Brasserie Blanc - Southbank — Restaurant in London

THE SERVICE WAS EXCELLENT... THE FOOD WAS NOT...

Ironically, I used to live above Brasserie Blanc Southbank, when I resided in the residential apartments in The Whitehouse (the building that surrounds it) between 2005 - 2007 and never once tried it.

Preferring to go further afield for a night out in a restaurant.

But on this occasion my friend wanted to try out their Pre-Fixe Menu, which had the unbelievably odd hours of 16:00 - 18:00. So we'd booked for 17:30.

With so many theatres locally, you'd think they'd keep it going until at least 19:00/19:30 as nearly every other venue in the locale does. But in fairness, this is the least of their worries.

We started with the Welsh Rarebit (being a Welshman myself, a taste of home), it came to the table so quickly it wouldn't have been long enough time to have toasted the bread.

The fried egg that adorned the top when cut didn't pour yolk but remained a hardened lump, I suspect caused by heat lamps (under them too long) or from microwaving (heating up) which may explain the speed. The toast was rubbery and not crisp and was spectacularly difficult to cut.

The taste was OK, but certainly nothing to write home about.

My main was an Omelette Arnold Bennet (A Savoy Hotel Delicacy easily got wrong) and rather than being light and fluffy with a crisp top, it came watery and flavourless. The accompanying salad matched it being both limp and not well dressed.

The deserts were Madeleine & Chocolate dip. The dip was at least bitter chocolate but the Madeleines again flavourless (not the aromatic scent of Vanilla you'd expect) and heavy in consistency rather than being the light airy offering they should have been.

For any restaurant this would have been a disappointment but from one branded with Raymond Blanc's insignia, it really was atrocious.

Coming in at £14.50 for two courses £18 for three, it was reasonably priced if the food had been decent. As it was, it was clearly way over priced.

The two saving graces, came in first the exceptional service of our waitress Rita, who made us feel like 2 old regulars and was at the same time courteous, affable and incredibly humorous.

And then in a very quaffable South African (the home nation of my guest) Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc wine (2016) which we polished off far too quickly to remove the unpleasant taste of our food coming in at a reasonable £20.95.

This is a chain restaurant (and my thoughts on those are well elucidated in my reviews), but nonetheless, you should and do expect something better with a Michelin Starred chefs name attached and the restaurant is in the heart of Central London.

All in all a huge disappointment and a venue I certainly won't be returning too any time soon. Maybe I had a 6th sense about the place in the first place all those years ago and that's why I never ventured inside its doors.

The exquisite Sticky Mango (my top Restaurant pick for 2016) is just around the corner as is the stalwart RSJ (a Southbank firm favourite for decades) both independents, so avoid this decrepit chain and go there instead, you'll...

We arrived a little late- apologised for being late & casually expressed we knew we'd missed the deadline for pre-theatre, and we were only going to get 1 course now probably. Waitress went out of her way to come back to our table to tell us to 'stop stressing' (we weren't) and to 'just listen to her' we will 100% be able to have a starter, we took her brutal attitude in jest & didn't think into it.

We didn't order a starter - she told us we could have dessert afterwards since we didn't trust her & she'd prove we had enough time. Again, we didn't think into it & thought at least we had the option for dessert, as assured, IF we fancied.

Then the ACTUAL problems started, which put the above into new perspective;

My partner was brought diet coke with his rum. He doesn't like diet, so we asked to swap it out - The waitress then accused us, pointing fingers (literally) of specifically requesting diet We didn't. In case it wasn't clear (why would we ask for something we don't like?) She then admitted they didn't even do full fat "in bottles" My partner said he didn't mind not having a bottle, she simply said 'no' - so he asked if they did full sugar 'on tap' the waitress snapped at us & RUDELY said she had 'already told us this, NO' she was visibly, and obviously angry & unprofessional. My partner retreated, in shock, and said it was fine, he'd just drink it -

The waitress WITHIN earshot went and complained about us to another waiter.

Our one course also only arrived 10 minutes before we had to leave, which wouldn't have been an issue if the waitress hadn't condescendingly insisted we'd have time for TWO courses. They were all very small portions, and the food was lacking, the chips were cold & the potatoes flavourless, the sauce too thin.

Overall very...

As a gift from our daughter, who had highly recommended the 'Raymond Blanc experience', we were extremely disappointed with our lunch today. One would expect a higher level of customer service, restaurant appearance and of course quality of the food. We were very disappointed with the lack of attention to detail. As a taster menu we would expect the purpose to be to encourage diners to return to dine under the normal menu offering. However burnt flavoured burgers and chips followed by the response from the chef 'this is how they are supposed to be' is totally unacceptable from a restaurant trading off a Michelin star chef. Scruffy uniforms (they weren't actually in uniforms) cluttered bar surfaces, unmatched wine glasses, trailing cables, open store room doors for diners to see the days recycling is not what we expected. We will not be returning as would be the purpose of our taster. A note to the management. Staff need ironed clothes, no trainers or jeans and training in customer service....if the customer says it tastes burnt it tastes burnt! Whilst you're making your customer wait an additional 15 minutes for their main meal to be re cooked offer them a glass of wine on the house.. customer service goes a long way... Keep all china stored away, Health and Safety would have a field day with your fairy lights and doors are...