Rosemary Lane

Great food prepared and served with care. The pan fried sardines with herb crust were the tastiest fish I have eaten in a while and my main course, quail, was equally delicious. How could I then resist a pudding particularly when it was called "Tender Japanese Elephant Ear Plum Cake" ? And of course it was just the touch needed completed a great lunch. Christina Anghelescu is as good as any chef in town!
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Where the hell is everybody? We ate here yesterday evening and the place was practically empty. I can't understand why. The menu isn't long, but you'll be staring at it for half an hour as you can't decide what to have. Everything sounds so delicious. The solitary waiter (yes, it was THAT quiet) was charming and efficient. He brought us water, bread and excellent butter and we ordered a bottle of prosecco while deciding what to eat. Eventually, I chose to start with the salmon roulade. The salmon (smoked and hot cured) was excellent. Liz ordered the parma ham with parmesan and tiny figs, this was an excellent collation of splendid ingredients. I then had the belly pork, that was probably the best piece of pork I've ever tasted. The crackling was slow-roasted to a gloopy unctuous interior with a satisfyingly crunchy shell. The pork itself was excellent, also. For her main, Liz had the scallops. Maine scallops. The size of snooker balls. Again, perfect examples of their species. Perfectly cooked. The portions are extremely generous, sheer greed kept us going. We ordered the chocolate fondant with orange ice-cream and the cheese plate, accompanied by a bottle of Sauternes. The dessert was, again, excellently executed and the cheeses well chosen.

This cooking SHOULD be famous, there SHOULD be a long waiting list for a table. The food is superb. The service is great. It's a nice room, like a provincial French dining room of slightly distressed gentility. I can't understand why this place was so quiet on a Friday evening. Go now! This place needs your patronage.
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Boz
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Saturday, July 19, 2008

Where do I start? Had I stayed any longer I believed that I might have died ...

The charm of an old pub - well there was a strange smell.

Menus - lovely - but the whole experience was sterile - everything in it's place but no love - nothing to remember - robotic service.

I couldn't wait to escape to my home - which is warm and well, homely. Such a waste of what could be good - strongly advise going somewhere else.
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Uncle Louis
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, July 17, 2008

Underneath a railway bridge in Tower Hill, from the outside this classy restaurant looks like a small closed down pub. "Why did my girlfriend suggest this place?" Inside we found polished cutlery and glassware, white tablecloths and napkins. The character of the old London pub had been preserved but suddenly we were in another world.

We asked for the Saturday tasting menu which apparently features whatever looked good at Borough Market that morning: Vegetable gazpacho; Trout with fennel, marinated red onion and red grapefruit; Scallops with asparagus and caviar; Mushroom tart; Sea bass in a Thai-style broth; Passion fruit sorbet; Quail with gravy; Rack of lamb with baked apricot; Chocolate cake and cream.

All this for £30 per person. Over the 2.5 hours we ordered a bottle of white and a bottle of red - it was a feast! The cooking style was very natural, not drowning everything in butter and cream and letting the freshness and quality of the ingredients shine through. Expertly done. (If you like food with lots of sugar, salt and fat however, it might not be to your taste).

I'm not sure whether the owner of this restaurant is commercially unaware, or just isn't interested in making money. This is surely one of the top restaurants in London, in a very unusual place. For food lovers, highly recommended. We left very very happy. I'm so glad I thought of coming here!
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, June 30, 2008

Based on the previous reviews of Rosemary Lane I was expecting big things from my first trip there last night and I wasn't disappointed.

The food here was tremendous. Our starters were so delicious (and well presented) that I would have come back just for them. My wiife's Asparagus salad with parmesan didn't stay on the plate very long and my Parma ham and figs was a serious taste explosion. Our main courses followed suit and were equally as good. My scollops come highly recommended. Cooked to perfection this was an extremely tasty dish. The slow roasted pork belly wiith crackling was top notch.

We were not left wanting. This was the best food I have had in a restaurant for some time.

I would definately recommend people try this place. We will certainly be back.
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Andrew Farrell
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, June 06, 2008

We always look forward to eating at Rosemary Lane, and it never fails to please. Just round the corner from Wiltons Music Hall it makes a wonderful place to go before or after a show.

The food is well chosen, with lots of interesting flavours served in generous portions. Service is excellent, and prices very reasonable.

It is a tribute to the restaurant that it has a loyal following in an unpromising location.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

My wife and I dined here on Easter Saturday and it was like being seated in a cold store. The food, which looked and tasted very good, was marred by the fact that it too was insufficiently hot. We would have asked for it to be re-heated, but we were so uncomfortably cold that we just ate it and asked for the bill. It was a shame really because the service was so good. I would give it another try on the basis of the service alone, but there was no excuse for the restaurant to be that chilled, no matter how cold it was outside.
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Frank Neal - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

After reading some of the rave reviews of this restaurant I feel a bit curmudgeonly to rain on everyone's parade, but I did NOT have such a good time on Saturday March 22nd. when my wife and I dined there.

I could not fault the service, it was excellent, but the restaurant was uncomfortably cold. I appreciate that it was a cold night, but either there was no heat in the place or the heating was not working. After ten minutes or so my wife went and got her coat, I tried to be Mr. Macho but eventually I had to do the same. A couple to our left saw this and remarked that it seemed like dining al fresco in Siberia. Both of our mains were not hot enough and normally we would have asked for them to be re-heated but we both wanted to finish up as quickly as possible and get into a warm bar. It was a shame really because we both agreed that the food looked and tasted good, and would have been excellent had it and the restaurant been at a reasonable temperature.
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Frank Neal
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 4
Sunday, March 23, 2008

After reading the glowing reviews, I knew I had to try this restaurant out. I was not disappointed. Amazing restaurant, with lovely service and fantastic food. Not the best location, but this just means we get Michelin-star-quality food at affordable prices. Looks like I'll need to know the manager's name, as I can see myself being a regular!
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MC
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Saturday, March 15, 2008

Went last saturday and as usual everything was top notch.Have been many times and will continue.
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Chris - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, February 05, 2008