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Arbutus, 63-64 Frith Street London W1D 3JW

Arbutus, 63-64 Frith Street London W1D 3JW

63-64 Frith Street London W1D 3JW

020 7734 4545

Modern decor, lots of staff, we were shown to our table immediately and given menus. Unless you're near the window, the lighting at Arbutus is dim, and the writing on the menu is very small and curly. A bold san serif typeface would have been more in keeping, really. And guess what, I'd forgotten me specs!

I asked the young waitress whether they kept a spare pair of reading glasses for these situations, but she had no idea what I was talking about. So I had to have it read aloud to me - oh the shame !

L had the 3 course set menu for £25, I went a la carte. We started with a glass of champagne each, my starter of smoked eel, beetroot and sour cream was excellent, good fresh flavours and a very generous slab of eel. This turned out to be the best part of my meal. L's Steak Diane was pretty good, too, but his main course of pollock was a bit over cooked and flabby. My main course of slow roasted lamb with sweetbreads and artichokes was good, but for two things. The lamb was extremely fatty. Extremely. I left big lumps of it on the side. And the inclusion of sultanas in this dish is very, very wrong. The sweetbreads were the best bit. When you're paying about 15 quid for a main course, it ought to be better than this.

The way they serve wine is good - it comes in carafes which contain enough for two glasses. I had the house red, L had the house white, and we swapped around a bit. I liked that because you can order as much or as little as you want.

For once, I was not bowled over by the dessert menu. The only thing I fancied was the lemon tart. It was home made and perfectly acceptable. L's rice pudding with raspberries went down well but I managed to get a taste of it - delicious.

Arbutus is fine. Good food, only slightly odd, but nothing memorable. At these prices it ought to be just a little better. DM May2007


www.arbutusrestaurant.co.uk