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l"Atelier De Joel Robuchon London

l'Atelier De Joel Robuchon London

3 5  Reviews

French in London - Covent Garden
13-15 West Street , Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9NE
+44 (0) 20 7010 8600
http://www.joel-robuchon.com/

Sister restaurant to the existing L Ateliers in Paris, Tokyo and Las Vegas, this is the latest restaurant from the legendary French chef Joel Robuchon, serving exemplary cuisine in a formal dining room as well as a more casual eating area where diners sit on stools, plus a top-floor bar.
Tags: bar, celeb chefs, celebs, cocktails, expensive, french, french cuisine, Joel Robechon, London fine dining, Michelin Stars, Restaurants, special occasions


l'Atelier De Joel Robuchon London Reviews


Not 2* - ast week, I visited L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon to try out their extremely reasonable set lunch - 3 courses for £25, just like the one I had at Hibiscus. A friend of mine had spotted the offer, so we booked ourselves in and I hot-footed it down to Covent Garden.
Upon arrival, I was surprised by how dark it was. It was very much a black and red colour theme, and once I'd managed to hop rather ungracefully up onto the (red) bar stool I was also surprised to find that there was a definite theme of apples - a big bowl of apples sitting on fake ice cubes graced the bar, and a gigantic red apple sat just behind it. I wish I'd asked why. The bar was the best place to be sitting; a mere 2 or 3 metres away, the chefs were busy at work and you could happily spy on them.


As with most of these set lunches, the choice was limited. To start, I plumped for the 'Soft poached egg with braised celery, hazlenut and beetroot vinagrette'. The presentation was impressive and the flavours were clean, smooth and simple, with each element being quite defined. For my main, I went for the 'Hangar steak served with dauphinois potatoes, red wine and shallot sauce'. The hangar steak was good and beefy, cooked perfectly to medium rare. I'd have liked a thicker stack of potatoes, but on reflection, the dish was quite rich and I am quite greedy so it did turn out to be enough. The shallot sauce that adorned the steak was gorgeous; reduced down to a sweet yet savoury sticky goodness.

Just like at Hibiscus, dessert turned out to be my favourite course. I had originally told the waitress that we'd have just the one dessert to share, but she ignored me and two turned up instead. Naughty of her, but I'm quite glad because this chocolate and coffee finger was rather delicious. A coffee-soaked sponge nestled beneath the chocolate ganache, and the little silver balls gave a welcome change in texture. Accompanying vanilla ice cream was a good bland foil for the richness of the chocolate, though I felt the meringue perched atop of it to be rather redundant.

All in all, a good lunch but for £35 with a glass of wine and service, I do wonder if perhaps it's worth saving up that extra more (ok, a whole lot more) and going for the full whack to get the real experience of the restaurant. While the cooking was solid and the presentation was lovely, I didn't feel particularly wowed by any of the dishes, especially from a 2 Michelin starred establishment.


  
Tags: french

Rating  3

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Shunned by the French - I’ve eaten at Joel Robuchon’s three times now and the two previous times have been exceptional although they were both when they opened so maybe they were out to impress. This time I was hugely disappointed as was the rest of our table.

We ordered the 3 course set menu for £25 and I think that alone set the stage for what was to come: horrible service. Maybe they black card those who choose that menu because that’s what we felt like. The restaurant had about 6 empty tables and for a Thursday lunch prior to Christmas that seems like they may be suffering from the economy (not that other restaurants are in my opinion). They sat the seven of us down at a lovely table then left us. We had to ask for everything from that moment on including the menu; to order our drinks; bread; and then ordering our meal. Our starter showed up before our drinks which isn’t cool and not what you’d expect from a top restaurant. They had so many waitstaff yet they were on in disarray not knowing who was working with which table. When we ordered our wine the waiter said okay but then came back and said they were out (aka, they gave it to the table next to us who arrived after). They seem more pre-occupied with the rowdy table next to us doing wine pairing and secret Santa gifts and standing up on their chairs (again, not what I’d expect from this type of restaurant).

The food was really good as it always is. I had the langoustine veloute with winter vegetables and the perch with artichoke hearts and then the tart sampler for dessert. Tiny portions leaving you not full but quite satisfied. If you are hungry or hearty eater, you may have to stop by Mickey-D’s on the way home. But I think this is representative of their set menu and not the portions I’ve had previously.

So lesson learned: don’t order the set menu unless you want to be shunned by the French staff.  

Rating  2

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Amuse bouche - Mmmm, we went here last night for my boyfriend's birthday and boy, was it good. We ate at L'atelier, the more informal restaurant downstairs and got seats at the bar. Not the best when you want to talk to the person you're with, but great for watching the chefs at work - it is the calmest kitchen I've ever seen!

The ambience is really lovely. As it was a Monday night it wasn't full to the rafters so probably a little quieter than normal.

The waiting staff were so unbelievably nice and made us feel totally at ease. They explain every dish and are patient with slow decision makers.

They had a full vegetarian tasting menu which obviously made me happy. I even got a veggie amuse bouche ;) The only thing with these sort of restaurants is the food is so rich but is so moreish that you have to eat the lot and end up feeling a little bit ill. Also, far too much of the food is err, how to say it, foamy - you do sometimes yearn for something a bit solid!

We didn't go for the tasting menus because we had to meet people after, but did three courses with a couple of glasses of wine. It was actually a lot more reasonable than I expected, but I guess you could spend pretty big in here. The tasting menus are £70 for the veggie and £90 for the meat I think.

A tip: the pre-theatre menu is £19 for two courses or £25 for three. It's only served from 5:30 to 6:30, but is a good way to try out this pretty pricy restaurant.  
Tags: , expensive, french cuisine

Rating  4

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Very Robouchon - Every bit the Micheline star establishment, but a lot more fun than most. It manages to be relaxed and flambouyant at the same time. If you can, get a seat at the "bar" and watch the masters at work. It's just amazing.

Wonderful small plates, so you don't have to feel like you've had the filling degustation experience you might associate with a M-star meal (but you certainly can if you want!), and very handy for a quick pre- or post- theatre meal.  

Rating  4

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Michelin Superstar... - Joel Robechon’s London flagship restaurant is excellent, situated more or less next door to the Ivy it’s in another country in terms of the food on offer. It’s reassuringly expensive, the food is French haute cuisine of the standard you see in glossy magazines and the décor is as chic as the elegantly dressed and delightfully obsequious staff. I haven’t eaten downstairs at the large bar that runs around an open kitchen where the full spectacle of a world-class restaurant kitchen provides entertainment for diners, mainly because it might be interesting to watch but I think that sort of thing is gimmicky - upstairs there’s a proper dining room where you can sit facing your guests and have a conversation, which is the whole point of having dinner with people after all.

Seated in the slightly cramped but beautifully furnished black and white dining room you are assaulted by food of incredible quality and technical skill. Although the dishes look small the food is filling and I was surprised how full I was by the end of it. The first time I went we had the degustation menu and it was flawless, the second time we ordered dishes from the a la carte menu and everything was equally as good. The wine list is excellent – the Corton Charlemagne in particular is one of the best white wines in the world and priced very reasonably (I’ve seen it at nearly twice the price elsewhere). On one occasion I ordered a red Bellet it was so badly corked I nearly choked, which isn’t unexpected as the wine is known for going off very quickly when transported hence it’s rarity in the UK, but it’s still an excellent wine list. I’d recommend going for the frogs legs with garlic puree, the ris de veau (sweetbreads), the langoustines, in fact… pretty much everything. The deserts are chocolate genius and the cheeses are high quality French and British produce.

L’Atelier is in the same ballpark as Gordon Ramsay’s or La Gavroche, but it has that showbiz twist to the food in terms of the presentation and avant-garde flavours which I think distinguishes the experience of eating there as being pretty unique among London’s premier division. Robechon is often cited as the best chef in the world, a hero of Gordon Ramsay’s in particular. The only downside with L’Atelier is that, like at any superstar chef eatery, you’ll walk away with a hole ripped in your jacket where your wallet used to be.  
Tags: celeb chefs, celebs, Joel Robechon, London fine dining, Michelin Stars, Restaurants, special occasions

Rating  4

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