I went to Gordon Ramsay at The London last night with some friends for dinner. It wasn't my first time there, but I thought I would tell you all about it since it's fresh in my mind. The interior is heavily decorated. It fits the theme of the hotel, but feels a little over the top. I actually liked it the first time I went for its novelty, but I tired of it quickly. There is too much polished brass, and the whole place is going to feel dated in about five minutes. I also noticed last night that they blocked an amazing city view by loading up the window sills with fake plants and decorative lamps with old lady lamp shades. They also kept a phony pitched ceiling that is obviously a hold over from the old Belage which gives a lot of the sapces a heavy feeling.
I have to say I like the service here. It's all business. The staff wear grey suits and have imprecable posture. They are very into their timing. Some of our party were about 20 minutes late and the hostess asked me about three times when they would be arriving. There was also a birthday in our party and at the end of the meal a waiter brought over a dish with a single scoop of sorbet with a candle in it. He set it down and said "I'm not going to sing." Frankly, I like some cold distance between me and the staff, but I could see it being VERY off putting to most other people.
I will give the place this.....the food is fabulous! Absoltely delicious. There is a small standard menu and then a tasting menu. The tasing menu is the way to go. You get three courses for about $65, and five courses for about $85. So why not go with the five courses, right? Here's what I had:
Fois Gras with French Toast, carmelized cherries and vanilla ice cream. It sounds bazarre but this was great; it had that sweet and savory thing going on.
Chilled Shrimp and Melon Gazpacho with Green Beans, and Avocado. Interestingly enough this was not a soup. It was more like a salad. It was very light and refreshing after the previous course.
Châteaubriand with Red Onion Marmalade, Mushrooms, and Potato Purée. See picture below. Honestly, I ordered my meat cooked medium, and it was well done. Other than that it was great.
Cheese plate. I'm not a big cheese person, so I couldn't tell you what kind of cheese it was.
Mango soufflet with a cream sauce, ice cream, and slices of mango. The mango flavour was not as prevelant as I had hoped, it was a little bland. That could have also have been because my pallet was tainted from the heavier dishes. There's a picture below of this as well.
All in all I would say try it out. I've liked it better with a table for two rather than a big group. The bar is a cool place to hang out too. They have a happy hour, but it's from 5 to7pm which doesn't give you much time to leave work and be able to spend some quality time, but at least at they give you a discount on parking.
