London - Defune
Winter 2008
Frank's view 
Dire for dinner
I visited Defune a few years ago, on several occasions, for lunch. I didn’t write any reviews but I do recall that the food was good and the prices reasonable.
Situated on the corner of George Street and Manchester Street, a few minutes from Marylebone High Street, Defune is not in a location to pick up much passing business. To succeed, logic would dictate that the restaurant needs a strong base of regular diners, and comments on various review sites suggest that a loyal following does exist.
The Camel and companion dropped in on a Thursday evening. I asked to sit downstairs as there were no diners on the ground floor.
We were shown to a table in a posh ‘Tube Station’. The perfect semi-circle of the room was broken by a white strip along the centre of the ceiling, which was dotted with steel eyeball spotlights. The room was painfully over-lit and flaking plaster, presumably from a water leak, did not create the ambience for an expensive dinner.
Many customer reviews talk of high quality sashimi and Japanese cuisine. That was not our experience. The pricing was outrageous and the delivery ridiculously fast.
It was all over in 25 minutes.
The bill was £117 for two.
That’s almost £5 a minute.
Defune
34 George Street
London W1
020 7935 8311
Situated on the corner of George Street and Manchester Street, a few minutes from Marylebone High Street, Defune is not in a location to pick up much passing business. To succeed, logic would dictate that the restaurant needs a strong base of regular diners, and comments on various review sites suggest that a loyal following does exist.
The Camel and companion dropped in on a Thursday evening. I asked to sit downstairs as there were no diners on the ground floor.
We were shown to a table in a posh ‘Tube Station’. The perfect semi-circle of the room was broken by a white strip along the centre of the ceiling, which was dotted with steel eyeball spotlights. The room was painfully over-lit and flaking plaster, presumably from a water leak, did not create the ambience for an expensive dinner.
Many customer reviews talk of high quality sashimi and Japanese cuisine. That was not our experience. The pricing was outrageous and the delivery ridiculously fast.
It was all over in 25 minutes.
The bill was £117 for two.
That’s almost £5 a minute.
Defune
34 George Street
London W1
020 7935 8311
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
