Bellanger — Restaurant in London

Bellanger is dying. Since the original owners were ousted, things had been going pretty well. Then this wonderful, beautiful place closed for a refurbishment in May/June 2023. Some of the changes make sense, but the way everything has been executed is terrible. Gone are the nice furnishings, to be replaced with sticky leather booths that would look right at home in McDonald's. The space has been opened up and the bar moved, which is fine in itself, but whoever designed the refit has fallen massively short. Elegant wood panelling has been painted over and had cheap-looking blocking put next to it. There's a DJ booth with chintzy mirroring that honestly reminds me of Hombre's, a vomit-stained club near Oxford St circa 2001. The intricately detailed ceiling which cleverly integrated the air con units, has been blocked over to look like an operating theatre. And pictures that are too big for the panels they rest on have been thoughtlessly plonked around the place to make it seem a bit European.

The menu has nice individual items on it, but as a whole it's almost completely directionless. Calling a place like this 'Mediterranean' is a way of excusing a mishmash of dishes designed to appeal to as many taste-lacking Instagram users as possible. Previously, the menu was French/Alsatian with a sprinkling of crowd-pleasers from elsewhere. It wasn't the best ever, but it was solid, tasty, reliable, and gave you a good reason to sit in that wonderful welcoming space.

Classy French jazz has been replaced by comedown-room club music, and the lack of anything soft in the main area means the place is echoey and noisy - it's difficult to have a conversation when the place is moderately full.

It seems as though the new owners have decided that they know how to do restaurants better than the old owners, and wanted to aggressively stamp their personality and expertise on their new buy. Unfortunately the personality is severely lacking and the expertise has either been hamstrung by a confusing brief from someone who's main objective is getting social media views, or is from a design team that didn't know what they were doing and how it fit with the existing space.

You see home-renovation TV shows of lovely old buildings that have been wrecked by thoughtless previous owners, only to be tastefully restored to their former glory decades later. I've always wondered what sort of people stuck pebbledash over nice brickwork, plasterboard over classy panelling, and tore up fireplaces to give somewhere to put a telly. Now I know. It's a bit strong to call this cultural vandalism - Bellanger was a 10 year old restaurant in a modern building, not a 200 year old listed masterpiece. But it had been so thoughtfully executed, so lovingly put together and so passionately realised over its life, that to see new owership with no taste drive a horse and cart through it is very sad. The only saving grace is the wonderful team of staff who are still there - they're fantastic and I'll miss seeing them.

It always used to feel like going to an elegant hotel, going to Bellanger. It was classy, relaxing, indulgent and welcoming - although it wasn't cheap, the welcome and the setting was so fantastic it really felt like great value for money. Now they've jacked up the prices and dumbed down the layout, it's Bellanger in name only. Terribly sad to have seen it destroyed like this, and I hope someone with taste takes it back over one day and restores it to something like its former glory. For the time being, they haven't bothered to renovate the bathrooms so you can still see the attention to detail that had originally been put into the place. If you have any eye for detail at all, you'll be really struck by the contrast.

Original review: Wonderful place for breakfast and brunch. Why you'd go to the breakfast club down the road and queue like a child for a school dinner is beyond me. Beautiful environment, good service and food prepared with care. Not cheap but it's pretty reasonable considering what you're getting. Tea is loose leaf, not bags,...

I am afraid if you are going to cling on to the name you have to be judged by its standards. I am still in a state of shock at the loss of the classic french menu and the loss of the high quality fit out. All that was needed here was perhaps the bar moving, a lick of paint and a refreshed menu yet what we have got is a restaurant that does not quite know what it is, 'Mediterranean' seems to cover quite a wide area and risks becoming just like anywhere else. Identity was everything at Belanger it was on the plates, it was on the walls, you could taste it in the snails and you feel it in the mahogany wood that surrounded you. It was classic french with luxury London twist. Whatever this place is it certainly is not Belanger.

Lets start with the menu, I took in the weekend brunch menu, generic, the classic french menu is no where to be seen sadly, replaced by a generic sound 'Mediterranean' menu. Despite this, Mauri Ferri's food was very good quality and I will not argue on this point. The coffee to finish has actually improved. I see a DJ was setting up as I was leaving, ushering in a new younger crowd perhaps. It remains to be seen how this mish mash will all work but who knows.

The atmosphere is more challenging, perhaps more furniture is on the way I am not sure, but they have not really improved the place other than moving the bar to the front. The new mosaic floor looks expensive but the furniture itself looked a little on the cheap side. The whole design is clumsy with new ideas fitted in around and over a far higher quality fit out from 10 years ago. The relief was palpable when my wife informed me the toilets had been spared! This is a far cry from the former owners high standards unfortunately.

Its always difficult to define an era but London's belle epoque belonged to Messers Corbin and King whose restaurants helped shape the city's restaurant scene for a generation. Belanger was an outpost in their empire that never quite found its footing but my god did i love it. It had all the hall marks of Mr Corbin's deft touch, a ludicrously expensive fit out, smartly dressed well trained waiters, a great well priced menu that you just will not see this side of the pandemic. Above all a classic french brasserie styling that very few manage to create elsewhere. You always left feeling rather special, that you had been looked after, that you were not just another few numbers on a spreadsheet somewhere. I have a rule when private equity moves in and founders walk I almost always move out and perhaps this may be the case here I am not sure yet - I am still processing all of this....

Indulge me for a moment to mourn the loss of Corbin and King and this small corner of Islington they placed their mark on, I doubt we will see the likes of Belanger again, a venue made for an era that has passed and one that I will dearly miss.

I am terrified what the new owners are going to do at their other venues now, one by one I fear they will tear down a rather beautiful home. I hope messers Corbin and King never visit the new Belanger for they would see the true cost of doing business with the wrong kind of investors. Perhaps the £58 million they received for the controlling equity in 2017 was worth...

I visited here yesterday. Not a good experience. I opened the door and waited inside. Directly in front of me was a waitress who looked up and saw me and continued to set the table. So I continued to wait not knowing if I should just take a seat. She looked at me from the side of her eye and continued what she was doing. So I step forward a little. She then stood up from bending over, looked at me and went to collect a jug of water. I continued to wait. She then walked passed and served a table of approx 6 with the jug and walked passed me AGAIN going back to the table directly in front of me no less than 10 steps away. So I walked up to her and asked Hi should I just grab a seat. Begrudged she shrugged well yeah go on then or something to that effect barely wanting to to turn her head and somewhat irritated.

So I walked over to a booth and upin doing so I passed another gentleman who asked hi can I help you. Unsure if I’d done something wrong I said oh yes I was told to just grab a seat is that ok, to which he offered to help.

I sat down and I overheard him say for the reference never tell anyone to grab a seat. (I would say he was very discreet but having gone through some bad things recently I’m hyper vigilant). She returned I didn’t I told her to wait for you.

This was an absolute lie.

So I said out loud No you didn’t. This waitress then began to snarky shout over her shoulder YES I Did. This descended into a cross restaurant floor loud exchange of no you didn’t, yes I did which the gentleman professionally ended.

On my part I shouldn’t have shouted out to expose her lie but like I saw things haven’t been going well for me lately directly connected to serious lies having been told on me that has quite frankly ruined my life.

But that aside she basically treated me like an inconvenience and less then. Not what I came out for. And as it usually always goes people looked at me that we’re dining as the aggressor.

I tried to explain what happenned to the gentleman but I could sense he was a genuinely nice guy and really uncomfortable with what had occurred.

It’s a nice place and the food is nice. The price is reasonable.

It has a certain clientele which can be intimidating and you may not feel as ease as a result.

I probably won’t go back.

I really didn’t want to write this review because it was such an embarrassing exchange.

The waitress lied outright and felt it professional to argue with customers. I know customers can be terrible and if I’d done something I’d understand but she both intentionally ignored me for a substantial period of time, made me feel uncomfortable and lied at what she had said expecting me not hear her. Then argued in the most dismissive manner.

You’d have to ask her the reasons for doing so. But I know what I...