The Colony Grill

Slight mixed feelings about this place. The ambience/​vibe is trying to be something that doesn’t match its current clientele. Food however was great. Nice daily specials but the menu felt more French than American. General a la carte dishes do seem way over priced like they are forcing you to have a plat du jour. However the main reason you come here is for the bespoke Ice Cream Sundaes you can order. They give you a pad and pencil and you tick what you want. Ice Cream is incredible and the toppings/​sauces are next level. (Visit — 28/​04/​2015 Dinner)

This is the swankiest place I’ve ever given only two stars to.
We had a lovely evening here. Set in the very stylish and still pretty new Beaumont hotel, it’s incredibly swish and and the restaurant brings the best of the American grill rooms you find in New York over to London.
The surroundings are plush. Reserved. Elegant. The people are beautiful. The menu is right up my street.
But…
When you’re paying such large amounts of money, you want to leave without little niggles and I’ve got a couple of biggies.
First the place. Lots of dark wood panelling, subdued lighting, leather booths. Sumptuous. It’s an immaculate place and you feel special walking in. The menu splits into hors d’oeuvres, salads, eggs, pasta, American sandwiches, grilled meats, fish, entrees. There really is something for everyone. You can have a hot dog. You can have a dover sole. you can have clam chowder. You can have an omelette. You can have Duck a la orange. We were out with good friends and celebrating. Oysters to start after getting well lubed on margaritas at the bar. All beautifully fresh and well prepared.
My main was a really juicy veal steak. cooked to perfection, lovely flavour. Accompanied by some good chips. My missus and my other partner (nothing kinky, my work partner) had the dover sole which was filleted at the table and was also delicious. Kerry had the duck which she reported to be lovely.
We ordered a spectacular bottle of Puligny Montrachet which we would have guzzled had it not been for the fact that we had to wait endless time to have our glasses topped up. Maybe they wanted us to fully appreciate this fine wine. We weren’t in the mood! We had to ask twice for them to fetch the bottle so we could drink. I’d much prefer they just leave it with is but if they’re going to whisk it away to their secret place then I reckon it’s their duty to bring it back regularly enough.
After the mains we continued with a more ordinary and reasonably priced white which was good. Again, they were very shy with topping us up which was becoming tiresome. When I ordered an encore of the more reasonable wine they came back with a bottle of the Montrachet. I was pretty squiffy by the time the waiter flashed the bottle past me but luckily I managed to spot their mistake. This saved us £160. And it annoyed me. Bit of a shit mistake to make I reckon. I doubt very much they meant it but their clumsiness would have ended up costing us.
After the mains we ordered a piece of chocolate cake. It was poor. A stale slice which tasted like it had been left out all day. A really disappointing way to end meal at a spectacular place. We didn’t much care because we were pissed and having a laugh, but I guess I’m writing this after having gone through my receipts and seeing the meal cost £500 for the four of us.
For that price, you expect attentive service, puddings which aren’t curling up and absolutely no mistakes with the orders.
The service itself was charming. The ambeince was great. A real grand moody place straight out of the 20s but with a thoroughly modern air.
But expect to pay for it and expect mistakes.