Worst restaurants – No Expert …but I know what I like

Not recommended – Candidates for the worst of the worst award

Here is a list of restaurants based on my experience that are worth avoiding:-

Restaurants in the “Worst of the worst category” that have their own posts:-

Restaurants that do not have their own posts:-

Beau Rivage Palace (La Rotonde) , Lausanne – snooty service and tasteless cooking in a very grand setting.

Marks out of 10

Food 3

Service 3

Ambience 7

Fortunately this place is now gone, replaced by Anne-Sophie Pics new Restaurant.

Casa Calvert, Barcelona– dull, with bad service. My main course arrived with the jus dripping off the side of the plate, the waiter did not even notice. The modernista decor was not enough to justify the visit.

Marks out of 10

Food 3

Service 3

Ambience 3

La Dama, Barcelona – beautiful building, very disappointing food, check out the prices on the La Dama website too, this is most definitely a tourist trap.

The wine list however is first class.

Marks out of 10

Food 2

Service 3

Ambience 5

Restaurant Terrassa, Barcelona – when lit up with fairy lights at night this place looks stunning (from the outside), then you go inside and it looks very dodgy. Eating here was a big mistake.

Marks out of 10

Food 1

Service 1

Ambience 1

At the end of the year I will nominate the Restaurant that qualifies as the worst of the worst for 2009.

For the other end of the spectrum, see the Best of the best.

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Harveys Fish Market, Oyster Bar & Restaurant – not the plaice to go!

Harveys of Ramsgate, part of Kent Inns of Distinction, is marketed as a dedicated seafood restaurant using locally landed fish. A fabulous idea, in theory.

Celebrity TV chef John Burton-Race of the Michelin-starred New Angel in Dartmouth is connected with it, loosely I hope, based on the standards achieved here, both in terms off food and service.

I can not see this place, surviving the winter. I certainly will not be returning or recommending this unjustifiably overpriced venue. Neither the food quality or the level of service matched the look of the venue. Bland Fish, and one of the worst deserts I have ever had (hard meringue!). Plates passed across my companion at the table, come on – anywhere that typically charges £20 for mains, needs to deliver something a bit special. Then there is the ambience issue, sitting next to a large noisy table of 10 in a half empty restaurant is far from ideal. This is most definitely not my idea of “fine dining”.

Its pretension without the quality, delivering expensive badly cooked food. Just another “Faux Gourmet” experience.

They could have done so much more in this prime location overlooking Ramsgate Royal Harbour.

UPDATE October 2009 : Made a return visit to Harveys after all, in light of comments and the award of an AA Rosette. For details see Harveys Fish Market, Oyster Bar & Restaurant – still not the plaice to go!.

UPDATE April 2010 – Back in Ramsgate, this time to try Eddie Gilberts. For details see Eddie Gilberts – reasons to leave London? (Eddie Gilberts 7, Harveys 2)

UPDATE October 2010 – About time! Harveys is finally closed – RIP please! For more information see post from Isle One.

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Omero – arugula to die for!, I don’t think so!

Omero has lots of positive reviews, I would definitely ignore them, this place is not worth the taxi fare to get to the foothills of Florence. One noisy guest could be heard at the top of her voice saying “the arugula was to die for”, she must have been a Vegetarian, as nothing we ordered was worth shouting about.

We could not get out of the place quickly enough, we did not even bother with dessert, instead we struggled to get a waiters attention for the bill and a taxi back to civilization.

Marks out of 10

Food 3

Service 3

Ambience 3

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Craft – Short sighted? No, just don’t see the attraction!

Tom Collichio’s Craft restaurant in New York is the epitome of style over substance. Not clever to make the menu font so small, to justify the gimmick of giving out reading glasses to the “short sighted”.

My main problem with the meal was that you are meant to mix and match the elements that you order. Excuse me but surely that is part of the art in preparing a course and one that the chef should take care of. He or she should be the expert in matching the ingredients on the plate. That’s what I’m paying you for.

This video explains why they choose this mix and match concept:-

Did not work for me, not surprised it lost its Michelin star.

Food 5/10

Service 0 (the man at the next table was choking and was ignored! – eventually with a lot of effort his wife managed to get him a glass of water).

Ambience !! (not important if everything else is wrong).

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