundation thingy.

Cost wise I think that overall the place is over priced. To pay those prices I would expect every single item on the menu to be out of this world. The biggest rip off were the rubbish desserts at £6 each.

I still had a nice time because I was with loved ones and the service was good, but I would not go there again.
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Old 23-07-2008, 14:05
Taboo
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Maybe its just me,but I thought the menu prices were very reasonable. I do think its a bit cheeky tho to pay extra for potatoes and veg
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Old 23-07-2008, 14:13
Victoria Sponge
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I think the prices would be reasonable if the food was spectacular but a lot of it wasn't. The rib-eye, for example, was very average.
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Old 23-07-2008, 14:21
zenith52
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I think the prices would be reasonable if the food was spectacular but a lot of it wasn't. The rib-eye, for example, was very average.
What constitutes an 'average' Rib-Eye?

From the menu it advises hung for 28 days.. So a good start.
How did you have it cooked? Anything over Medium and it is ruined anyway
What made it average, rather than good or very good?

Just interested by the way, not trying to say you are wrong in your assesment or anything
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Old 23-07-2008, 14:28
jmclaugh
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Prices don't sound reasonable to me and charging £3.5 extra for veg is a rip off. The 12.5% service charge is well ott imo.
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Old 23-07-2008, 14:29
Victoria Sponge
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What constitutes an 'average' Rib-Eye?

From the menu it advises hung for 28 days.. So a good start.
How did you have it cooked? Anything over Medium and it is ruined anyway
What made it average, rather than good or very good?

Just interested by the way, not trying to say you are wrong in your assesment or anything

Medium rare. It was nice but...just nothing special, I can't explain it!

Perhaps I am too used to having fillet!
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Old 23-07-2008, 14:31
DaisyBumbleroot
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whats with the pretentious "secondi", "dolci" etc?

Locanda locatelli i can understance, but oliver is essex boy - not italian...
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Old 23-07-2008, 17:25
TommyGavin76
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I don't think it's that expensive, but I've heard lots of bad reviews about it. The main room at £60 a head is a big rip-off though. You can eat at Michelin Star places for less than that.
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Old 23-07-2008, 17:29
vidalia
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I don't think it's that expensive, but I've heard lots of bad reviews about it. The main room at £60 a head is a big rip-off though. You can eat at Michelin Star places for less than that.
For a superb quality meal with excellent service I'd recommend Chez Bruce in Wandsworth which is £40 for three courses and always gets it right at every level. It's not cheap but for a special meal it is just perfect.
www.chezbruce.co.uk
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Old 23-07-2008, 17:32
TommyGavin76
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For a superb quality meal with excellent service I'd recommend Chez Bruce in Wandsworth which is £40 for three courses and always gets it right at every level. It's not cheap but for a special meal it is just perfect.
www.chezbruce.co.uk
I almost posted that myself! Been discussed on here before, but for me the best meal for the price in London.
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Old 23-07-2008, 20:26
DaisyBumbleroot
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ok if you live in / near london then...
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Old 24-07-2008, 08:00
TommyGavin76
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ok if you live in / near london then...
I live 150 miles from London.
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Old 24-07-2008, 09:29
DaisyBumbleroot
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I live 150 miles from London.
! do you make a special journey to the restaurants then or are you in london anyway?
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Old 24-07-2008, 11:22
Banana Head
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Maybe its just me,but I thought the menu prices were very reasonable. I do think its a bit cheeky tho to pay extra for potatoes and veg
If you go to a Trattoria in Italy they always charge the veg courses separate - however they don't charge near enough £20 for a main course!!

I think it's expensive for what's meant to be an authentic trattoria.
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Old 24-07-2008, 11:24
Victoria Sponge
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For a superb quality meal with excellent service I'd recommend Chez Bruce in Wandsworth which is £40 for three courses and always gets it right at every level. It's not cheap but for a special meal it is just perfect.
www.chezbruce.co.uk
Menu looks/sounds very nice! Might check that one out next time.
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Old 24-07-2008, 12:04
vidalia
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Menu looks/sounds very nice! Might check that one out next time.
If you do go, have the creme brulee for dessert. It sets the standard for what a creme brulee should be and that level is very, very high - it is just pure heaven on a plate.
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Old 24-07-2008, 12:31
Victoria Sponge
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If you do go, have the creme brulee for dessert. It sets the standard for what a creme brulee should be and that level is very, very high - it is just pure heaven on a plate.
You must have read my mind, as I was thinking the creme brulee would definitely be my choice of dessert if I went there.
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Old 24-07-2008, 18:16
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I walked past this restaurant the other day and had a look at the outside menu - most mains seemed to be around the £24 level - so I imagine a full meal there would be very expensive. I am sure you can eat better Italian food for less money elsewhere in London.
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Old 24-07-2008, 18:38
TommyGavin76
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! do you make a special journey to the restaurants then or are you in london anyway?
Yeah, we tend to go down for a weekend and eat at a couple of good places.
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Old 25-07-2008, 09:26
DaisyBumbleroot
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Yeah, we tend to go down for a weekend and eat at a couple of good places.
oh right, fair do's if your making a weekend of it, i had visions of you doing a 300 mile round trip for tea!
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Old 25-07-2008, 14:46
TommyGavin76
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oh right, fair do's if your making a weekend of it, i had visions of you doing a 300 mile round trip for tea!
It's good, but it's not that good.
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Old 25-07-2008, 14:53
Sirio63
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If you go to a Trattoria in Italy they always charge the veg courses separate - however they don't charge near enough £20 for a main course!!

I think it's expensive for what's meant to be an authentic trattoria.
Trattoria should be (I'll explain why "should" and not "are" in a moment) some kind of diners for people who can not afford restaurants - or that what they originally were here in Italy. Places for people not very wealthy to get a simple meal, often made of only one dish - incidentally that is also why vegetables are always separated in Italian restaurants, in order to give people the maximum flexibility - of what we call "peasant cuisine", the most classical and basic dishes of the Italian traditional cooking. In Milan, you could find minestrone, for example, or maybe the Milanese risotto with ossobuco or luganega (the Milan style of sausage), or maybe polenta with cheese.......Traditional dishes made of basic ingredients
Point is, now they've often turned into very posh and snob restaurants, it's really difficult to find a true Trattoria nowadays, with coherent prices................
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Old 25-07-2008, 20:27
r1chd
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Had lunch at 15 Cornwall on Saturday. 3 courses for £24. Loved it, pud was a hightlight! Half a peach roasted with cinnamon, topped with clotted cream, apricots, smashed pavlova and amaretti biscuits. Sounds better generally than the London one, lots of well-sourced local produce on the menu. Also, 2 sides of the restaurant are glass and look over Watergate Bay...
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Old 25-07-2008, 22:12
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Point is, now they've often turned into very posh and snob restaurants, it's really difficult to find a true Trattoria nowadays, with coherent prices................
I agree, it's ridiculous and Jamie O should know the difference between a restaurant and a trattoria being a lover of all things Italian. :sleep:
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