Roux at Parliament Square – The return

This was my second visit to Roux at Parliament Square.  My previous visit here was not typical, in that it involved indulging in the tasting menu and matching wines in the Private Dining Room, so I thought it would be interesting to see how the set lunch menu held up. £25.00 for 3 courses plus coffee and petit fours is an excellent deal for this sort of venue.  Booking via Top Table also enhanced the deal to included complementary glasses of champagne on arrival apparently – although when I reviewed my Top Table account later it said 3 courses with a bottle of filtered water, so we definitely got  the better deal 😉

Ironically although the set menu looked quite inviting, we were seduced by the a la carte menu, so did not actually end up going down the cheaper route as planned.

Every dish we ordered was beautifully presented and the meal included all those little extra’s I love in a fine dining establishment, the selection of canapés, the amuse bouche, the pre dessert and the petit fours.  OK so it cost more than twice as much as the set menu, but at least the excellent range of reasonably priced wine by the glass (typically between £5.00 and £7.00 a glass) kept the price down.

The Restaurant does not as yet have a Michelin star, but I would be very surprised if that was not in the pipe line. Roux at Parliament Square certainly has all the ingredients.

Marks out of 10

Food 6.9

Service 6.8

Ambience 6.5

 

 

 

UPDATE Feb 2013 – MasterChef winner Steve Groves is now the head chef  – see article.

UPDATE Dec 2020 – Now closed

 

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Roux at Parliament Square – Private dining

Had a lovely evening at Michel Roux Jnr’s new restaurant, even if it did mean battling my way through the crowds outside Westminster Abbey waiting for a glimpse of the Pope.  Roux at Parliament Square is just around the corner from the Abbey located in one of the most beautiful buildings in Westminster, a period building designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the architect of London’s iconic Natural History Museum.

We started with drinks and canapes in the upstairs bar, then strolled down to the private dining room to indulge, we had pre ordered the 8 course tasting menu.

 

The Private dinning room is lovely and the service was unobtrusive, it was like being at a fabulous dinner party.

The food did not let us down either. The menu was well balanced. I liked the mixed style of modern and traditional french cuisine. The standout dishes for me were, the Brill with razor clam, mussel and shrimp  and the chocolate mousse, Caramel foam and banana sorbet with popping candy.

One of the advantages of being in the private dining room was that the matching wines were presented punctually by the Sommelier just prior to the food service. The  wines were all French and selected by Albert Roux. I especially enjoyed our second dessert wine, the Maury, Dom.Lafage, Landuedoc-Rousillion, 2008.

Our visit was on a Friday evening, which is actually a quiet day for the Restaurant. This Roux outpost is definitely worth a return visit.

UPDATE Dec 2020 Closed.

What’s coming in September.

More posts on top London destination restaurants this month, including

and lots more posts from our Australian correspondent, covering some interesting venues down under including a couple of the fine dining restaurants in Orange NSW, an area known for its Restaurants, Vineyards and Farmers Markets.