Maze

I've been to a couple of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants but so far this is one of my favorites/ Excellent food, service and location!

So, this is actually a flashback to probably the worst restaurant I've ever been to. Since this comical experience it may have completely changed and is actually good, but I just figured I'd share it with you for a laugh. I took notes at the time so it should be a fairly accurate recount.

The front of house/maître d' staff were excellent. Friendly, helpful and accommodating. Now, if my mum taught me not to say anything when I have nothing nice to say, this little review would end here. You'd expect a prime time TV, celebrity chef like 'Gordon Ramsay' to establish a restaurant that serves delicious and inventive food. Don't be fooled people! Do NOT be fooled.
I first began to question whether something might be very wrong when a waiter brought out the wine list displayed on his iPod. Um, why? Just... why? It is neither cute nor cool. If the reason you go out to eat is for the posh setting, insincerely polite waiter staff, a nice ambiance and the décor you may love Maze. If you go out to eat for the food, you may not. It was inexcusable!

I'm going to try to keep this as friendly as possible. So, in the spirit of things I've edited out most of the original notes, but have left in these pointers: Don't serve me soggy wonton-like dumplings with no detectable flavour aside from salt floating in what tastes, looks and smells like a bit of soy sauce in very watered down Knorr chicken stock. Don't pretend that any kind of banana cake is supposed to taste like a dry slice of unbuttered brown bread because it just so isn't. Under no circumstances should you place a dry chicken piece with half a broken bone left in it next to a fried flake of chicken skin, put that dirty duo onto a plate, and then have that plate placed in front of me. KFC is probably laughing at you. Lastly, try to avoid your beef and mash tasting like you picked it fresh from Asda's 'Taste the Difference' range. I honestly wish I was exaggerating, alas... I am not.
Even the presentation of the dishes was painfully average. It was like the effort was made to make it look like 'fine dining', but like the genuine creativity and passion that goes into producing a beautiful plate of food took the evening off.

I will say though, I'm no wine buff but the wines that were matched to our courses were delicious. (Despite them not actually matching the courses. Never mind.)

Bottom line.. don't trust celebrity chefs. A disgusted 2.9 out of 10. Sort it out Gordon.

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Faraoh of Phood Φ

Very good Gordon Ramsay restaurant, but to be honest I prefer at Clardige`s. The atmosphere here is trendy, their menu is on iPads. The food is always good (I do not expect else) and the service is good too. I give 4 stars just because Clardige`s restaurant is better :)

I have been to maze, rather than maze grill, three times now and continue to enjoy it. I like the idea of many small portions, it somehow makes it more fun to share with friends.

The first time I found it a great experience, loved all the food and couldn't wait to go again.

The second time was a boozy experience with an old friend and the four bottles of champagne rather overpowered whatever we were eating!

I went again last month and had a table next to the open kitchen, which although I normally like to see what's going on, was very brightly lit and tucked around the back. So it felt a little sterile and less relaxed. I don't know whether it was this that made me enjoy the food less, but the experience was somehow less amazing.
So I still think the food is great, but try and get a table at the front of the restaurant if you go.

Go here only if you want to boast to people that you have been to Gordon Ramsey's Maze. Otherwise, the whole set-up is very pretentious. You need to take a magnifying lens with you to even see the minuscule portions (nouvelle cuisine at its extreme). This is our experience and decide for yourself if this is what you want:

We went to this restaurant with my wife on 25th April 2011 to have their 'Early Supper Menu', as part of a birthday celebration. Their offer was: 3 'dishes' for £25 or 4 'dishes' for £36 (with wine this would have been £45 or £56, respectively -- but neither of us is keen on wine, so we chose the menu without the wine).

The very first impression was with the young receptionist lady. She employed a strangely sarcastic tone, when checking our booking. Then we were shown to our table by a very polite waiter. Our orders were taken. Unexpectedly, we got a complimentary glass of decent champagne. It was a nice start. We ordered carbonated water. Then the irritation started: a waitress came along and filled up our glasses repeatedly even when we hadn't drunk any of the previous serving. We were pleased, though, when they brought some bread (four short stick breads) and butter. Later on we found out that it was lucky that we had eaten the bread before the 'dishes' were served, because this proved to be the main filler. One of the army of waiters (there were nearly as many waiters as there were guests) kindly offered more bread, which we were pleased to accept.

Then came the courses. For the first course we both ordered a dish called 'marinated beetroot, Dorstone organic goat’s curd, pine nuts, Cabernet Sauvignon dressing'. The goat's curd was the kind you can buy in any supermarket. And now imagine the size of this dish: it contained three little pieces. Each piece consisted of two wafer-thin slices of beetroot - about 30 mm in diameter: just over an inch - with a teaspoonful of goat's cheese in between, and with a few toasted pine nuts on top. The 'Cabernet Sauvignon dressing' was unnoticeable - lucky that the name alluded to it, otherwise we wouldn't have guessed.

For the second course I had chosen 'braised veal shin, rocket pesto, white onion risotto'. The dish came on a plate about 250 mm in diameter with a very small, maybe 80 mm wide central depression in its middle, and in this small central bit was the smallest piece of meat I have ever seen. The rolled up morsel of meat was shorter than my thumb (I have an average size male thumb), and it was about the thickness of my thumb. The rocket pesto was practically undetectable. The 'white onion risotto" was about half an average mugful in a small bowl, the kind of size they usually put olives in. True, all of it tasted great, I think - I only think so, as there was hardly enough to trigger the tastebuds.

Finally, the dessert came: I had ordered 'hazelnut parfait, pistachio meringue, cherry sorbet'. This was about twice the size of the previous 'braised veal shin', so by this time I was grateful. True, the cherry sorbet was half the size of my pinky (and I have smaller than average pinkies). In the meantime the armies of waiters milled around, and kept asking useless questions. One of them didn't even try to pretend that he genuinely meant his question. In English, tone is everything, and he was giving away his attitude.

My wife went for 'Loch Duart salmon, fondue of leek, vinaigrette of brown shrimps, horseradish' as the second dish. She was happy with the taste, and her salmon was visible without a magnifying lens, but the brown shrimps were like those small water bugs you see in fertile summer ponds. She was quite satified with her chosen dessert: ‘Summer fruit crumble, berry sorbet, elderflower mousse, granola'. This portion was about right.

In the end, as we were going to pay the bill, we were given a piece of chocolate cake (not charged for) to share between us - about the size of two normal matchboxes on top of each other, to make us 'finish with a smile'. It tasted very good. We payed about £60 for all this (that included one bottle of sparkling water and the 'service charge').

There are many other much better restaurants in London where you don't pay less, but at least you get a normal portion and genuinely friendly service without the pretence. I wondered how the waiters could serve those derisory portions with a straight face.

I visited Maze grill for my 30th birthday celebrations and was very impressed throughout the whole evening.
The staff were very friendly and professional and the food was amazing.
The wine and champagne list was very extenisve and offered a wide variety.A visit to MAze grill is a must for all those steak lovers I highly recommend it.

Been to Both Maze and Maze Grill on several Occasions,
The Food in both is consistently not just perfect but amazing.
I will review both in this as people seem to be mixing the 2 restaurants on qype,
I will start with Maze, the Marinated beetroot, Sairass cheese, is not what i would have normally ordered but was recommended by staff at Ramsay's gastronomic pub 'The Narrow' (see my other review) and was an out of this world dish. Other favourites include,
Daurade with squid Bolognese, chorizo,
garlic and lemon purée
Cornish lamb rack and shoulder,
English garden mint gel
Rump of veal, tasting of artichokes,
leek and truffle
In fact every dish is simply a discovery into the joys of food.
The Staff here are above professional and at the same time friendly,
The Wine and champagne list is superb and for that special occasion (or everyday occasion ) You will be hard pushed to find Cristal 2002 at a Restaurant in London for their amazing price of a little over £200 let alone in a Michelin Starred restaurant of this calibre!

Out the door pass Reception and you will find yourself in Maze Grill a great place for those who appreciate a good steak, If you are amongst the blind that think that Gaucho's serve a good steak then Maze Grill is an education on steaks,
What have I got against Gaucho yes they know how to cook a steak i will give them that but unfortunately what they are cooking is 'Finest Argentinean Steak' the only problem with that is their is nothing that fine about Argentinean Cattle it is tasteless at best,
Yes i have been to several and having tried the sampler which is all 5 cuts none have come close to impressing me, But back to Maze grill as all that should be for another review and what you find is the finest breeds from the Uk and around the world, We have some of the tastiest Steak on our doorstep(with few exceptions like Kobe more later) so why eat a cow that Diego Maradona has kicked over from Argentina, Breeds include Casterbridge grain fed, Hereford grass fed, Aberdeen Angus, and for those who want to go further a field Creekstone prime U.S.D.A. corn fed, aged 35 days as well as Wagyu(Yes From Cows that are massaged played music too etc) Prices are all very reasonable the price of Wagyu may shock some at around £100 but you will not find 9th grade any cheaper anywhere I know.
Not the Largest steaks in the World but if you are often compared to a pig like me then even 2 of the normal breeds would not break the bank and is nice to compare tastes. All the sides and fish are also amongst the best and deserts are amazing too.
This and Hawksmoor are the only 2 places in London i would recommend to meat lovers, Of course if in New York Or Las Vegas(know there are a few more in the U.S but have only been to these too ) there is Del frescos but that is a whole other story. Maze and Maze Grill get into my top 5 every time.

OMG!!!!!! The food here was soooooooo good. We had the chefs menu and we couldnt stop grinning as each of the six courses came out.
Amazing totally amazing, the best restaurant I have ever been to . Friendly staff, good atmosphere.
Fairly expensive. The bill with a couple of glasses of wine was around the £250 mark for two of us, but worthwhile for that special occasion.

My husband and I had the set menu lunch here. Very good portion sizes. We really enjoyed the friendly service, the decor, the food and the wine. Loved the mushroom appetiser. I had the guinea fowl, which was excellent. Ended with the tarte tatin. All fresh and tasty.

The food is excellent, brilliant really. We went for a lunch, picked the set menu with a beautiful mushroom starter, a beef main with lovely chips, and a wonderful apple tart. Really, really lovely. The service was extremely good, very nice and polite, nothing pretentious!

Fantastic evening with colleagues and a client.

The food was very very good - an the many courses on the chef's menu built up and up in intensity and remarkability. The Cornish lamb was outstanding, as was the incredible chocolate delice.

Ambience wise it's pretty suit-y and businessy, at least on a week night and I would say it was grown up, smart and comfortable rather than warm or intimate.

Service was well drilled and discrete but not enormously charismatic - but certainly good enough.

The wine list was intimidatingly pricey but the sommelier picked us very good Pinot noir and riesling to a more reasonable budget.

All in, a fantastic spot for hosting and enjoying fine food.

Great atmosphere, as i prefer eating small amounts of different dishes rather than one large dish this was the perfect choice of restaurant as its specialises in a tasting menu.

Each dish was full of flavour and rich in texture. great ambience, exquisite staff. Perfect pick for a wonderful evening.

We had already eaten here last year and while we were unimpressed by the food in general, the restaurant itself is a pretty good sight especially during the rare occasions when the sun deems itself worthy to play with us as the large airy room was comfortable while managing to avoid the apparent sterility that affects some of the other Michelin starred restaurants.

I found the food here a lot better than on my first visit, but I found that most of the courses still had quite a few issues even though they were quite minor ones.

For full review & photos:
http://www.pigpigscorner.com/2010/06/maze-by-gordon-ramsa...

Went for lunch with chums. Discreet entrance actually in the corner of Grosvenor Sq. (ignore current Qype map). Friendly greeting by staff and nice waiting area where you can sit and chat while the group arrives. Modern, not-to-harsh dining area with nicely spaced tables. An interesting menu with two offerings, Tapas style English dishes where you can choose the number of courses and a flight of wines to accompany.
You then choose the actual dishes (two puds-yum if you want!). The other half of the menu is a list of more substantial courses.

Very satisfied with what arrived on the plate, though could fault soup as it was over salted, and the 'roast' salmon was cold & 'raw' in the centre, though tasty not my style. The other plates were absolutely spot on and delicious. Had the forced Rhubarb for health reasons(!).

Wine we ordered separately and so I did not choose, but a good Viognier (2 off) and a very nice red from Portugal got us up to £270 for 4. Hic. Very good fun.

Incredible experience! Staff are fantastic food is incredible, everthing is rich and full of flavour. Yes it's pricey but you still feel like it's value for money

Have the shepherds pie!

A very good Restaurant.

It is a "Tasting Restaurant", so you will have many very small portions. Very tasty and a wide range of tastes, combinations.

The choice of wine is difficult since you have so much different tastes. If not sure just ask the waiter. He is a very good advisor.

The Bar is also good and the Design is all in all very modern and futuristic.

The Prices are not to expencive on the food but you can easy spend a view hundred on wine :-) lol

A great place to have a good time!!! (Maybe a bit to many Ramsey Fans who have no volume control :-) )

What a great place! The service and the food were fantastic. I loved the Tapas style idea of the “Small Plates” for starters we ordered 3 plates at £6 each making a great sharing starter of baby squid & chilli, Aged Beef with roasted peppers & parsley (a carpaccio style dish) and a Soft Shelled Crab, all of which were really good. Then onto mains where I opted for the New York Strip steak, which was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had, the other half had the Aberdeen Angus Fillet (which I managed to snaffle a bite of and it was also delicious). we ordered 3 sides each (2 Mash, 1 Mushrooms, 1 French Beans, 1 Carrots & 1 Spinach and Gruyere) which were very nicely served in little cast iron pots. I opted for the “Made at the Table” sauce where they bring you a basic tomato/barbecue-ish sauce and a selection of herbs and spices so you can create your own custom sauce, brilliant! I accompanied my meal with a spanish beer that I now can’t remember the name of, which is a shame because it was really good and unusual, when it arrived I thought the waitress had brought me a Coke by mistake judging by the colour of it. Desserts consisted of a delicious Strawberry Sundae for me with an interesting Cream Soda twist and my partner had the Vanilla Rice Pudding with Raspberries (which I can’t really comment on as I hate Rice Pudding but she said it was lovely). After the meal we were treated to a tour of the (incredibly hot) kitchen where we were introduced to all of the kitchen staff all of whom were very friendly and willing to answer any questions. If you do go the Maze Grill and get the opportunity to tour the kitchen, my advice is don’t stand in front of the broiler for too long… it’s like standing next to the Sun! All in all a great experience and a place I would definitely go back to and with friends.

Had great expectations as usual with a GR restaurant and they were damn nearly met. They were full on a monday lunch and we had the four course taster menu. I really like the idea of the “flight of wine” a selection of three different glasses of wine to go with the meal; but also because that was on page one and i did not want to bore my companion whilst i read through a wine list that must have run to about 50 pages. We both had different dishes, so tried most of the dishes. Three were exceptional, including the lamb, the rest were good and only one mis-fired,(the prawn cocktail) so all in all a great fine dining experience. Yep, the decor is a bit bland and corporate and slightly scuffy but with that many people going through the door what else can you expect? But would i recommend it to a friend? Oh yes.

I’m not a great fan of Gordon Ramsay but have to say that he has a star in Jason Atherton and that the food is amazing. The principle was explained to us as 'English Tapas’ but it has more in common with the Willy Wonka everlasting gobstopper concept - you get fairly small sized portions but every mouthful is so packed full of flavour and excitment that it feels as if you are having full meals. There are great Veggie options so ask if you are vegetarian (or even if you aren’t!). We’ve always wanted to try desserts (the peanut butter and jelly sandwich sounds great) but are always too full despite 'small portions’! We have always left with that slightly spaced out happy feeling that amazing food produces. The staff have always been great when we went despite some of the other reviews. We found them friendly, not snooty, and full of good advice and not overly trying to 'push’ a big spend. Love this place and reserve it for special treats!

Bit of a disappointment really.

Fantastic little dishes/starters (would recommend the salt and pepper squid) but both my and another friend’s steaks were overcooked. We asked for cutlery and had to ask again for it to arrive, and the service was not quite up to what I’d expect for anything with the Ramsay name in it.

We were offered a couple of cheap deserts (which by all accounts were ace) to make up for the poor service/overcooked food, but it didn’t make up for the general disappointment. Hey ho. I won’t be rushing back.