Restaurant at The Petersham Hotel

John & Andrea Ferguson (4 April 2007)

A lovely restaurant with fantastic view over Thames, it seems to be in the middle of the country but is only minutes from Richmond town centre.

The menu is not too fussy and offers a good choice in fairly plain English.

My husband started with the seared scallops and eel, then the lamb en croute followed by the apple galette and enjoyed every course; I did not have a starter, my fillet steak was possibly the best I have ever eaten and the trio of orange puddings was absolutely delicious.

We were very impressed by the service - I am allergic to nuts and, upon seeing my husband offer me a taste of his dessert, the waiter rushed over to tell me it contained almonds. The staff were attentive, but not overly so, making for a perfect anniversary evening.

The bill including water, two glasses of wine and coffees came to just over £100 including tip.

Steve Hitchens (2 December 2006)

Situated within an impressive building, the first impressions are excellent. Decor is tasteful, and the menu reassuringly small (about six starters and six mains if I remember right). The wine list is much longer and offers less value, starting from about £20 a bottle.

The starters were fantastic, brown shrimp cocktail and foie gras terrine. There followed a lengthy gap to the main courses which were even better. We had the honey-roast duck and the steak. There then followed an even longer gap where we were left with the dessert menu for half an hour. After the order was finally taken (there were long periods when no serving staff were visible in the dining room), it took a further 20 minutes to produce the dessert.

Delicious as it was this delay had greatly reduced the dining experience; I do expect to eat a three course dinner in less than three hours.

The food is amazingly good, the service very poor given the prices. Our meal took three hours (we kept the taxi waiting for half an hour), and we were not the only ones to have trouble located staff during the evening. If the restaurant had been completely full, it would have been understandable, but it wasn't.