[Anonymous]

[uggboylovestravel]

Our Dinner, October 2015

When we booked our stay at the Intercontinental Park Lane for October 2015 we also decided to reserve a table at Theo Randall’s, having passed it a few times while previously staying at the hotel and having heard many good things.

We were greeted warmly when entering the restaurant for dinner. The center piece is a desk with Theo Randall cook books and the earned AA Rosettes clearly displayed. We were asked if we wanted to have a drink at the bar first, before having dinner. We declined, since we had an early start, catching our train from London Euston Station to Birmingham New Street Station. The Maître d’ seemed, at least in our opinion displeased with our decision, but brought us to our table.

It was a relative private space and only a table seating four other diners was in the same area.

Unfortunately the group of business men and a woman was fairly loud.

The restaurant was full and the atmosphere was lively and didn’t match the fine food. Sometimes it was so loud we couldn’t hear what the waitress or the significant other was saying.

We started with a large bottle of still water and an Apple Martini for him. He enjoyed the Martini very much. It was soon followed by a greeting from the chef, bruschetta with tomato and cheese. This was really excellent and enjoyable.

We had already sent an e-mail with our food intolerances/allergies and dietary requirements, so I was a bit surprised when we were asked for them again by our waitress.

We ordered the insalata di pomodori (tomatoes, cheese and thin bread), as main course the large portion of ravioli filled with Delica pumpkin and Ricotta and as dessert originally cheese cake and black berry sorbet.

We liked the salad. It was refreshing and the bread added nice crunch. The ravioli were one of the best, but we made a mistake by ordering the large portion, which was slightly too much. It would have been better to take the appetizer sized dish.

The desserts and his drink, an Amaresso with espresso, Amaretto and cream, arrived at the same time.

To our dismay we realized the cheesecake contained raisins. It hadn’t been mentioned at all on the menu, so it was a total surprise. It wasn’t possible to pick the raisins out, because there were so many and they were incorporated in the dough. Since he is allergic against them we couldn’t accept the dessert. It was also overlooked by the staff, who had been advised months before and when ordering.

Of course mistakes can happen and when we told a member of staff, we received a few very sincere apologies, the cake was taken away and replaced with a Panna Cotta with raspberries soaked in Grappa without any quibble. It arrived fast and I was still eating my sorbet – I couldn’t wait, since it was melting away -, so we could at least enjoy part of the third course together. We don’t know if the Panna Cotta is normally presented the way it was, but it was delicious and made him happy.

We suggested that some dishes should be described in greater detail in terms of which ingredients are used.

The sorbet was full flavored and tasty. He liked the Amaresso. It was very generous, rich and bitter-sweet.

The bill came in at 129.38 GBP (ca. 166.10 Euro or 185.10 USD).

We will return, because the cuisine was excellent, the staff was friendly and the recovery quick and satisfactory. Hopefully next time we arrive at a slightly quieter time too.

Would we recommend this restaurant to a friend? YES!
Would we want to have lunch / dinner at this restaurant again in our future? YES!

[FDOS_UK]

A very nice, informative and well written piece.

I must admit to a certain evil sense of looking forward to one of your reviews that chronicles a meltdown and ends with:

Would we recommend this restaurant to our worst enemy? YES!
Would we want to have lunch / dinner at this restaurant again in our future? ONLY IF COMPLYING WITH A COURT ORDER!

PS: I know you have issued a couple of less than glowing reports, so the above is a bit of a joke 😉

Keep up the good work and thanks for this report.

[uggboylovestravel]

@FDOS_UK, thanks and I’m glad to read that you enjoy our reviews. Cheers & Safe Travels.

[uggboylovestravel]

June 2016, Our 2nd dinner experiences

After having mixed experiences at Theo Randall’s one year earlier we decided to give it a new try after the restaurant went through a full transformation and renovation in late 2015/early 2016.

The space had considerable brightened and looked much more contemporary and rustic with wood panelling and interesting light features.

The acoustic had also improved. It wasn’t as loud as before. It could have had also to do with there being mostly couples.

The welcome was much warmer than last time around. We were promptly brought to our table, which was large, wooden and squared.

We had given the vouchers for two glasses of Prosecco we had received at check in to the maître d’ and the Prosecco arrived promptly.

Our bottle of Acqua Panna and the Three Moons Cocktail with Masala and fig-thyme syrup were next. The cocktail was very strong and nuanced. It was delightful.

The greetings from the kitchen was bruschetta, which we already knew from our first visit and loved. It’s one of the best we had so far, besides the one we enjoyed at the Hilton Dublin Airport.

We ordered insalata mista and beef carpaccio with zuccini as starters. Both were delicious.

Our main courses included sea trout with datterini tomatoes, aubergine, peppers, courgette, capers and Tagliatesch olives and parpadelle a la ragout (slow simmered beef in Chianti) and Parmesan cheese. The fish dish was colorful and had all the Mediterranean flavors I imagined it would have. The parpadelle were an indulgence. It was rich and moreish. He had ordered the appetizer size, remembering from our first time visit that the portions were generous.

Dessert rounded up our meal with the infamous Amalfi lemon tart and one torta caprese, a chocolate almond cake with almond ice cream. The lemon tart is my fiancé’s favorite dessert at Theo Randall’s. He liked the tart and sweet flavor combination. My torta caprese was generous in size too and delicious, but felt slightly too large.

Service was warm and attentive. We had also the chance to chat with the restaurant manager about the renovation and could compliment him for good service, better design and even improved food, which tasted even better than a year earlier.

The bill was 105.75 GBP, ca. 118.60 Euro or ca. 129.60 USD.

When we visit London again in our future and look for an upscale Italian meal we would gladly return to Theo Randall at the Intercontinental London Park Lane for our dinner.

Would we recommend this restaurant to a friend? YES!
Would we want to enjoy dinner again at this restaurant? YES!

[uggboylovestravel]

Please see our images we took during our memorable dinner on Flickr:

[LuganoPirate]

A great review Uggboy. I’ve always loved the Intercontinental in London and have many fond memories of the place. In the good old days coming out of the Playboy at 4am it was always possible to finish the evening off there while waiting for the first train back to suburbia at 5.30 am. Those were the days and I must revisit next time I’m in London.

[Author]

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