The task of organising dinner for work colleagues is more daunting than I gave it credit for. Especially when you're not in your home city. You don't want to appear as Mother Hen, don't want to blow the budget but also want to impress, and need to make sure it's convenient to office, hotel and etc. All these thoughts went flashing through my mind when I was tasked with the agenda for a recent project implementation meeting - I quickly decided that it would take more thinking than a quick work dinner warranted. Delegation turns out to be a wonderful thing! So Quaglino's was chosen, meeting all the corporate requirements and a 'favourite' of the Partners. From the outset it looked great.
We had a drink in the bar area, having to cram into the unreserved area, and then moved down the cascading staircase to the long dining room, punctuated with tall orchards running down the center. We took our table and quickly started scanning the wine and dinner menu. As usual, it didn't take me long to fall back into my old favourites of a New Zealand Pinot Noir, a salad, a mushroom risotto and a chocolate tart. They sounded more interesting than that, with reduced balsamic and a truffle thrown in, but they were comfortably the only vegetarian options on the menu from memory, or perhaps just the ones that caught my eye.
When the artichoke salad came out, I called the waitress over and discreetly mentioned that I thought they'd forgotten the artichokes. She pointed out that the potato chip type things on the top of the salad were actually the prized artichokes. Oops. It seemed like a bowl of rocket with 2 waxy potatoes hiding at the bottom, and said chips on top. I hate rocket, so I officially had 2 small potatoes and some chips for starter.
When my main came out, I remembered the lunch time displays in Asia - the ones that are cooked, put in the bowl, and then sprayed with some kind of plastic to make them freeze in time. Not the nicest compliment I know - sorry Quaglino's. I think my dinner had been waiting to be sent to me for a little long. And the mysterious truffles that I thought I'd spied on the menu where nowhere to be tasted.
The highlight of the evening was the scenery. Jimmy Hendrix photographs are projected on to the walls around the restaurant, giving a clean cut eatery a funky edge. And the beautiful flower arrangements were a real stand-out.
My chocolate desert came, and it really popped out on the stage of it's plate. The dark chocolate wedge and the bright orange of the mandarin were so distinct against the white plate. I couldn't wait to dive in - my fork want down and then - ouch - an abrupt stop against the crust. Without alerting my colleagues, I tried a little harder to crack through the base layer. But no luck. I'm ashamed to say that I ended up eating the mandarins and chocolate filling and sent the butt-naked crust back to the kitchen.
My colleagues must have thought I am such a picky, ungrateful eater! I sent a bowl of rocket, a half eaten bowl of risotto, sans truffles, and a tart base back to where they came from. I was so hungry!
Quaglino's was a huge let down. Service was fine, and bathrooms were nice. In general, the food, which is what we were mainly there for, was a big disappointment. It's so rare for me to say that!
Add: 16 Bury St, St James's, London SW1Y 6AJ
Ph: 020 7930 6767
Web: http://www.qauaglinos.co.uk/http://www.qauaglinos.co.uk/
We had a drink in the bar area, having to cram into the unreserved area, and then moved down the cascading staircase to the long dining room, punctuated with tall orchards running down the center. We took our table and quickly started scanning the wine and dinner menu. As usual, it didn't take me long to fall back into my old favourites of a New Zealand Pinot Noir, a salad, a mushroom risotto and a chocolate tart. They sounded more interesting than that, with reduced balsamic and a truffle thrown in, but they were comfortably the only vegetarian options on the menu from memory, or perhaps just the ones that caught my eye.
When the artichoke salad came out, I called the waitress over and discreetly mentioned that I thought they'd forgotten the artichokes. She pointed out that the potato chip type things on the top of the salad were actually the prized artichokes. Oops. It seemed like a bowl of rocket with 2 waxy potatoes hiding at the bottom, and said chips on top. I hate rocket, so I officially had 2 small potatoes and some chips for starter.
When my main came out, I remembered the lunch time displays in Asia - the ones that are cooked, put in the bowl, and then sprayed with some kind of plastic to make them freeze in time. Not the nicest compliment I know - sorry Quaglino's. I think my dinner had been waiting to be sent to me for a little long. And the mysterious truffles that I thought I'd spied on the menu where nowhere to be tasted.
The highlight of the evening was the scenery. Jimmy Hendrix photographs are projected on to the walls around the restaurant, giving a clean cut eatery a funky edge. And the beautiful flower arrangements were a real stand-out.
My chocolate desert came, and it really popped out on the stage of it's plate. The dark chocolate wedge and the bright orange of the mandarin were so distinct against the white plate. I couldn't wait to dive in - my fork want down and then - ouch - an abrupt stop against the crust. Without alerting my colleagues, I tried a little harder to crack through the base layer. But no luck. I'm ashamed to say that I ended up eating the mandarins and chocolate filling and sent the butt-naked crust back to the kitchen.
My colleagues must have thought I am such a picky, ungrateful eater! I sent a bowl of rocket, a half eaten bowl of risotto, sans truffles, and a tart base back to where they came from. I was so hungry!
Quaglino's was a huge let down. Service was fine, and bathrooms were nice. In general, the food, which is what we were mainly there for, was a big disappointment. It's so rare for me to say that!
Add: 16 Bury St, St James's, London SW1Y 6AJ
Ph: 020 7930 6767
Web: http://www.qauaglinos.co.uk/http://www.qauaglinos.co.uk/
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