Jamie Oliver Catherine St — Restaurant in London

We came from Australia to to celebrate my husband’s birthday. The restaurant looks welcoming and the inside is visually stunning. We were enthusiastically greeted by an Italian waiter who showed us to a lovely corner of the restaurant that was intimate and cosy. A waitress asked us if we wanted some bread. We said we did but then thought we would like to see a menu before deciding. Looking at the menu, there were other ‘Nibbles’ available so we cancelled the bread. But then the bread arrived so we had to tell the waiter again that the order had been cancelled. We ordered a beer and a glass of sparkling wine. Andrew loved his beer and the sparkling was presented in a beautiful long-stemmed glass. We also ordered a bottle of mineral water. I ordered the pate and the burger and Andrew ordered the gravlax and the fish and chips. Some time later, the waitress returned and said there was no pate available. I was confused as to why she didn’t know that before taking our order. She didn’t refill our water glasses so I poured the water for us. She also didn’t ask us if we wanted another drink and so we had empty glasses in front of us for some time before we were able to notify a different waiter that we would like another round of drinks. Instead of the pate, I ordered the croquettes. These were beautifully presented but they were only lukewarm. Andrew's gravlax was very well plated and it looked like great care had been taken to present these dishes well before they left the kitchen. The waitress then asked us if we’d like more mineral water and we said we did, but it never arrived. Andrew’s fish and chips arrived. This again looked very inviting – crispy, crunchy, golden batter enhanced by the brightness of the mushy peas and pickle. But then came my burger. Having seen what is promoted on the restaurant’s Instagram post, I thought I knew what to expect. But there was no commonality between what is shown on Instagram and what was put in front of me. On Instagram and on the menu, it says it’s a ‘double beef patty’. There was only a single beef patty. It says it comes with ‘house-made cheese’. I could barely find the cheese – there wasn’t enough for me to be able to taste it. It says it comes with ‘special sauce’. There was absolutely no sauce anywhere on that burger. I took a bite and it was dry, under-seasoned, and flavourless. It was so dry the patty had fallen apart and as I picked up the burger, the broken part fell out onto the plate. I sat there, not eating the burger, for around half an hour. I saw staff looking at me but they didn’t approach. Finally the waitress came to collect our plates. It was then that I told her there was a problem with the burger. Then a Portuguese waiter approached. He asked me what the problem was. I asked him what was supposed to be in the burger. I showed him the Instagram post and asked him if what I had been given resembled in any way, what was on Instagram and what was described on the menu. . He apologised and said I could order something else. But by then it had been so long since Andrew had finished his meal that we wouldn’t have been eating together and we had to get to the theatre. We decided not to order dessert and told them we were leaving. The bill didn’t arrive. We went up to pay and the Italian waiter apologised that the bill hadn’t been brought to the table. He gave us the bill and we had been charged for the bread. They corrected the error. We paid 100 pounds and I’d only eaten two and a half tiny croquettes. We were standing at the exit when they remembered we were there for a special occasion and brought out a bowl of ice cream with a candle in it. But it was 7:15pm and Mama Mia was starting in 15 minutes. We needed to leave. The burger I had been given should never have left the kitchen. The staff should have approached the situation long before it was too late to attempt to make amends. We left feeling disappointed and wondering how it was possible it all went so...

Myself and my wife visited Jamie Oliver Catherine Street last Saturday the 6th July, for a birthday celebration. We have been wanting to try the restaurant since it opened, as we are big fans of Jamie Oliver.

The entrance to the restaurant was absolutely gorgeous- a botanical retreat, and first impressions were good. The maitre d’ was friendly and welcoming, and we were shown to our seat promptly. The restaurant was nicely decorated with some lovely art work, and a very funny picture of Jamie at the top of the stairs.

Unfortunately, we had to wait some time before a waiter came to take our drinks order. Our server was very polite and professional, and recommended some very lovely wine for us. We ordered the croquettes as our appetizer, which were presented well, but under a snowstorm of parmesan, which was very overpowering. There was also a very distinct acidic after taste, which detracted from the other flavours.

For our starters we ordered chargrilled leeks, which were nice, but underwhelming in their flavour, and a little watery. The other starter we ordered was the hand-dived scallops. These came well presented, on a huge plate, which seemed unnecessary, given that there were only 3 scallops. However, they were very flavourful.

For our mains, we ordered Trevor’s Chicken and Prawn Linguine with sides of seasonal greens and Koffman’s fries. The chicken was beautifully presented, was exceptionally tender and moist, and was very tasty. I would recommend this dish. Unfortunately, the fries tasted as if they had been under a heat lamp for quite some time, and were somewhat dried out.

The prawn linguine, which comes with a ‘rich tomato & shellfish sauce’, was very spicy. So much so, that my wife was unable to finish it. It was hard to enjoy any of the flavours, when the spice was so overpowering. This was a shame. It does not mention on the menu that it is a spicy dish. If it did, she may have thought twice about ordering it.

At the end of the meal, I ordered a double macchiato. I could see that this was being prepared and ready to deliver to our table, however, one of the senior staff members (I'm assuming a female manageress) attempted to deliver my coffee, but seemed unsure as to which table it was for. So instead of confirming the correct table, she left it on the side, and it was only brought to our table after I caught the attention of the barista. The barista, apologised for the delay, and said “this one's on me” (this was never deducted from the bill). I asked him for sugar, which never arrived, and the drink was cold on arrival.

When I booked our table, I mentioned that it was my birthday. After we asked for the bill (which took some time), we noticed a lot of staff members checking our bill and then looking at our table. This suggested to us that they realised that they had forgotten to acknowledge my birthday (as we'd seen them do with another table earlier), because when I asked to pay, our very nice waiter, asked me to wait a few minutes, because they had a little surprise for me, as they were aware that it was my birthday. In fairness to them, we were given some nice free ice cream with a candle in it. However, this felt like an after thought.

As mentioned, our waiter was very kind and professional, as was the maitre d’, however, the presence of strong management was not evident in this restaurant, as we noticed a lot of staff members chit chatting instead of focusing on the customers.

Whilst at the restaurant, my wife used the bathroom, and said there was only 1 soap dispenser, and it was broken. Moreover, they were running very low on hand towels.

We were shocked to see our bill of £159 as the price did not reflect our experience or the quality of food that we would have expected from a restaurant bearing the name of Jamie Oliver. Unfortunately, we will not return, nor recommend this to family...

I visited Jamie Oliver's Catherine street with my Wife as a treat after watching a show at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The buildings are joined so this seemed like a great way to end the day. We pre-booked the table for 5:30PM and it was ready when we arrived 10 mins early. The greeting staff checked our reservation and directed us to our table. We had asked for a quieter table and were directed down the left hand of the restaurant. This was much quieter than the main area with good lighting, modern feel and an overall win. They did not ask us if we wanted our coats taken despite doing this for others. No issues. I would have rather kept it with me anyhow. It's just normal to be asked. The toilets are very clean. They are down 2 flights of stairs. If you have accessibility issues, be warned. Wine selection is good with options to suit every taste and budget. For starters, Wife had the Scotch Egg and I had the Scallops. The Scotch Egg was excellent. It was tasty, good texture and overall a hit. The scallops were bland, boring and over priced. You get 3 small scallops presented on shells, dripping in butter with a strange herb sauce that tastes like it's ground up herbs with stems included.

For the main we decided to share the Porterhouse steak. £98 to share. We were told when we ordered it that the Hash browns were no longer available and that they would bring roast potatoes. The waiter returned later telling us they have run out of roast potatoes as well and we would be getting chips. Our table booking was at 5:30 so surprised they had run out of such basic ingredients so quickly. We ordered the steak medium rare, and when asked we added a bearnaise sauce. When the steak arrived first impression was very good. That was until we tried to eat it. The steak knives were not sharp. I tested the knife by running my thumb down the knife with pressure. Not a mark. They had no cutting edge on them. The steak was not seasoned at all. We could not identify any salt, pepper or butter. There was however a split butter and herb sauce that was provided separately. I guess this was the Cafe de Paris butter sauce however we had not ordered this. 5 mins later a Bearnaise sauce arrived. The cuts of meat on the porterhouse were not tender at all. The crust was over cooked with a slight bitter dry charred taste. The middle of the meat was tough and hard to cut and eat. It was very chewy meat. It's advertised as a 35 day aged steak. So expected to be tender and flavoursome. It was neither. The chips tasted exactly like Sainsburys skin on fries that we eat at home if not a little drier. Perhaps the restaurant had gone to the local Sainsburys after all. The side salad was pretty nice if not uninspiring. For desert I went for the 'fried apple blackberry pie', Wife had the 'Sticky pudding' The apple blackberry pie was OK. The crust was crispy and the contents tasty. The ice cream was delightful. The Sticky pudding was not so good. My wife immediately after tasting stated it tasted as if it had been microwaved. The sponge was dry and the syrup sauce was not very good. She also agreed the nicest thing on the plate was the ice cream.

Looking around the restaurant. It was clear that most people were tourists. From our experience at Jamie Oliver Catherine Street I think this is who the restaurant is targeting. They are not attempting to get repeat customers who are going out for an amazing meal and willing to pay for that. Instead they are targeting people who come to central London on holiday, want a blow out meal and will never be back. It's trading on a semi famous name to catch a temporary audience. Whilst they continue to cater to this audience and keep filling seats. Why do they need to focus...