Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal

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Reviews

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  Yao Wong

  Very strong cooking from the kitchen, including one of the best sweetbread dishes I've had anywhere. Highly refined and well-sequenced tasting menu. I would rate the restaurant currently at a strong 2 Michelin stars. They do a sparkling wine pairing, which is reasonable value and delicious. Service is friendly and prompt but surprisingly lacking in knowledge for a restaurant at this level (e.g. they didn't know the sources of various ingredients/components whenever I asked). Kid-friendliness: They only accommodate children over 7 who participate in the tasting menu

  03-06-2023
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  Julie D

  03-06-2023
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  Mike L. Rogalskiy

  (Translated by Google) Came with a friend for dinner. Stylish decor, good location. Polite and attentive staff. We chose the test menu and had a lot of fun. Good presentation, a rainbow of flavors. Interesting and memorable portions. Good wine list. Delicious and original desserts. (Original) Пришли с другом на ужин. Стильная обстановка, хорошее местоположение. Вежливый и внимательный персонал. Мы выбрали тестовое меню и получили большое удовольствие. Хорошая подача, радуга вкусов. Интересные и запоминающиеся порции. Хорошая винная карта. Вкусные и оригинальные десерты.

  27-05-2023
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  lywc82185

  Oh my goodness absolutely lovely! Had a yummy lunch

  20-05-2023
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  Simon NUTT

  There was a single set menu for £175 per person. The canapés were well-crafted and tasted great, with the prawn and seabream tartare being the standout. The fried base beneath it added a good contrasting texture to the softness of the seafood. The oyster and asparagus starter was refreshing. Despite, HATING oysters and finding them beyond unbearable, this dish, for me, was actually very eatable and rather nice. This was the first time I had ever thought this way about an oyster dish so very well done!! A smart dish of duck paté with an artistically crafted croissant followed. The real highlight of the meal was the smoked salmon, which was without a doubt, one of the best fish dishes I have eaten. The warm piece of salmon had a gorgeous, buttery texture. There was a lovely touch of sweetness in the flavour and the distinctive notes of the oak used to smoke the fish were clearly there. It was complemented perfectly by a smooth, vibrant wild garlic sauce and a stuffed morel. This was a beautiful dish, all around. The stuffed turbot was well-cooked but would have been better if it was easier to determine all the ingredients' flavours. It was difficult to pick up on the mild flavours of turbot and cuttlefish. The flavours of the prawns and chorizo were more dominant. The veal sweetbread was served tableside, adding some entertainment. The peppercorn sauce served with it was intense and flavoursome but unfortunately, I wasn't massively keen on the sweetbread itself, mainly due to its texture. The asparagus beside it was fresh and had a good crunch. The caramel, coffee and chocolate dessert was light and delicate. There were a variety of pleasant flavours but I personally would have preferred it to be slightly sweeter, especially the coffee ice cream. Nevertheless, it was a nice dessert that had that desired level of decadence, without being excessively rich or heavy. I was generally pretty satisfied with my meal. But I think one of the biggest disappointments was the service. Despite being swift, efficient and in no way rude, it came across as rather robotic and impersonal. Shyness perhaps? Also, I feel the wine prices were steep; the starting point for a glass of champagne was £28. But maybe for a restaurant located slap bang in the middle of Piccadilly, these prices are inevitable. Dined on 27/04/23

  17-05-2023
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  Isabella C

  Dreadfully disappointing, poor-value dining experience. We paid £175 per head and left hungry – not for a bigger portion, but for the level of gastronomic experience that we were expecting for a two starred Michelin restaurant. It seems they may have hired new or inexperienced staff who couldn't even get the basic etiquette right. The cutlery was placed on the table in a haphazard manner, and drinks were served from across the table rather than from the guest's side. There were also a few minor oversights, such as forgetting to supply butter for the bread, delays in serving our hot drinks (despite several prompts), and the omission of certain instructions when introducing the dishes. With a 15% service charge I must say many aspects of the experience had fallen short of my expectations. Overall, the food was average at best. The menu was rather unimaginative, delivered with mediocre presentation. We were also stunned by the hidden charge of £75 for having the A4 (not even A5) wagyu as the main. When served, the bread was cold and hard, and the seasoning of most dishes was too salty for our taste. Was I simply being unlucky on that particular day? I’m not sure, but regretfully my experience certainly did not encourage a second visit.

  17-05-2023
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  kanoknop

  Great service very good lunch 💗💗

  17-05-2023
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  Nina Tan

  It was a very bad experience and the restaurant had hidden charges. They did not inform us that the beef would cost an extra £75. Nor did they clearly inform us on the menu that we would have to pay extra. Including the cheese set option also did not inform us of the extra negative charge. All in all a bad experience!

  17-05-2023
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  Stephen Entwistle

  Expected a lot more from this 2 Michelin star restaurant. Awkwardly empty restaurant with really bad cover versions of songs playing in a rather cold and bland room. The staff (all bar one) were equally as cold and not charismatic. Food was as expected, delightful but a bit predicable. Lacked creativity and passion you see in other restaurants like Adam Handlings frog. May have gone on a bad night, reading other reviews our experience seems to differ from others drastically. However you’d expect consistently with a two Michelin restaurant

  17-04-2023
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  Ice Cream

  Bloody good lunch, I’d wish to come for dinner next time. Also wished for better wine pairing recommendation. Other than that, the service is alright, could be better. We had to ask for wine list & slightly left out sometimes.

  17-04-2023