London - Corrigan's Restaurant
Winter 2009
Frank's view 
Great food, shame about the experience
When A A Gill, Giles Coren, Fay Maschler and all the other London restaurant rotweillers walk through the door of a diner the staff spin into hyperspace.
When you or I arrive, especially at a top end establishment with lots of 'in-crowd' regulars, the chances are we're shown to the runt of the restaurant, the table by the toilets or the bar that no-one wants.
Adrian Gill has told me he knows that restaurants go into such a flap when he walks through the door, even the kitchen staff panic and ask what he has ordered. (Surely every dish should be worthwhile?). As an instantly recognisable face there's not a lot he can do to stop it from happening.
Corrigan's has an unprecedented flawless reputation having been praised by all the miserable critics.
I noticed that Squaremeal.co.uk was promoting a 2-course lunch special menu with wine for £19.50. The Corrigan's web site made no mention of this but did carry a 3-course lunch menu priced at £27. And so I called and booked.
We arrived at 12.20. The restaurant was empty and we were shown to a table against the wall by the bar. Normally I would have asked to be moved to a table in the body of the restaurant but (for some reason unbeknown to my conscious brain), I didn't.
Corrigan's reminds me of Scott's, a Richard Caring restaurant just around the corner. It has a large bar with stools for diners and a formal dining room with a low ceiling. The decor is all very serious apart from the highly polished light wood floor.
Two menus arrived, the a la carte and a Seasonal Market Menu offering three courses for £48.
I enquired about the £27 menu and the reluctant waiter returned with it.
As it transpired we elected to order from the a la carte. My Octopus Carpaccio, Baby Squid, Chorizo and Feta, was good value at £9.75, but where was the Feta, Mr Corrigan? I am presuming by Feta you mean cheese and, like a naughty truant, its absence did not go unnoticed.
To follow came Poached Haddock with Indian Spiced Pilaf Rice (£24). The portion of fish was perhaps a little on the mean side but the dish was excellent. The Camel's companion has a penchant for Bouillabaisse and indulged her passion all over the world, including Marseille, where the dish claims its origins. An authentic Bouillabaisse has the broth served first with bread and rouille, followed by the seafood and vegetables on a different plate. Corrigan's Steam Sea Bass & Bouillabaisse, pricey at £36, was good, but where was the broth? High quality seafood was embellished by driblings of fish soup.
As the dishes arrived so did the suits, pin striped corporates on a Christmas jolly standing by the bar who crept ever closer to our tables until Marks & Spencer long fit jackets were also searching for our Bouillabaisse broth.
Our quiet dine a deux on a sensible budget ended more claustrophobic than a Bank Holiday pub lunch with a bill of £179 for two.
The waiter asked if we enjoyed the experience. Normally the Brits grit their teeth and say "very nice thank you", but on this occasion I said the food was great but the table was not. "It must be hell around 9pm when poeple are hanging around the bar waiting for their tables?", I enquired. He half heartedly replied that some people love these tables.
Oh really? I doubt it.
Richard Corrigan promotes his services as a restaurant designer which presumably includes maximising covers and profit. He does what too many restaurateurs do and puts quick profit before dining experience.
Fine food should be enjoyed in an environment to compliment the cuisine. We'd have had more space in McDonalds.
Corrigan's Restaurant
28 Upper Grosvenor St
London
W1
020 7499 9943
http://www.corrigansmayfair.com
When you or I arrive, especially at a top end establishment with lots of 'in-crowd' regulars, the chances are we're shown to the runt of the restaurant, the table by the toilets or the bar that no-one wants.
Adrian Gill has told me he knows that restaurants go into such a flap when he walks through the door, even the kitchen staff panic and ask what he has ordered. (Surely every dish should be worthwhile?). As an instantly recognisable face there's not a lot he can do to stop it from happening.
Corrigan's has an unprecedented flawless reputation having been praised by all the miserable critics.
I noticed that Squaremeal.co.uk was promoting a 2-course lunch special menu with wine for £19.50. The Corrigan's web site made no mention of this but did carry a 3-course lunch menu priced at £27. And so I called and booked.
We arrived at 12.20. The restaurant was empty and we were shown to a table against the wall by the bar. Normally I would have asked to be moved to a table in the body of the restaurant but (for some reason unbeknown to my conscious brain), I didn't.
Corrigan's reminds me of Scott's, a Richard Caring restaurant just around the corner. It has a large bar with stools for diners and a formal dining room with a low ceiling. The decor is all very serious apart from the highly polished light wood floor.
Two menus arrived, the a la carte and a Seasonal Market Menu offering three courses for £48.
I enquired about the £27 menu and the reluctant waiter returned with it.
As it transpired we elected to order from the a la carte. My Octopus Carpaccio, Baby Squid, Chorizo and Feta, was good value at £9.75, but where was the Feta, Mr Corrigan? I am presuming by Feta you mean cheese and, like a naughty truant, its absence did not go unnoticed.
To follow came Poached Haddock with Indian Spiced Pilaf Rice (£24). The portion of fish was perhaps a little on the mean side but the dish was excellent. The Camel's companion has a penchant for Bouillabaisse and indulged her passion all over the world, including Marseille, where the dish claims its origins. An authentic Bouillabaisse has the broth served first with bread and rouille, followed by the seafood and vegetables on a different plate. Corrigan's Steam Sea Bass & Bouillabaisse, pricey at £36, was good, but where was the broth? High quality seafood was embellished by driblings of fish soup.
As the dishes arrived so did the suits, pin striped corporates on a Christmas jolly standing by the bar who crept ever closer to our tables until Marks & Spencer long fit jackets were also searching for our Bouillabaisse broth.
Our quiet dine a deux on a sensible budget ended more claustrophobic than a Bank Holiday pub lunch with a bill of £179 for two.
The waiter asked if we enjoyed the experience. Normally the Brits grit their teeth and say "very nice thank you", but on this occasion I said the food was great but the table was not. "It must be hell around 9pm when poeple are hanging around the bar waiting for their tables?", I enquired. He half heartedly replied that some people love these tables.
Oh really? I doubt it.
Richard Corrigan promotes his services as a restaurant designer which presumably includes maximising covers and profit. He does what too many restaurateurs do and puts quick profit before dining experience.
Fine food should be enjoyed in an environment to compliment the cuisine. We'd have had more space in McDonalds.
Corrigan's Restaurant
28 Upper Grosvenor St
London
W1
020 7499 9943
http://www.corrigansmayfair.com
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
