Could not resist the toptable deal of £49 for a 5 course lunch with champagne and petit fours at Tom Aikens.
They are also doing a free corkage deal this month too, but as they only allow one promotion at a time, it did not apply to our lunch option. The normal corkage fee of £30 a bottle would be charged. So we decided to leave our bottles at home on this occasion. Ironically the corkage deal would have been the better one, as the normal lunch tasting menu is £49. So the deal was really just a free glass of champagne.
The sparkle does now seem to be missing from Tom Aikens, there were no stand out dishes at all. The salmon and grapefruit dish worked but the fois gras was just lost in an overdose of blackcurrent. The main course of lamb was too simple and a tiny portion (when I compare this to the lamb cuts I had on my first visit to Tom Aikens a few years ago, then there is no comparison). There was a good cheese course and the chocolate dessert although complex was not very exciting. We finished with some basic petit fours – the spectacular ones are saved for the evenings these days.
On the plus side the bread basket is still one of the best around – offering at least 6 different bread selections.
On the wine front, we ordered a rather disappointing bottle of Mt Beautiful Pinor Noir 2007 at £29.
In conclusion, I am sorry to say that in my view Tom Aikens has lost its magic, as reflected in the marks below.
Marks out of 10
Food 5.9
Service 6.5
Ambience 6
UPDATE : March 2012 – The Restaurant has had a major revamp – see Matthew Forts post for details