Ketterner’s
Date of Visit: 6th
September 2013
Ambience
As you enter the restaurant, there is a bar on the left
which was very busy even about 6ish and as we were shown to our seats, we
passed a grand white piano which was used later in the evening for live music.
The surrounding was chic but not over-dressed and the tables
were all laid out nicely with cutlery and wine glasses.
As the night went on, the restaurant became noisier as a
result of a full capacity room and the live music but it wasn’t troublesome at
all – if anything, it added to the buzzing atmosphere.
Food
The drinks menu inspired us to
try various cocktails and all were worth a try, especially the St Germain Fizz
(St Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Raspberry and Prosecco).
We were served some bread &
butter (which wasn’t warm) to start and we shared a couple of starters: oysters
and mussels. The Oysters were fresh but
on the small side and the mussels weren’t bad but I couldn’t really taste the
garlic or parsley in the sauce.
For mains, the most popular dishes
around the table were the Duck Confit, the Crab Linguini and the Steak. The Chicken Paillard was also on the
table. Personally, I opted for the Duck
which I found was soft but it was a little dry.
The fondant potato on the other hand was savoured and the stack of
onions in the middle of the potato added texture and flavour to the side.
The crab linguini was nice but I thought it could have done with more of a spicy kick (i.e. more chilli). I didn’t try the chicken myself but apparently it was uber dry and did not taste like free range chicken at all. Speaking of meat being dry, the birthday boy ordered a medium-well steak but it was over-cooked and very dry and chewy… to the point of which it left a dry flossed meat texture in the mouth even after you’ve chewed the meat to death. On top of that, the peppercorn sauce it was served with was strange – it was slightly sour and tasted funny. However, the medium cooked steak and Bearnaise sauce appeared to be fine. The chips served with the steak were in mini fryers which were cute.
We skipped dessert as we had cake
awaiting us at Patisserie Valerie’s but Ketterner’s brought this on
themselves. When I asked if I could
bring a cake into the restaurant, they advised we could but there would be a “cakeage
fee” of £6 per person unless if we ALL ordered a dessert each. Since there were quite a few of us (8 in
total), I did not want to commit everybody to having to order a dessert so I
ordered a cake elsewhere instead. What
does that mean for Ketterner’s? Well,
they missed out on tea/coffee for all 8 of us for starters!
Service
The service was good as the servers
were quick to take our drink orders when more guests arrived and they made a
note of who ordered what so they didn’t have to shout the dishes across the
table or relied on us to remember what had been ordered. Starters were served very quickly but there
was a bit of a delay between starters and mains but this wasn’t an issue as we
were in no rush and appreciated the time to catch up with friends.
Summary
Some of the food was a little
disappointing but it’s a nice little restaurant which caters for a lot of
functions (given the various sizes of private rooms available). I’d say it’s worth going to for a few drinks
but I wouldn’t recommend it for the food as such since there are plenty of
better restaurants in bustling Soho.
No comments:
Post a Comment