A bargain lunch

This review was first published in March 1999

Many London restaurants appear to be thriving at night and dead at lunchtime. The response has been to cut the price of set lunches and get more bums on seats. TV documentary expletive king Gordon Ramsay's former gaff AUBERGINE, now the domain of one-Michelin-starred William Drabble, is still thriving in the evenings but is quieter at lunch. The three-course set-lunch price of £23.50 has been cut to £18 and, for this standard of cooking, it must be one of the best bargains in town.

My set lunch last week consisted of roasted quail with a salad of French beans (the slab of foie gras on top wasn't even mentioned), daube of beef with puréed potatoes and vegetables, and banana Tatin with toffee sauce and banana ice-cream. High-calibre stuff.

A word of warning. Drink water with your meal. The mark-ups on wine remain breathtaking, whatever time of day.