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Babylon
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3 courses for £25
(Offer valid until Mon Nov 30)
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2 courses for £17.50
(Offer valid until Mon Nov 30)
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By the time the elevator doors open on to the seventh floor, you’d be forgiven for expecting magnificence on a biblical scale, but Richard Branson’s Babylon is an understated affair: a long room in neutral colours and clean lines; candles flickering in sand; rose heads floating in miniature fish-bowls. The famous Roof Gardens, one floor down, charms drinkers silly in the summer months, and the views from Babylon’s perimeter terrace are stunning – although come nightfall you’ll need 20:20 vision to make out the capital’s central landmarks. Service is impeccable, as you’d expect at these prices, and the food seldom fails to impress. A starter posing the business end of a Scottish langoustine on a bed of Cornish crab meat tasted sea fresh. Flavoursome ham hock terrine suffered only slightly from too little time out of the refrigerator. Main courses benefit from an ability to bring out the best in red meats; the richness of a roast saddle of venison was complemented by a sweet Madeira jus, while the 28-day-hung sirloin of Irish beef displayed a depth and darkness to put prime fillet steaks in the shade.
Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009
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Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.
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Details
- 7th floor, The Roof Gardens, 99 Kensington High Street, Kensington, W8 5SA
- Area: Kensington
- Tel: 020 7368 3993
- www.roofgardens.com
- Book online
- Category: Modern European
- Travel: High Street Kensington tube
- Times: Lunch served noon-2.30pm daily. Dinner served 7-10.30pm Mon-Sat
- Price: Main courses £18.50-£24. Set lunch (Mon-Sat) £16.50 2 courses, £19.50 3 courses; (Sun) £22 2 courses, £25 3 courses
- Credit cards: AmEx, DC, MC, V
- Services:
- Available for hire: Separate room for parties, seats 12
- Child facilities: Babies and children welcome: children's menu; entertainer (Sun); high chairs
- Disabled: lift; toilet
- Entertainment: musicians dinner Thur
- Function room: Separate room for parties, seats 12
- Outdoor tables: 15, balcony
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I was really disappointed. We went for a special occasion and it was really overpriced for what we received. The food was fine but nothing special. The wine was ok, but we couldn't help but think that the £30 bottle we bought was probably on sale in our local off-licence for £6!
The service was generally good but the maitre d' was pushy, patronising and it seemed as though he tried to embarrass us into buying a really expensive wine.
The view is lovely, but not worth going for an evening dinner visit. The decor is also pretty gaudy and fell short of the modern, chic image the owners were no doubt striving for.
In short, there are much better restaurants than this which would charge half the price for the same quality. Not worth the bother.
Absolutely first rate!! Food fantastic, service attentive, anbience perfect!!! And to top it off the view from the roof gardens was unbelievable!! Tremendous little club there too!! Definately worth visiting.
We visited Babylon for lunch to celebrate my wif'e's birthday. It was a very disappointing experience.
The restaurant view is superb, the table service reasonable, but the food was awful - overpriced and mediocre in the extreme. The turkey dish that my wife ordered arrived as a half-inch slab of tough and dry, pan-fried meat. My beef was overdone and the chef seems to cook with a preponderance of salt.
The resturant manager's assurance that he would bring our criticism of the food - and the fact that we'd left a good portion of it - to the attention of the chef , didn't really do it for us either!
Having read a selection of other reviews of this restaurant, it feels like the 'Emperor's new clothes' . I can only conclude that, after paying around £80 a head for a lunch bill, diners are too embarrassed to admit that they've received poor food and even poorer value.
If you want to dine with a splendid view - and receive quality food - either The Oxo Tower restaurant or the Globe are a much better bet. We certainly won't be returning to Babylon! In four words, pretentious, overpriced, disappointing - avoid.