L'escargot Reviews

Wonderful food and an attentive service, lovely atmosphere; what else could someone ask for?!

This is a spectacular place. Brian George and annabel run a beautiful restaurant. The food is great French robust food. But the building is stunning. Worth many visits

L'Escargot is a dining out experience that makes you realise how life can be elegant and food tradition central to profound flavors. A London hallmark for close to a century it is great value for such a venue and shames all these street foods urchins with their overpriced menus and scaffold board eateries. Dishes were deft and accurate to classic cuisine with the Coq au Vin and the creme brulee just sublime. The staff are simply good humans and we enjoyed their company. A toast to you all. Cheers

Nice food, great quality. The only issue I could find was that it was too loud to talk at the table which was bigger (more roomy) that the usual table size in central London. But this together with the noise made conversation impossible. Otherwise all was good. The service was good and staff was attentive..4 stars.

Yes. with proper cutlery. Yes beautiful interior. Yes. French points

Go check out the "all you can eat" brunch on Sunday's!!! It's The best in town!!! Went a few weeks ago for a catch-up with friends and it definitely beats any other brunch place I've been too!

We popped in for a quick lunch. Very nice food and the staff were friendly. The portions were quite big also which I wasn't expecting; I'm feeling rather full

Fantastic Chateaubriand; lovely atmosphere. Cant wait to take more of my friends and family here!!

as a student, i had to save up for while to pay for a wonderful mean after going to see the balet, he manager knew his menu amazingly, and his knowledge of the wine menu was fantastic, his help made it in to one of the best meals i have ever eaten, not only was i satisfied but educated! perfect place to start my culinary adventure of London

Really excellent as always. This restaurant is very comfortable and not too noisy so you can have a proper conversation. The tournedo Rossini was delic!

Lovely ambience and good food and wine... Very enjoyable

Wikipedia tells us that in 1896 a M. Georges Gaudin established a restaurant at the bottom end of Greek Street called Le Bienvenue. He became famous for his snails and was the first restaurant in England to serve the great delicacy. When in 1927 he moved to larger premises at 48 Greek Street, his customers implored him to rename his restaurant L Escargot after his most popular dish.



One could be forgiven for expecting the service in a typically French restaurant, particularly one named L Escargot to be a little sluggish. But not a bit of it; the (mostly) French waiters were both friendly and efficient - perhaps if a French waiter is not surly enough to be employed at a restaurant in Paris, he gets sent to work in London as sort of penance. All the better for us if that is the case.

One facet of the restaurant that did stand out, and in a good way, was that all the diners seemed to be really enjoying themselves, in a well-mannered though mildly Rabelaisian way that one could imagine Monsieur Gaudin s Edwardian customers doing behind closed doors.

Excellent menu with unique cosy setting. Snails are a must but not the only thing on the menu..very decent wine list. Many private rooms with unique decors upstairs as well..good friendly service...dog friendly french restaurant....will come back

It's lost it's service and quality. Avoid! We went one lunchtime. I use to go here a lot 10 years ago when it was a great restaurant but now it's terrible. Service was slow and poor. Quality of food was terrible. Very overpriced. Far better restaurants to go to in the area. Sadly once a great restaurant and now below average.

To sum it up in a sentence, the food is of very good quality, however the portion sizes are on the small side, and the service was very poor.
With regards service, there seemed to be two people attending my table, which made things a little confusing [being asked the same questions twice]. In addition I enquired about whether I could have a Whisky Sour, the water said he would go check with the barman, but never came back to me to confirm; after about 10 minutes the drink arrived. We were efficiently offered some more bread once we had finished the first basked, this was pleasing.
The food order was taken promptly and efficiently, I started with the salmon, and followed with the herb crusted lamb (a special of the day). I was not informed upon ordering however that herb crusted lamb is all you get on the dish. No vegetables, no potato. If i had known this I would have ordered a side, or two. Not only was lamb and sauce all that was on my plate, but the lamb (although very tasty) was small, probably comprising 150 grams of total meat, which seems to me to be supremely insufficient to be labelled a main course .
The dessert of lemon tart was excellent, and a reasonable portion size.

Great experience and wonderful food. Keep up the good work L'Escargot!

Predictably good French cuisine. Nice atmosphere, slightly stiff staff but overall a great experience.

Had a late dinner after the theatre. It was part of a package. I think it is normally quite expensive but got a reasonable deal. The layout is quite charming giving a cosy oldie worldie feel

Really nice French food, the staff are really good and the menu is brilliant.

We went here for my brother's birthday and it was an inspired choice. The restaurant is full of artwork from Chagall, Picasso and many more, it definitely adds to the charisma of the place. It was the day of the tube strike, so we had the whole restaurant to ourselves, but gladly it did not lack any atmosphere. The music in the background perfectly complimented the decor

As for the food, the Escargot are amazing, aptly as it is the name of the restaurant. The mains were polished off in no time at all and everyone was waxing lyrical about them.

We requested at the time of of reservation for them to make Grand Marnier Souffles as a surprise for my brother, instead of a cake. It is his favourite desert but hard to find, except in France. They hit the mark and he was overwhelmed and said it reminded him of his time in France. What higher accolade can there be!

A special mention must go to our waiter who was amiable, polite and very professional. I take my hat off to you, Sir.

Beef bourginon, French onion soup, tarte tatin and of course very garlicky snails. It's all here in the most cosy, warm setting. It's romantic and fantastic and I would highly recommend it.

Combined with great company, the food and service was excellent. All in a setting of wonderful character.

Great venue - especially liked upper room when Salon Noir had a soiree

Exquisite in every sense. What a delightful experience.

Came here for my birthday and the food and customer service was quite good. The only downside was the lobster bisque which was a bit too salty and the escargot wasn't up to my expectations

Great tasting food and impeccable service. We went for my daughter's birthday and she had a wonderful time. Staff were so amazing, skilled and professional. Can't wait to visit again. We loved the venue, decor and ambiance.

Delicious food and excellent service. Would definitely go again.

Very casual restaurant with good food and friendly staff

Amazing French dining experience
Great service

Great place to meet. You are looked after. Food is excellent

Wonderful experience. The waiter - Paolo - was knowledgeable and attentive without being over-bearing, while the food (we had smoked salmon and the Chateaubriand on a Time out voucher) was stunning, as was the decor. We will definitely be back.

I was at l Escargot last night and what a huge disappointment especially after reading all these nice comments. Although the venue is quite atmospheric (thanks for the Pianist), we arrived on time, our table wasn t ready and above once ready was not clean. The service was Okayish. The food wasn t reaching the standard you could expect for such price. Snails, although the signature dish, were not tasty at all (almost no feeling of garlic and Parsley), the Chateaubriand was overcooked on the sides and let s not talk about the sides... As a consequence, it is very challenging to me to give a good rating.

Wonderful food and quirky atmosphere. Staff very professional

I wanted to book a table for 15 people (corporate event) as I heard great things about their food. I rang up twice. First time I rang up they said they would get back in touch. Rang up two days later and they said the same thing.

Gave up and went somewhere else. Pretty shocking service.

Very good French restaurant! the design of menu is really creative, love the atmosphere in here, will be nice place for dating !!
It used to be a Michelin star restaurant, and it seems to be gone now, but the meals and desserts are still great. The decor in the store is very tasteful, just like the British architecture seen in the album, I also like the hand-painted menu.

Good choice on menu; food not to be faulted; discreet service; unique atmosphere

The restaurant was excellent, amazing food and very polite service .strongly recommended

Great food and excellent service - most enjoyable.

Largely disregarded by staff. Ordered wine that never came. Very inattentive and slow to clear table. We ordered the "pre-theater" menu to get to a show and ended up leaving without one of the courses to make it to the theater on time.

Absolutely amazing. Has the tardis effect. Small looking smart restaurant.
Once you step inside, another world. Beautiful restaurant. A large staircase with interesting pieces of Art on the walls.
A private Diner and one floor is a Bar. A Green and Red room with comfy chairs as you climb the stairs. On the top floor is a good size area with sofas and a Bar where you can hold Events. Stunning building x

As it was my first time, had high hope for the place. The restaurant in regards to the decor and service started well, we had the snail as a started. Everything was going well till we ordered our main, and after having waited an hour the waiter comes back to us saying, " I don't know what happened but it's coming out shortly." It was at that point I informed that we will take the bill and won't be waiting for the main, was so disappointed and you def want see me there.. Such a disappointed, only if they would have informed us then maybe the outcome might have been different. Very disappointed

Went for a private function upstairs, great setting, good service & food.

beautiful but ennervating, elegant food but just a bit too laidback.

Set menu was delicious and great value. Service was impeccable. Would absolutely recommend

Very good restaurant. Nice atmosphere, good food, great service.

Nice atmosphere, nice setting but food wasn't great

Great place for pre theatre meal and post theatre drinks :)

Wow! Best meal we had in London. The staff was exceptionally attentive. The pricing is also exceedingly reasonable for the quality of the food and service.

What a lovely experience. L'Escargot really hits the 'French-experience' perfectly, in an old-school London style restaurant. The shared steak was excellent and one of the best Ive ever had in my life. Great fun and easy to recommend for a romantic or special occasion!

A great experience with wonderful food and service.

Every time I have been, the food has been excellent as has the service without being intrusive.

Stumbled across L'escargot after dinner in Soho. It is a small, elegant, romantic place and on Fridays from 8pm there is a pianist, Carl, playing until late. He is exceptional, playing a huge range of music. We will be booking to go back soon for dinner as the menu was very reasonably priced and looked good. Coming here made our evening and we cannot wait to go back. Upstairs there was a club playing great music but I did not go up but it was seemed lively.

I got taken to L'Escargot for a birthday meal by my fiance and we were joined by a large group of my friends. We all had such an amazing time! I have eaten in quite a few French restaurant's before but L'Escargot is now top of the list for me. The french cuisine c'est tres bon! and the staff were all so friendly and attentive. We had a delicious three course meal washed down with lovely wine as recommended by the waiting staff. If you are looking for the perfect romantic evening meal or the perfect private dining experience then look no further than this Greek Street gem!

attention note 10, especially to the Jair ... very kind

That's what I call a french restaurant in London. Really tasty food, good wine, good service and good kind of "old-fashion atmosphere". A bit pricey but hey, what did you expect? :)

Amazing food! The table service could've been a whole lot better considering the price.

This place is a gem. Food was great with perfect service. Amazing prices

Exactly as advertised, authentic, fantastic French food in Soho. Service 5*, Menu concise and 5*, ambiance 5* and left supremely satisfied. Chateaubriand is life x

Had a fantastic dinner. The food was delicious and the staff were very friendly.

This place never ever lets us down! Perfect for an evening meal! Tres bein!

For the atmosphere, this restaurant has a lovely french vibe. As for the food, the salads and side dishes were fine. However, the lobster pasta was so weird! There was almost no lobster and it had few chunks of prawns that seemed as if they were just taken out of the fridge and the sauce was also bad! All in all, the pasta kind of ruined our mood. I can t generalise this review for all of their food since all my friends ordered the same pasta and I only visited them once; maybe it was just their bad day. - @Discoverwithouidad

We went to L'Escargot with a large group of friends back in December. Very quirky old building with lots of interesting art dotted around..We were led up to a private room at the top of the restaurant and seated on a large round table which was perfect as we all could socialise for the evening.
The service was a little slow but I put this down to being away from the main restaurant. The food was typically French bistro; steak, dauphinois, steak tartare, pate etc...Very well cooked & all delicious.
Quite expensive but a very enjoyable evening

Great private dinning room.. attentive staff and relaxed atmosphere.

Amazing experience, great food made with love by a very talented chef. Could not recommend enough!

Food executed well, excellent service, great atmosphere but most of all.. the cocktails were divine. Reasonably priced menu.i highly recommend.

Actually pretty good. We didn't quite know what to expect when we entered, but the food were really good.