River Café - London

Having read so much about the Chocolate Nemesis over the years, I made it my mission to try it on my birthday this year and that's exactly what I did. I loved the decor and it felt instantly very singular compared of all the many restaurants I have dined at across the city clean, fresh, fun but also reminiscent of a cool bar in a late 90s/early 00s rom com. The Turbot was perfection, it absolutely melted in my mouth. I love how generous the portions were compared to other fine dining restaurants. And, just as I hoped, the Chocolate Nemesis was everything I wanted it to be light, delicate, rich and utterly unique. I washed it down with a fresh mint tea, which was the cherry on top of a fabulous evening.

Excellent ambiance and location. A wonderful place to have lunch on the weekend and get totally ripped off with pretty good quality food. Mains at £50+ and appetizers at £30+ really stripped me of my appetite. But the service was excellent and it was a good experience!

£300 for lunch for 2 people. 2 starters, 2 mains, shared a pudding and a cheese board with 3 tiny pieces of cheese which cost £18! Charcoaled grilled squid is coated in approx 2/3 chopped raw red chillies which was also really odd, wife had to scrape them off! Sea bass overcooked, artichoke was deeply unpleasant. Crab spaghetti was ok but have had better. In comparison, Myrtle restaurant run by Anna Haugh absolutely blows this place out of the water and is far better value. River cafe used to be good 5/6 years ago, sadly it's now just full of pretentious people who seem to enjoy being massively ripped off. Won't be returning, not that this place could care less as they seem to be packed to the rafters with people who don't understand what a good dining experience is. All in all, quite a disappointing experience.

Surprised about the hype around this place. Had to wait 20 mins to be seated, service was meh. Paper table cloth when you're spending £100 a head including alcohol feels odd. Food is good but there are way better Italian restaurants in London.

Expectations vs experience. The experience was very good. We sat outside on the terrace next to the river with the setting being both relaxed and elegant, situated next to the restaurant's garden. It's no mean feat keeping a restaurant relevant and pretty much fully booked for 36 years. It's still a chore finding a table and you have to take your hat off to Ruth Rogers for focusing and not expanding world-wide as many greedy business people do. The food was very well cooked and well thought through. I was not wowed as I am by some top restaurants and given the bill was £200 for two with 4 shared plates and 2 glasses of wine, I wouldn't jump to rebook again. Still with their waiting list, they won't miss me. If someone were to invite me, I would be happy to go back.