(The Beatles) – Savoy Grill, London
Last Christmas (now there’s another song title for my meme) we’d been given a voucher for lunch at Gordon Ramsey’s ‘Savoy Grill’.
Love the number plate – S8 VOY
While the ‘Savoy Grill’ is part of Gordon Ramsey’s ’empire’ we weren’t naïve enough to expect any evidence of ‘himself’; the restaurant now being the domain of Kim Woodward, a former ‘Masterchef’ semi-finalist. We ‘did’ a Gordon Ramsey restaurant a few years ago (at the Hilton, Dubai Creek) a few years ago so we had high expectations.
Amazingly, despite the battlefield that is the ‘Cycle Superhighway’ roadworks along Lower Thames Street and the Victoria Embankment, we arrived early and took the opportunity to enjoy a couple of drinks in the ‘American Bar’ which I’ve written about elsewhere. From there a friendly concierge helped us down to the Savoy Grill by service elevator – Val is unsteady on her ‘pins’ and uses a walking stick. We were warmly greeted on arrival at the grill and shown to our ‘booth’ – most of the tables have semi or quarter circle banquettes. The décor is an interesting blend of faded grandeur and new technology, large patinated mirrors and crystal chandeliers lit by LEDs.
Our voucher was for a three course table d’hôte lunch, but we chose to upgrade and order the sirloin steak at a £12.95 supplement each. More of the steaks later.
For starters Val ordered the “Beetroot cured Scottish salmon with an orange and radish salad and grated horse radish“,
while ordered the “French onion soup with a Gruyère crouton”.
The soup was rich and tasty, with a deep beef stock base. The smoked salmon was delicate and subtle, with a few shavings of horseradish.
On to the mains, we both ordered the “Charcoal grilled marinated sirloin steak with wild rocket salad and game chips (Supplement £12.95)“.
I’d guess the sirloin steaks to have been 6oz each, tender and well cooked, but if a grill chef can’t cook a sirloin there’s not much hope is there? They came with a small jug containing a pretty flaccid peppercorn sauce. We ordered a side order of delicious home cut chips, but seriously guys, for an extra thirteen quid on top of the table d’hote price a few real chips shouldn’t be too much to ask
Dessert for both of us was the “Crème brûlée infused with Earl Grey tea and served with caramelised figs”.
The Earl Grey tea wasn’t particularly noticeable in the flavour although it imbued the dish with a strange grey colour. The brûlée was thin and not crispy enough to pass muster on Masterchef, and the figs fresh rather than caramelised. We declined a coffee, but enjoyed the selection of petit fours that were presented to us.
So, all in all the food was very good and at thirty quid for three courses, okay forty five quid including the steak and chips upgrade.
The wine was a different matter, ranging from £25 a bottle upwards. We enjoyed an Australian Semillon at about £35 for the bottle. I also had a small glass of Belgian ale at seven quid.
Bear in mind that we’d already had sixty quid paid towards the meal, we ended up spending a few pence shy of eighty quid on top of that.
A pleasant enough lunch, with a pleasant enough wine, but was it worth seventy quid a head? I need to give that some thought.
Rating: 
