Knives are out for Jamie
They are used to being fêted for their fine dining, impressive decor and famous clientele. But several of London's top restaurants have been singled out for another reason - their exclusion from an acclaimed new guide to eating out in the capital.
Sketch, Marco Pierre White's L'Escargot and Quo Vadis, Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, Gordon Ramsay's Savoy Grill and Petrus, The River Café and Tamarind are all axed from the 2004 Rough Guide to London Restaurants.
According to its author, veteran Evening Standard food critic Charles Campion, many are prime examples of the over-priced, overhyped dining scene.
Of Fifteen, in Hoxton, he said: "I was very unimpressed by the food. The wild New Forest mushrooms were shitake, and a pheasant came that I couldn't get a knife into. And we paid £75 a head for that.
"The couple on the table next to me wanted their picture taken with the girl working there who had been on TV, and it made me realise the restaurant is not aimed at people eating out, but for people who wanted to be a part of a TV experience."
Sketch offers a starter of fresh spring vegetable salad for £15, a main course of Loch Fyne scallops at £41, and a fresh fruit salad for £9. "It is simply beyond the reach of nearly everybody's pocket," says Campion.
"They have tried to remedy that in recent months but I don't believe they have gone nearly far enough. Some of the dishes were delicious but I was left feeling I could have taken the Eurostar to Paris, eaten at their head office there, and come back for the same money."
The River Café is also attacked for its prices. Campion said: "The food costs four times as much as somewhere like Enoteca Turi in Putney, but for only one-and-a-half times the quality."
Of Mayfair's Michelin-starred Tamarind - best Indian two years running at the Restaurateurs' awards - he said: "It's fabulous food in a rather horrid room."
The food critic, who has reviewed for the Standard for more than 12 years, added: "Some of these people are household names but that doesn't always mean it's reflected in the best meal for the customer. The amount of time I've spent reviewing for the Evening Standard has taught me what my readers want - and I think they are representative of London as a whole.
"There is a sprinkling of elite, special occasion restaurants in my guide, like the Connaught or Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road. But I have excluded some of Gordon's other restaurants simply because I have had to pick which I feel are the best, and the best value."
He added: "I never object to paying top money for something truly excellent but currently far too many restaurants charge money for food that falls far short.
"They do it because they can get away with it, but I believe it's going too far. Where three years ago a really good meal for two with wine and three courses might cost £80, you're now looking at an average of about £100 for a couple. I want it to stop."
