Gauthier Soho — Restaurant in London

Firstly I want to point out that I rarely if ever have left a bad review, but I feel for the money spent at the table I should breakdown my reasoning in detail.

As someone who has worked in such establishments I also understand that I may perhaps be a hardher critic. This is by no means to invalidate anyone else's pallettes or experience but, as someone who has trained and refined their pallete for many years, the food was lacklustre, bland and fell so short of expectations.

My first impression wasn't the best, one of the chefs had come out in their chef jacket smoking next door to the establishment.

The interior was outdated, and the ambiance in general was old school and felt more like a funeral wake than a restaurant.

We were seated, canapés brought before our other guest had arrived, this I would overlook as I can see there were probably untrained staff. However, every time I tried to ask the server for a drink, they kept walking off. Training is one thing but a complete lack of awareness is another.

So onto the food, the canapés were nice. I enjoyed the take on a blt, it had a good flavour the filo was lovely and the tomato had exactly the right amount of smokinessnes and sweetness. The mayo on top felt futile as it was completely overwhelmed by the other flavours.

The aubergine caper canapés were, nice enough, however far too acidic and unbalanced. From here sadly it went further downhill.

The brioche was overwhelmingly flavoured with tomato, the dough had a raw dough taste to it, and tasted of bicarb. The pico de gallo lacked a good smack of seasoning. Then onto the fennel, now this dish was confusing at best. The fennel was cooked nicely enough, however the borlotti beans were undercooked, and the white white puree underneath completely tastless. The szechuan wasn't even present on the dish and the blackberries were almost like they hadn't been pickled enough. The tea poured over was bitter and inedible, unsure as to why it was on there.

Onto the risotto, famously easy to get wrong, I can take al dente but this was way too under for me. The dashi truffle sauce again totally overwhelmed by truffle, and tasted closer to a salty demi glacé sauce. None of us at the table found it edible, it was not acceptable at all.

The kohlrabi was cooked well but completely washed out by the beurre blanc that was so acidic I couldnt taste anything else. The broth again was horribly bitter, and delivered nothing in terms of flavour.

The peach dish was overall incredibly sweet, with no relief. The sorbet did have a lovely flavour let down by the uneven texture, maybe the kitchen could invest in a paco machine. The shisho disc had so much agar in it, the texture was brittle and crumbly. Not pleasant at all. The mereingue was being burned by the wait staff, until I was informed the pastry chef had requested this?

Onto the brulee dish, the sable was buttery and nicely cooked for me, the rest of it was so sweet and tart it was a lot to handle. The marmalade I think they called it, on the side was flavourless and pointless on the dish.

Onto the last dish the petit fours were not nice the dark chocolate was so bitter it was inedible and rhe other one tasted like a badly made marzipan.

For the money spent, I am shocked and amazed at the good reviews, I'm incensed that the bar has been set so low for plant based food. Perhaps the novelty of it, is why people overlook things.

This cooking is outdated, uninspired and technically wrong on every level. The utter lack of passion, love and respect for the ingredients was missing, including a fear of good seasoning across the dishes. There was no balance no harmony and understanding of what good flavour tastes like.

I hope that this review is listened too and a closer look is taken at the dishes, and maybe a new head chef is hired becauee the lack of discipline amongst the dishes...

Really mixed experience at this restaurant. It’s dog friendly which is amazing, and lovely cosy feeling. We went here for a joint birthday celebration with family we havnt seen for over a year. We gave them our allergy requirements ahead of time. When we arrived we were asked again about our dietary requirements and told they weren’t aware. However this isn’t true because the kitchen had prepared us nut free versions of the dishes which were amazing. It was just poor communication with the servers. We reiterated the nut allergy again. We chose the wine pairing, and the wine either came way too early, too late or sometimes not at all until we got up and found someone to ask if it was coming. The waitress serving us seemed completely out of her depth and could not remember what each course was as she brought it out, and often kept glancing down at the menu whilst telling us what it was. We had to get up and ask for extra spoons for one course as we weren’t given enough. Then one course came out and the girl read off the menu again what it was, I saw on the menu it contained nuts so I asked what I have instead, because all my dishes had been prepared without nuts. She didn’t know so she took the dish away. It did infact contain nuts so if I had eaten it instead of checking I would have been in hospital. The food was all really tasty and when I got the right dishes which had been prepared nut free it was fantastic and I was blown away by the flavours and that they had been able to replicate all of the parts without nuts. I was really impressed with the chefs. But when you are paying £100 a head and then £75 a head on top for wine pairing, you just expect the service to be better. Half the enjoyment of tasting courses is the experience and the “show” of it. Having someone there explaining the dish with details not on the menu. Unfortunately we did not get this part of the experience. It was a real shame the wine pairings also really let the evening down. Sometimes it came so early, the wine was nearly gone by the time the food arrived. Or the food was nearly gone by the time we eventually managed to catch someone’s attention and remind them about the wine.

It’s such a shame because it’s such a unique restaurant, almost feels like someone’s house, offering amazing vegan food that even non vegans would enjoy. You don’t feel you’re missing out on the taste or food without animal products.

However it’s let down with the communication between servers and kitchen and the service.

I will add they took the 3 wine pairings off the bill at the end, and apologised but it didn’t really make up for the...

I have dined at this restaurant multiple times, but strangely, I have never been welcomed as a returning guest. Each time, I am asked if it is my first visit, which feels impersonal, especially at a restaurant in this price range.

I used to visit before Covid, and was curious to see how the transition to a fully vegan menu had evolved. Some dishes were enjoyable, and the effort is commendable, considering there’s no dairy or other animal ingredients. However, others felt far too minimalistic to be considered a proper main course. A swede, for example, is an inexpensive ingredient, if it is the star of the dish, I would expect a more generous portion rather than it being rationed as though it was wagyu beef.

Service was another point of concern. When we were handed the Grand Dîner menu and asked instead for the Petit Dîner, the waiter’s reaction made it seem as if this option didn’t even exist, despite it clearly being available. This was surprising. In the past, the restaurant had a team of well-trained French and Italian staff who could eloquently explain the dishes in multiple languages. This time, I struggled to fully understand what was being presented at the table. The absence of a sommelier was also noticeable, there used to be an excellent Italian sommelier who added to the experience.

The physical state of the restaurant is another issue. The staircase beneath the carpet is worryingly squeaky and feels as if it may soon require urgent refurbishment.

As for the meal itself, I enjoyed parts of it, but certain choices were puzzling. Starting with an amuse-bouche heavy on cumin meant that the spice lingered on my palate throughout the entire lunch. To then find cumin again in another dish felt repetitive and out of place, I expected a French dining experience, not one leaning toward Indian flavours.

Overall, while I appreciate the restaurant’s commitment to its new direction, there are clear areas that need...