One of the dilemmas that often faces me in my high paced and stressful job (that’s my amateur food blogging in case you were wondering ) is how to score a restaurant. It has led to many heated and impassioned debates with friends and acquaintances. Even though I delight in providing unsolicited commentary of restaurant food, I cannot say that I always appreciate the same of my blog. When looking for things to pick on (everyone, as I well know, is a critic), one easy target of debate is my scoring. It might help here to give you some background about this.
Rosie Alittlelusciousness
+3.5
Restaurants open so regularly in London that it's hard to get to all the ones I want to try! However there was one that kept on popping up on Instagram accounts I follow, and having checked out the menu I was determined to get to Clipstone, little new sister restaurant of Portland, as soon as possible. Which was last Monday, when I headed there with Rhea to eat all the food! We totally over-ordered as usual, and whilst I really loved a lot of what we chose, if I go back I'll definitely order lighter dishes as I felt everything we had was very rich and heavy. We started with fried leeks and sauce gribiche. I thought the leeks would be chopped and fried, rather than whole and battered, but the sauce gribiche was good and had a nice tang to it. This was was swiftly followed by one of my favourite dishes of the evening, though hardly a contender for the "light" dishes I referred to earlier - rillettes of rabbit, pork and foie gras were topped with mustard seeds and sat on top of buttery grilled bread. The rillettes were unctuous and very more-ish despite their richness. Perfectly seasoned and absolutely delicious.
Cozy neighborhood restaurant that's easy to book on the weekend.
Food was a bit mediocre, but cooked with quality produce. Nothing was surprisingly good or bad. I would only come if I'm around the area.
Service was okay. There was a moment when the server was putting down cutlery, and my friend had her phone and glass near her right hand side. The server put the knife half on her phone and the fork in between the space of the phone and the glass. I'm not sure if that was necessary at all and a hygienic choice. I'm sure we wouldn't mind having the cutlery place a bit away from our right-hand side. I just found it a bit passive and agreesive and kinda laughed it off after the server left.
Really cute interior, great atmosphere, date night low lit vibes with lots of hustle and bustle. The food was yummy, but pretty expensive for small portions. And sadly I wasn’t blown away by the choices of red wine by the glass. Lovely service though, I would go back but might wait for an update to the menu.
Great food and service. We've been here multiple times now and while the menu seems to change, it's consistently delicious and an excellent experience.
Wow wow wow!!!
What a fantastic lunch. We arrived at 2:30pm and left at 10pm with a few new friends to boot!
As soon as we walked in we immediately felt relaxed. The team were so welcoming. The food was delicious, they had a great wine list and the cocktails were next level!
We were having such a great time that we ended up ordering more cocktails after lunch and ended up chatting to the people on the next table (our new friends!). At 6:30 the team set up a new table outside and we kept talking and drinking into the night. They even provided a few complimentary nibbles to keep us going!
It was one of the nicest and most unexpectedly fun lunches I’ve had in a long time. The team really made the experience what it was, they all worked so well together.
Thanks guys, we will definitely be back!
Fantastic local eatery. A real gem featuring local and in season ingredients. Very much enjoyed their wine menu as well.
We ordered the partridge, venison, and a cauliflower appetizer. The venison and the cauliflower were absolutely outstanding. My only complaint was that the dishes were so good that I could have easily eaten much more.
Great ambiance in the cafe and friendly staff. I look forward to returning.
You can say a lot about a restaurant only from its bread and, at Clipstone from the first bite we understood we were set for a great dinner. It sits at a corner of a quiet street and from the outside you can already feel its homey atmosphere. The decoration is simple: white walls, dim lights, and wooden “school-style” chairs and tables.
Clipstone delivers on their promise of being a great neighborhood restaurant. It’s unpretentious, serves great food and wine and their staff is charming. We will definitely be back!
The food and the drinks were amazing. The starters and desserts really stood out for us. Especially the desert with the wine pairing which I would highly recommend.
Lovely, friendly staff - very accommodating and quick resolution with a couple of minor mishaps. Visited with a party of four and we tried a variety of the dishes from snacks to desserts- everything was spectacular. Best meal out for a long time- I would highly recommend.
Simple, fresh ingredients done well. Really good value for the quality of the dishes they put out. Do yourself a favor and order the venison ragu 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
I don't know how I have not come here before. Like all restaurants in this small group of independently styled eateries, the cooking is focused on making thoughtful and careful use of exceptional ingredients that are seasonal. Don't expect edgy concept food. It is much better than that. I can for lunch and left totally satisfied (and content). I can imagine it may get quite noisy in there, however, as there are pretty much zero soft furnishings.
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