Ambassador

As a day-long café-style operation the Ambassador – runner-up for Best New Restaurant in the 2006 Time Out Eating & Drinking Awards – aims to please all the people all the time. That it succeeds, and impressively, is down to skill, commitment and an eye for detail. The various menus include breakfast waffles and pastries, a weekend brunch, dinner, and small sharing dishes for those primarily here to enjoy the beautifully crafted wine list. The room and furnishings are simple. Tables spill seamlessly out on to the street when weather allows. Everything that matters is made to count: tap water arriving unprompted on a hot day, linen napkins, perfectly judged service. And of course the food. We’ve not had a dud dish here. From the terrine-and-omelette style of the good-value set lunch to the more cheffy, complex à la carte (pollock, for example, with soft celeriac, crispy fennel and a ghosting of foam) – everything has impressed. Desserts deserve special mention: no afterthought, these, but exquisite riffs on a theme; blood orange three ways is a lesson in texture. Enjoy the casual atmosphere and reasonable prices, but don’t be deceived by them: this is a fine restaurant indeed.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008

Services:

Booking: Booking advisable
Child facilities: Babies and children welcome: children's menu; high chairs; toys
Disabled: toilet
Outdoor tables: 5, pavement

See other:

Latest user reviews

5 of us spent a truly superb evening at Ambassador last night. The service was just right. Not too attentive but someone always close by to assist and the food was all delicious and really well presented. You also really feel as you're getting value for money which is a rarity nowadays in London.... [More]
Rachel Filer  Apr 25 2008

Quite the best restaurant I've been to in ages. Everything is brilliant; the food really delivers- a triumph of taste over presentation! But its the service that really puts it in a class of its own. It makes you realise how poor most other restaurants are in comparison. Attentive without... [More]
Susan Robertshaw  Mar 21 2008