decor and service
The restaurant is really comfortable, the dark wooden floors, the black furniture and the retro portraits hanging on the wall, I liked the whole ambiance. I cant remember what music played in the background, but it certainy wasnt any intrusive club mix in a vain attempt to make things seem pretentious. It was just subtly cool and peaceful. The staff were warm and friendly, service was a little slow, but given the relaxed atmosphere, it was understandable. Top marks for actually looking like an attractive place to eat.
the other stuff on the menu
If my memory serves me right, I think grilled turbot was among the specials. The a la carte menu featured soft shell crab and prawn cocktails as starters, mains included steak and fishcakes. The puddings had classics like roly-poly, treacle tart and rice pudding. The sideshows do look and sound alot more interesting than the fish and chips, some critics have said they enjoyed the champers and fresh oysters too.
Another visit warranted?
Based on the fish and chips. definitely not. For £20 I can have a ribeye at gaucho’s with a glass of malbec and one satisfied man-stomach as opposed to soggy fish and perfect chips. If you want to try a ‘real’ chippie with pretentious intents then I suggest the one just outside gloucester road station. Its next to the nandos and all can be had for 6 quid. Times also compiled a top ten in the country.
But (oh yes but), the restaurant does feel really nice, you can take your favourite people here and have nice long chats, fitting the kind of laid back, dreamy notting hill feel. The rest of the menu looks really great (im still thinking about it after a week). This show isnt over yet, part one was a mixed bag, but I have a feeling the sequel is going to be alot better. Watch for my follow-up review.
The word out there Positives
- AA Gill for times online says posh fish and chips does work. Read here
- Timeout says its formidable except for the whopping £26 ‘market price’ dover sole. here,
- Fay Maschler (Evening Standard) was completely swept off her feet by the posh refurb job, the champagne and Gary Hollihead applying his michelin credentials to the deep frying. and here.
- Tracy Mcleod thought the fish was nice and enjoyed the hat-off to the retro days, but the refurbishment seems to have taken away some soul and bumped the prices to exorbitante levels. Read here
- Matt Norman with polite expletives at the Guardian just didnt like it. here
- Hardens proclaimed that ‘this is the first fish ’n’ chip shop we’ve ever left feeling hungry, such was the enthusiasm for portion-control.’ Go figure eh. here
- London-eating.co.uk 7.0 overall
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The Cadogan Arms: Time to grab some grub [review] — LondonEater
[...] around the nation, but this was one of the most pleasant iterations I had had. Much better than Geales, better than my local taproom, The Prince Regent, and it would make for an able ambassador for what [...]
September 4, 2009 at 5:03 pm