Time Out rating:
<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5
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<strong>Rating: </strong>5/5
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Time Out says
Fri Oct 26 2012
Entry to this handsome Georgian townhouse requires the caller to press a buzzer: it sets the tone for a meal that is unapologetically exclusive, and at odds with the casual dining joints popping up all over Soho. The sumptuously furnished rooms are set over two floors, meaning the many waiters have to scuttle up and down flights of stairs every time a dish emerges from the basement kitchen – which is often, as multiple courses prevail.
Although not quite the staid ‘temple to gastronomy’ many critics decry it as, Gauthier’s exists for the food above all else. The cooking displays exacting French technique and inventive use of vegetables (something Provençal chef Alexis Gauthier is known for), but it often ends up too restrained to truly awe. A recent dish of belly pork with carrot, ‘light chilli’, coriander and coconut didn’t display any of its advertised Asian influence; a ravioli of asparagus with bitter leaves was beautifully assembled, but too polite in flavour.
Besides two tasting menus, the à la carte offers three, four or five courses from a fairly large list. There’s also a reasonably priced lunch/early bird menu; but this is not somewhere to scrimp – such an intense level of service and finessed cooking doesn’t come cheap.
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