sketch lecture room

a visit to sketch is certainly an interesting and rather ott experience. i felt rather like a kid with a golden ticket to willy wonka's chocolate factory. as you enter the building you have the parlour on your right, where you can order an indulgent breakfast, afternoon tea, comfort food and cocktails. the rather low key parlour is in stark contrast to pierre gagnaire's michelin stared restaurant in the lecture room. the name of the restaurant does not really conjure up what is revealed after you are escorted up the exotically lit staircase. the doors are dramatically thrown open and you find yourself in a jewel box like room, decorated with a red, orange, blue and gold palette.

the first hurdle is the champagne trolley, something i am not a fan off. if i want a glass i prefer to check the menu first to make sure i know what i am getting, so we just stuck to tap water while we made our menu selection. despite the hefty prices you can still go down the less expensive route by ordering from the gourmet rapide menu. however as we wanted to get the fullexperienceon our first visit we opted for the regular tasting menu (it is expensive, but as you will see from this post - you do get a lot for your money) and asked the sommelier to recommend a bottle of wine that would suit the whole menu. he selected a reasonably priced bottle of irouleguy, xuri d'ansa 2004 that was drinkable both on its own and as an accompaniment to the food.

next came the bread, served with some rather spectacular tasting seaweed butter. then the feast began. we had a wonderful array of beautifully presented dishes served by sketches very efficient staff. ironically though the presentation and service did eclipse the food a bit. the food was very good, don't get me wrong. the foie gras terrine with mackerel bouillon and clams was an excellent start. the marinated stone bass, peas, spring cabbage, mint and smoked lardons was quite lovely, nice flavour combinations and textures. the huge king scallop served with nettle cream, haddock, watercress salad, seaweed butter and rhubarb was fabulous, and the other dishes were enjoyable too. they just didn't quite meet our expectations, which were perhaps a little too high, due to the rather excessive hype that sketch gets. this was a tasting menu that definitely filled you up though, we were getting full even before we started on the grand dessert which consists of no less than five desserts and a selection of petit fours. however sometimes less is more and i think i would have preferred just a couple of spectacular desserts, rather than five ok ones. that said, it was still discernibly better than a lot of michelin starred restaurants out there, and as such i would have no qualms about recommending the sketch experience.

i had a wonderfulexperiencein this restaurant.

the service is perfect, waiters pay a lot of attention to details and serves maximum two tables per person.

the atmosphere is exceptional. the hall is very large, with a dome in the middle. only few tables, giving the opportunity to have privacy during the dinner.

i had the duck and my friend took the lamb. they offered some starters.
if the service was impeccable, the food was not less.

it is a pricy restaurant, but it is worth trying it.

beautifully dining room.  formal and excellent service particularly from the sommelier. food was very good but sometimes over elaborate but always tasty. a greatexperiencenaturally very expensive. .

i've been to the sketch lecture room & library a few times and must say it's the best fine diningexperiencein london. the location is great, you feel like being a guest in alice's wonderland. impeccable service and the most creative food on the planet. it's pretty much the only place where a vegetarian tasting menu can really blow me away. i will definitely keep coming back!

this a place is a must go! the different rooms, each uniquely themed, are extraordinary. the bathrooms are anexperienceof their own. the food is full of flavour, texture and surprise. the wine list is equally exciting. waiters are dressed super stylishly bringing the contemporary to the forefront. the silver cloches placed on your food brings the fine dining.

as the review above reads, this is a venue with quality cuisine, great wine pairing, a wonderful setting with very knowledgeable staff. it is what one would expect from a restaurant of this stature. overall, the wine pairing was a standout with a unique selection french wines which you would probably notexperienceat any other tasting menu and the tailoring of the wines to match the first six courses were the definition of creativity and quality. the sommelier was excellent. the dishes were excellent with different layers of sauces and creative culinary techniques. the waiters knowledge of the techniques themselves (which were recited with no need to speak to the kitchen) was amazing. although there was a lot of creativity, the actual produce shone through in all of the dishes. a couple of points of drawbacks. i think the dessert was quite a lot to get through and i think one or two less desserts and an extra savoury course (possibly a meat dish – lamb or beef) would have been preferr

truly a space to see and be seen with eye catching décor at every turn it was in a trio of small plates that my sketchexperiencebegan and served en masse at my request not a single bite underwhelmed in the least, the ethereal gougeres melting to the tongue while both the creamy liver and black brioche would not have been out of place at michelin starred spots throughout the english capital.

from the over the top welcome from the restaurant manager to the french maid who escorts you back upstairs from the most weird, wonderful and decadent toilets i've visited, the wholeexperienceputs a smile on your face and a dent in your wallet! now, it