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Almeida
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3 courses and a glass of wine £19.50
3 courses and a Bellini : £26.50 (Offer valid until Mon Nov 30)
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Lunch: 2 courses and a glass of wine £15.50 (Offer valid until Mon Nov 30)
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The Almeida is an ex-Conran restaurant that’s now part of the D&D group, and for our money one of its best, with prices at the lower end of the scale (in set deals only), and quality at the upper. It’s adjacent to the Almedia theatre and offers a pre-theatre menu, but is effectively self-contained as a formal restaurant. The room is spacious and pleasant, in dove-grey with good lighting and graphic flowers and paintings – albeit less cutting-edge in style than its scattering of decor magazines would suggest. The menu is similarly well done, and modern if not innovative, employing British and French ingredients and occasional nuances from other cuisines in pretty, detailed presentations. The website claims chefs use lighter-than-traditional cooking techniques; perhaps that post-dates our visit, when bream and rouget in a langoustine velouté was good but rich, and the vegetables butter-drenched. Other dishes, especially rillettes de lapin from the charcuterie trolley and a starter of truffled and creamed potatoes with asparagus, compensated. Staff are capable and charming (though we’ve had a couple of unexplained waits for food); the crowd are smart Islingtonians; the atmosphere a low hubbub of engaged conversation.
Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009
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Details
- 30 Almeida Street, Islington, N1 1AD
- Area: Islington
- Tel: 020 7354 4777
- www.danddlondon.com
- Book online
- Category: French
- Travel: Angel tube/Highbury & Islington tube/rail
- Times: Lunch served noon-2.30pm, dinner served 5.30-10.45pm Mon-Sat. Meals served noon-8.30pm Sun
- Price: Set lunch £20 2 courses, £22 3 courses. Set dinner £25 2 courses, £29.50 3 courses. Set meal (lunch, 5.30-6.30pm daily; 9.30-10.45pm Mon-Sat) £14.50 2 courses, £17.50 3 courses
- Credit cards: AmEx, MC, V
- Services:
- Available for hire: Restaurant available for hire
- Child facilities: Babies and children welcome: high chairs
- Disabled: toilet
- Function room: Separate room for parties, seats 18
- Outdoor tables: 8, pavement
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If you have a taste london card this place is really good value. If not I would try elsewhere to be honest.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place - the food is amazing!! i've been about 4 times recently and every time they get it right. the roast barbary duck with spring greens is delactable served with daphoinoise potatoes on the side - my favourite. i've also tried the steak tartare, which i never thought i would be a fan of, but Ameida have turned me! it comes with the perfect amount of chopped shallots, parsley and gerkins on the side with an egg yolk in the middle, honestly - i am a true convert! the passionfruit souflee with homemade vanilla icecream in the middle is just amazing - they bring it to the table and dollop in the ice cream in front of you so you can see it sink in and melt. i have taken my friends and family to this restaurant and every single one of them has come back for more! the restaurant staff are efficient, friendly and so smooth you barely even notice them! i genuinely recommend this place, delicious food, great staff and above all affordable!
My wife and I have recently moved to Islington and this wonderful place has become a firm favourite of ours and any friend who happens to visit. The front of house are always friendly and make sure you are welcome for an enjoyable dinning experience. admirably supported by a fine kitchen surving some of the most consistently fresh, tasty and delicious food in London. A restaurant of distinction and one I and more than happy to recommend ...... Enjoy!
I recently had a fabulous evening in this newly refurbished Islington favourite, the food was spot on and the service was a perfect balance of attentiveness and discretion if you ever find yourself wondering around the shops and bars of Upper Street pop in and treat yourself!
Went to Almeida with my TasteLondon card which makes it much less expensive and great value. We had a truly wonderful meal - I would be hesitant to go again at full price, but with my card I was really satisfied. Thumbs Up - kind of!!!
good-sometimes very good food, and very good wine by the glass but the service was truly awful- hard to get a menu, hard to order, hard to pay- in the end the awful service dominated the whole experience-pity but i certainly wouldnt go back for more
We went as part of London Restaurant Week and it is the worst restaurant I've ever had the misfortune to set foot in. The service was appalling - the table wasn't ready for 40 minutes but even then wasn't set properly, we had to ask for menus after waiting 10 minutes, orders were forgotten, the waiter removed some dishes but not others, he decanted the wine but served it immediately without leaving it to breathe, I could go on and on. And then the food. The smoked salmon starter was simply a piece of fish put on a plate with some lemon to squeeze on it. A side of dry green beans looked like they were straight out of a microwave, with some so shrivelled you wouldn't buy them at a supermarket. My oyster starter was great, but mainly due to freshness than any particular care with a sauce. The rest of our meal bar the chocolate pot dessert was bland and completely forgettable. Barely ok for a cheap local, but not remotely ok for supposedly fine dining and on a list of the best London has to offer. Don't waste your money at Almeida if this is how they treat customers during a restaurant promotion week!