David (15 December 2008)

The main selling point of the Portrait Restaurant is an amazing view over the city, although when you book a table they say there are no guarantees of a window table. Take fair warning now, unless you are a celebrity you may still be denied one even if there are several free when you arrive. The table allocation is shocking and the head of reservations rude. Had we more time we would have eaten elsewhere on principle, but having finally been seated at a compromise table, so Jon Snow could enjoy the view we had wanted and booked an early lunch time for, the food was very good and we had no complaints about the table service. If only the front of house could match the quality of the kitchen. Beware.

Travell Hopefully (27 October 2008)

We arrived on time at 12:00 and were greeted by two smiling young ladies behind a small desk, who quickly and politely found our reservation and took us to our table by the windows. The restaurant opens at 11:45 and there were already several tables taken. We have enjoyed lunch there quite a few times before and always book ahead by phone, often the same morning, which seems to be far enough in advance if one doesn’t need a table at peak time. Turning up without a booking at peak times is almost certain to lead to a lengthy wait. One of the reasons for visiting this restaurant is its pleasant aspect of London roof tops and I am sure this contributes to its popularity. It has a quite modern feel, with a high ceiling, a subdued metallic grey theme and comfortable black leather and polished steel frame chairs. It has not changed its fittings in the years we have been visiting and it is beginning to show. Things are not badly worn, but they do look very well used. No table cloths, brisk service and a small but adequate wine selection at the back of the food menu lend it a casual, informal air. The people who go there tend to be the kind of people one might expect in a gallery, with concomitant sensibilities and it seems to me often meeting friends or relatives. Consequently, the atmosphere has a quite lively but polite and genial feel one is rarely aware of any noisy boorish types. There are occasional mothers with children and if we are offered a table close to one of them we ask for another. Children can get noisy and the lack of soft furnishings does allow their noise to echo around and disturb one’s meal.

We were offered a small piece of bread each, while we looked over the quite varied and good sized informative menu, which had vegetarian options. I would have liked another slice of bread to fend off the alcohol, but we were never offered the chance. My wife ordered a pear, walnut and blue cheese salad starter, which she says was very nice and a main course of butternut squash and sage risotto, which was lacking enough butternut for her taste and the portion was too large. It was, she said, pleasantly creamy but lacked flair in presentation, such as a small scattering of herbs that would have shown some attention to detail in a dish that required very little anyway. My starter had a couple of scallops and a strip of crispy bacon atop a scoop of mash, which contained something else I cannot remember, but was not obvious. It had a nice mustard sauce, which I would have liked more of and although the scallops were perfectly cooked they lacked enough seasoning for my liking. Some effort had been made with its appearance, but nothing special. For my main course I had guinea fowl with green lentils, chestnut mushrooms and a consommé. The guinea fowl was excellent, lots of flavour, crisped browned skin and yet the meat was not dry. I think I would have liked the lentils a tiny bit softer and some more interesting mushrooms, like for example shitake. Also the consommé was a touch too saline for my palate, although quite acceptable. The dish was competently presented, but with no originality. I had a dessert comprising a mini coffee cheesecake, a small scoop of Bailey’s ice-cream and a wafer of caramel, which though acceptable was uninspiring. In my opinion desserts are expensive in time, money and calories. They must be decadent to be worthy and mine was underwhelming, lacking flavour and the wow factor. The timing of the dishes was on the brisk side, but quite acceptable, our starter arriving very quickly, almost beating our wine, which was a little slow to arrive. We have been once before for afternoon tea, when I had a lovely chocolate brownie. We did not have the chance this time, but after a long slog around a gallery it is a pleasant diversion for half an hour or so. My wife had one glass of white wine with her meal which she informed me was a well balanced Chardonnay. I had two glasses or red wine, both Tempranillo based, one from Spain and the other from Brazil and I received enthusiastic advice from our server who gave me a taste of both wines to help me choose. Our wines were good and worth the asking price. The service was quite good, but I think slightly too intermittent, even though there seemed to be plenty of them. I think that they could be more attentive, as I found it difficult to get the attention of someone to order my second glass of wine, nearly giving up. Getting our bill could have been less effort. I don’t think they look around at all the tables enough to see if anyone needs service, but when they attend they are pleasant, polite and efficient. Regarding the price, we paid £76.44 and from previous experience it seems to be less than we have paid before, we were expecting to pay in the mid eighties again. They like to award themselves with a 12.5% tip, which I honestly feel is too much, 10% is generous enough on their not inexpensive prices. I think that perhaps the overall standard of the food, service and fittings was slightly lower this time, but still very good. A familiar face in the staff was not present this time and suggested changes have been made, I don’t think they are improvements. We will nonetheless visit again. I am sure and can say that one is very likely to have a pleasant experience there.