Name: LPDJ
Address: Southern Terrace Restaurants, Westfield Shopping Centre, Ariel Way, London, Shepherd's Bush, W12 7GF, UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8743 3022
Rating: 3.5

After enjoying the Pommery champagne selection (four glasses of champagne representing each of the seasons) at Searcy’s champagne bar in Westfield we wanted somewhere nice to eat. Westfield has many of the chains and we wandered all around trying to decide where to go.

We stopped outside LPDJ – wondering what the letters stood for and what sort of restaurant it was. As we entered we saw the huge bar at the front of house and the expanse of tables stretching back – interspersed with palms. “It’s just like Le Palais Du Jardin that used to be in Covent Garden” I said. The maitre d’ overheard us and explained that this was where that restaurant had evolved. I was SO happy. I had spent many happy hours at the Covent Garden venue in Long Acre enjoying excellent sea food, good quality steaks and French cooking – I was eager to know whether this new version lived up to those standards.

The décor is certainly an exact match. It oozes French. The tables are decently spaced and there are slightly raised areas and guard rails leaving the central walkways clear. The ceilings are high which gives an impression of space. On a Saturday night around 8pm the place was absolutely packed – clearly popular – and with all types of guests – couples, families, shoppers and those out for the evening. As the massive seafood selections (plateau de Fruits de Mer - £24.50) were taken to neighbouring tables, my mouth watered. Without asking, we were each served with a large glass of ice water and lemon and there was already crusty bread and olives on the table.

We started to browse the extensive menu. I opted for the crab cocktail (£5.50) – there was so much crab in this it was almost a meal in itself and the cucumber and lettuce bed were fresh and crunchy. One of my companions had the tricolore (tomato, avocado, mozzarella pesto – homemade of course, and rocket - £4.50) – she was delighted. Another companion selected the Poulet Fume (£4.50) – smoked chicken with mango, pineapple and walnuts – another clean plate and much happiness.

Continuing our champagne trend we requested a bottle of champagne which wasn’t available so we had the Perrier Jouet (£49.50) and were delighted to have it served in rose decorated glasses.

Both my companions had chosen the Filet Mignon de Boeuf (£16.50) – there were three generous pieces of beautifully cooked, melt in the mouth beef hiding a mound of celeriac mash and bathed in a pool of port sauce. They couldn’t stop saying how marvellous the beef was. The accompanying dauphinoise potatoes was a steal at £2 (I recommend you order more than one as they are so perfect) but we all adored the creamed spinach (£2) – apparently it is the garlic butter and cream that makes it so wonderful.

Whilst I usually opt for calves liver (£11.50) and was tempted by the pan fried duck breast ((£16.50) I struck out to try the Melange de Poisson’s (£11.50) – a creamy delicately coconut flavoured soup containing spring vegetables and chunks of salmon, monkfish, tuna and lobster. The scent of this dish had people from nearby tables looking over – it was divine. I had a side of black rice (£2) – to soak up some of that amazing sauce.

Whilst my main course was superb I have to say that I was more than a little envious of the woman at the next table who had ordered a lobster (£15.50 to £19.50) – I’ll have to try that next time. And there will be a next time. And soon.

For dessert I had the crème brulee – perfectly crisp on top and creamy (£4.50). One of my colleagues had the sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream (£4.50) and the other had exotic fruit sorbet (£5.50). All very good – although there was so much sorbet she couldn’t finish it so that looks like it’s a shared dessert in the future.

Our three course meal for three of us came to £146.25 (service included) which was reasonable considering that we had champagne and three courses. They offer a set menu of two courses for £12.50 or two courses with champagne for £16.

There were only two minor disappointments about the evening. First, as the evening wore on it became really busy and the service started to suffer. You could see that the staff were pushed. Second, to end our meal we wanted Limoncella – now I know it’s an Italian drink and we were in a French restaurant – but even so.

So we pottered along to Café Concerto where we were able to listen to live piano music and sip Limoncello and espresso coffee. Perfect.

****************************** UPDATED May, 2011 *******************************

I have never had to do this before – in my many years reviewing restaurants. When I wrote the above review in January 2011 I rated this restaurant as a 9 out of 10. Sadly, I must now reduce this significantly.

Last Friday evening I returned to LPDJ, after much excited anticipation, with the same two friends. We had been looking forward to going for ages. We arrived about 8pm without a reservation. It was moderately busy. The maitre d’ suggested we have a drink at the bar which we did. Two of us started drinking a bottle of wine, and the third stayed on soft drinks as she was driving. After only about 15 minutes we were shown to our table.

The waiter was friendly – recognising my colleagues from previous visits – and was charming. We ordered our food and started on the bread and olives on the table. And we waited. And waited. We noticed that those around us were happy talking but no one was eating much. After about 45 minutes I asked our waiter politely where our starters were. He was pleasant and apologetic for the delay but provided no explanation as to why. I asked when we could expect our starters and he said he really couldn’t tell us – perhaps another 30 minutes. At this point I asked to speak to the manager – Ali.

There was clearly a bit of a row going on between the staff at a distance. Ali came over and we asked – again, politely – when we could expect our starters, as we were hungry. We also indicated that we liked the restaurant very much and were looking forward to our food. He did not apologise. He reminded us that we had arrived without a reservation (he had never indicated any problems with this or mentioned any potential delays). I asked the reason for the delay and when we could expect our food. The other waiter returned and explained that our order had been misplaced. I asked again when we could expect to receive our food – I was still prepared to wait to receive our food.

Ali then told us that he would not charge us for the drinks and that we would not be served and that he would be closing the restaurant! We were incredulous. I confirmed that he didn’t want us to pay for the drinks but wanted us to leave. We left quietly. As we walked along the street, the young bar man came running after us – telling us that we had not paid our bar bill. Not wanting him to get in trouble, and deeply embarrassed at being accosted in the street like a criminal, I returned to the restaurant and requested Ali come over. Without a word, he took the drinks bill from the young bar man and tore it up. I left.

My friends and I were very upset. A lovely evening had been spoilt and we were bemused why we had been asked to leave. We were also very hungry. We went to a nearby restaurant – Kitchen Italia – who served us hot food quickly. As we passed back by LPDJ around 60 minutes later it was clearly still open – although there were very few people inside.

I am afraid that I will not be returning to LPDJ. This makes me very sad as I was a regular at the Covent Garden establishment and had enjoyed the food at this new Westside outlet immensely. The staff, apart from Ali, had been courteous, warm and professional. But the incident on Friday is unforgiveable.

Monday	Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Tuesday	Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Wednesday	Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Thursday	Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Friday	Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Saturday	Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Sunday	Open 12:00 - Closes 23:00

LPDJ

All In London Review

User Reviews