L,ortolan & La Becasse Review

The worst taste in the most boring place I've ever been at unreasonably high prices

Best food in Reading Area but then it should be for the price.

Loved this place with an effective Non-Alcoholic pairing of their discovery tasting menu. Only negative is the chocolate final dessert was too heavy, the menu could have finished at the first dessert and would have been very happy. Another option would have been to pair the chocolate dessert with a warm red tea.

This is in our top 3 places to eat quality food in and around Reading. Only go if you want something special and fine dining in a formal restaurant - expensive but Michelin star and you get what you pay for. Amazing flavours, presentation and service. Fine Dining at it's best!

Amazing and refined food at a reasonable price in a quaint and welcoming setting.
You can have your cocktails (recommended) and appetisers in the conservatory room, before moving to the dining room for a nice meal. Definitely not your usual Sunday roast place, and booking is recommended. A place I visit time and again when I want to treat myself and the family.

Fifth visit. All previous visits have been faultless. Well considered menu, well presented. Quintessentially a French restaurant with small influences from the rest of the world. Excellent wine list with a knowledgeable sommelier. Location is lovely and the building very picturesque. Really, what is not to love about this place. Highly recommended.

Such a great place. It's not cheap, but that's to be expected from Michelin starred fine dining. The staff are amazing and the food is out of this world. Ideal for celebrating a special occasion.

Really nice food but the overall experience was not a Michellen star in my view.
Disappointing that it's only two tasting menus now (eaten here many many times in past and did not think to review menu so assumed the Al la carte was still on offer)
Heat in main building was uncomfortable and detracted from the experience.

Food was very good overall as was the wine accompany in the menu.

Actually preferred the restaurant before the latest award !

Service just as you would expect, fabulous and superb food even for a fussy vegetarian...

Absolutely outstanding! - I had heard good things about L'ortolan before I went, so I went with high expectations. I was amazed that it still managed to exceed my expectations. I took my girlfriend for her birthday and it was simply More

Lovely meal and good service, but needs bigger portions.

unbelievable food, just amazing, not cheap but worth the money, save up and go as a treat, its an amazing experience

My wife and I chose to spend our 3rd wedding anniversary back at the L'Ortolan had the most wonderful and memorable evening! Many thanks to all the staff that made us feel welcome and looked after us. Amazing food and wine as always so thanks to all the staff behind the scenes as well. Looking forward to our next visit soon.

Excellent, the food is spectacular, service impeccable, wine selection is huge. We had a voucher from Groupon so it was great value for money as well.

Really good food! Amazing service and really good location.

Really good food and an amazing sommelier who actually gives you very unique amazing tasting wines rather than the most expensive glass on the menu....this place is as good as the London restaurants for sure.

Superb food and a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.

Beautiful meal. Had the Chefs 10 course taster menu. Everything was lovely. Had some things I would usually avoid and they were delicious.

Great effort from the kitchen and knowledgeable staff to make the dining experience extraordinary

Excellent from start to finish. Highly recommended.

Great food, and lovely service, highly recommended for a special occasion. The only thing that let L'Ortalan down is the lack of response when emailing them, but this isn't going to affect the majority of people.

5* experience! Staff are warm and welcoming! It was a fantastic lunch. The food was amazing! Thank you so much for a lovely Birthday.

An outstanding restaurant, staff were so courteous and efficient and above all food was a joy to the palate. Keep up the good work, will certainly make another reservation when we visit our Son in Reading. A good memory to take back to Wales.

Wonderfull meal with very helpful and friendly staff.The 10 course tasting menu was out of this world congratulations to all the kitchen staff.

Left bitterly disappointment by chef s table experience and after-care. Contacted L ortolan with feedback as didn't supply birthday cake as requested and overall experience fairly poor. Delayed response from restaurant PA with no direct contact or explanation from manager. Check out other venues first !!!

Wonderful food and service - try for lunch for the Michelin starred experience without the high price tag - worth every penny

Excellent food provided for our private party. Great setting and fantastic staff.

Really nice food but somehow not quite the amazing restaurant we expected. And rather cold..

Gourmet dining with an exceptional wine selection and fantastic service. Expensive but worth every penny.

I counted 11 flies on the mirror and buzzing on our table. The glass of wine is ridiculously small. The food has its moments of greatness. Some are heavy on the salt. The scallop and the halibut are excellent.

A return visit to the restaurant after a gap of some 20 years.The quality of the lunch was superb and the service excellent as anticipated, but if you are expecting to come away from this culinary experience feeling well fed you will be disappointed. Portions are surprisingly parsimonious! Our main course was minute and we are not big eaters but we came home and filled up with scrambled eggs!

Beautiful food and lovely service today for lunch.
I'm not keen on the idea of being 'served' so much but it was done in a smooth, friendly, polite & knowledgable fashion.
We had the 10 course discovery menu which was divine, as was the sommelier wine selection which made the food really sing.
Not snobby at all & I would go again for a (very) special occasion.
The decor was very nice, stylish but with some imperfections here & there which I thought indicated it was all about the food experience.
I liked that there was a young child to be heard elsewhere in the restaurant - it showed how accommodating & hospitable it was. It didn't disturb us at all. Well done.

My future husband and I dined here and had their Gourmand menu. It was to celebrate our engagement. The whole place is decandently decorated and stylish. The waiting staff were informative, attentive and knowledgeable. No detail was left out. The food was beautifully presented, delicious and extremely different. The wine choices are extensive and were fully explained to us. Definitely a must for a super special occasion- dress code- we dressed smartly and elegantly, although there were guests there in jeans which we felt was underdressed for such a superlative place.

Went here for my date night with my partner and it's a very nice place for an evening :) I chose the set menu and I really enjoyed the different types of food that was served. It's very dress up atmosphere and staff are kind and friendly.
The cocktails are delicious and the conservatory is a really nice place to relax in with a wine in your hand.

Had dinner at the chef's table. The food was absolutely fantastic and the service was just as similar. The grounds are beautiful and the conservatory bar was lovely (although did have a very strong smell like a car air freshener tree...!) I would certainly recommend this restaurant and will go back again.

I've been here a number of times over the past few years.
The food is excellent, as one would expect from a restaurant with one Michelin star.
They often have deals on - so it's well worth looking at their webpage.
Recently we attended a special truffle tasting menu, a one off type event. It was excellent.
If you haven't been, I would recommend a visit. Certainly one of the top restaurants in the Reading area.

The whole experience was very special, the food was delicious.

Good was good ... Lovely building outside. Gents bit tired. Service was bit hit and miss. Had a Groupon voucher so good value. Waitedhalf hour for coffee so cancelled it. Staff not to pleased.... had lots better.

Reading's only Michelin star restaurant offers class and sophistication. The food is amazing... it goes without saying that the chefs know their trade very well. As to be expected prices are more higher than your usual eateries however it is great for that special occasion

An excellent Michelin-star restaurant with very pleasant grounds and a little terrace behind the main house ideal for taking tea or coffee.

Located not far from the M4, it's only an hour's drive from Central London, and quite accessible from the rest of the South East.

Atmosphere not great but that's Covid impact.
Very good food and immaculate service.

Setting is nice the bar area is little small but has a conservatory that is nice, air conditioning was a little chilly for my personal liking.
The food was good but the atmosphere was "odd" felt like it was lacking something but couldn't quite put my finger on it.
Waiting staff were helpful but not as fluently knowledgeable as I would expect in a Michelin starred restaurant.
We had a seven course taster menu and at least four of the dishes our waitress stuttered over the ingredients that were on our plates.
The bartender was very knowledgeable and clearly passionate about wine and had a huge knowledge pot that he was keen to share and guided us to a fantastic bottle of red wine.

Pretty looking food, some one which you may not know what it is, if even eatable (depends on taste). And depending on how hungry you are you may need to go somewhere afterwards to eat. For me only the desert was eatable. The rest was a little weird for my taste.

Wonderful, I had heard mixed reviews but the place is just fantastic and the food is even better!

I urge you to visit L'Ortolan, you will not regret it. The food is exquisite. Quite simply: Perfection.

Nice atmosphere and friendly staff. Moderate and expensive menu options but very high quality, Imaginitive and tasty food!

Can't fault the place on the lunchtime that we dropped in. Service was excellent and the Goose special starter was nothing short of exquisite! Had a cracking Amarone too.

The food is devine, the venue is charming and the owner is committed to providing excellent service.

Fantastic food, Attentive & knowledgeable staff, always a great experience. Well worth a visit.

A truly amazing seven course surprise menu with wines. Service was immaculate as always.
Always a joy to come here!

This restaurant really lives up to its Michelin star rating. Service excellent, food wonderful wine very good if somewhat expensive.

We had an amazing meal at L'Ortolan ,a food experience we won't forget. Unfortunately my husband had a gluten attack so must assume the food was not
Gluten Free. Such a shame it spoilt a brilliant memorable meal .

Had a wonderful meal at the Chef's table for my birthday. Such a great experience and fabulous food.

This is one of the finest places to Dine. Great Service food and Wine. It's a 5 Star Michelin Restaurant. We had a fabulous evening there

Food was delicious. Staff were extremely friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Clearly well trained and refreshingly interested in their work. Would recommend it to anyone! Cant wait to return!!

Can't really write a review as a standalone restaurant as we were there for a wedding but the entire day was sensational. Wonderful setting, wonderful staff, wonderful food.

Stunning country house and exceptional food and staff .

An incredible venue with incredible food. Service was superb. The wine pairings suited each course perfectly. They made our whole experience so special. We couldn't have asked for more.

We have visited on a few occasions and cannot fault the food or service at all. Thought we would treat ourselves during the lockdown and try the "to go" menu. Wow!!! We were not disappointed. Food was amazing and so much of it. The Arancini were the best I have ever had. Only things missing were a nice gravy/sauce to
accompany the pie and maybe a shortbread for the lemon possett

Nice service you'd expect from a fine dining establishment, good food as you'd expect. but the atmosphere felt a bit dry and the decor and food felt dated. For the price you pay this was a experience in what fine dining is, but by no means a boundary pusher.

Many visits to L'ortolan over the years and it's always been consistently excellent. Very classy and impressive!

Somewhat creative and tasty dishes, which tend to lack balance and finesse. For the price, there should be no faults. Disappointing, unfortunately. Did have a rather perfect cocktail, though!

Very good service and lovely setting but so not worth the food bill.

The food, however, is a disappointment. My starter of trout with beetroot and horseradish was delicious. My better half's duck did not make any waves but was ok. We then waited, and waited, and waited, to be finally served with less lamb in our plates that there was trout in the starter. Accompaniments and sauces were of no consequence and of lamb there was not enough for us to decide whether we liked it or not. A shame and part or these restaurants that make people think that top-end dining is all fuss and no food. C'est dommage, le cadre est joli. We won't be coming back - nous ne reviendrons pas