Clipstone — Restaurant in London

The exterior of this inconspicuous place gives no hints to the delightful dining experience it offers. Having walked past for years I’m glad I finally got the opportunity to visit for lunch recently and I am sure I’ll be returning. Upon arrival the friendly door staff greeted us well and made us instantly feel welcome. Having the thick curtain behind the entrance is a great addition for preventing draughts disturbing other diners and certainly adds a high end feel.

Coats were taken care of when we were seating at the table, which was large and clean. The chairs were a little hard and basic but were okay for the duration of a lunch. The waiting staff were also friendly and happy to make the process as fast or relaxingly slow as we wanted. The open kitchen was great to see and helped to add a wonderful atmosphere to the place.

The wine list is very extensive for the size of restaurant and the glasses were kept topped up throughout the visit by the staff. There was also a small range of cocktails on offer and a good choice of soft drinks. The food menu wasn’t so full of options but it worked really well and each dish was done properly.

While we waited for the initial food dishes to arrive some fresh bread and oil was served, which was truly delicious! It was a shame this wasn’t kept topped up throughout the stay too! I was a little disappointed that the pate starter didn’t come with any bread or toast, but it was a nice size, presented well and still tasty. The venison ragu was also a decent portion size and well presented although the flavours made it a little rich for my personal preference. The menu is a set price for either two or three courses; unfortunately there were only two deserts offered. Neither were particularly appealing by description to me but I am so glad I went with the tart - the honey ice cream was truly delicious!

Everything was served in good time and it was a classy experience for the area. Complimentary sparkling and still water was offered throughout and the waiting staff were very attentive. I’d certainly return here and for a more special lunch time break it works...

Really nice, original, flavorful. . Price is reasonnable. Service over friendly but I was very lucky, it looks like i got the friendliest waitress! I had booked in advance, and only drawback is that the first waitress that welcomed me tried to sat me at the bar by the window. Would definitely have ruined my experience. My other waitress was the loveliest waitress. Very attentive, friendly, but not overbearing, full of smiles, and knows the food very well.

The food was amazing. Very original. I am French and very picky normally, and definitely disregard the type of "style over substance" or hipster vegan beetroot blabla restaurant. This was neither.

This is simple yet inventive, and you can choose as many small and big plates suit your appetite and budget. It is very hard to choose!

I chose the fried leeks, sauce gribiche, then the delica pumpkin, apricot, herbs & crème fraîche, then the open sandwich of ox tongue pastrami.

All were really well executed and original, lovely looking produce too.

I will definitely go again. I think I am falling in love with English food (if it was always like that!), although the style is definitely correctly classified as modern European. As a matter of fact my family is visiting next week to facilitate my "fake" Brexit, so I will try...

Clipstone is one of my sisters favourite restaurants so we decided to go there for her graduation dinner.

The food we had was overall very good so I will try to base my overall review on the food as that is the main reason we went there. We had pretty much every starter and dessert on the menu, all of which were really good. Their fried squid salad was incredible and a solid 10/10 from me. The main courses were also very good too, especially the ravioli which was cooked perfectly and presented nicely.

However the restaurant did disappoint me in regards to the COVID-19 measured we were assured were in place when making the booking, as none of the waiters/waitresses wore face masks and the tables were a lot closer than we expected, definitely not the 2 metres we were told over the phone.

The overall service we received was very mixed too as the waiter and waitress who served our drinks and starters were very friendly and smiling constantly, our main waitress was very short and rude with me as our table had a few food intolerances which made choosing certain dishes difficult. The fact that the menu changes daily also made it a little trickier too,

Overall I would give the restaurant/service a 5/10 and the food a 9/10 so overall I give...