When celebrity chef Marcus Wareing took over at the Grill Room at the Savoy in 2003 he announced that he wanted to bring theatre back to the hotel. Had I been the manager of the 125-year-old Savoy Theatre, which is located less than 100 yards from the restaurant, I would have felt slightly aggrieved by that remark.

How would Mr Wareing feel, I wonder, if the theatre manager said he wanted to bring fine dining back to the Savoy by introducing hot snacks during the interval?

Of course, it is no surprise that a chef of Wareing's calibre doesn't know that the Savoy already houses one of the finest theatres in London. In addition to running the Savoy Grill, he's the executive chef of Pétrus, so he doesn't get to go out much.

Not so long ago, he told a newspaper interviewer that his working day begins at 7am and ends at 1am - and this in spite of having two young children. His wife, who is obviously fairly long-suffering, doubles up as his PA.

Diners expecting a 'theatrical' experience at the Savoy Grill last Monday night would have been disappointed, not least because there was no sign of the star of the show. No, I'm not talking about Marcus Wareing, though I don't suppose he was there, either. I mean Gordon Ramsay, Wareing's boss.

The Savoy Grill is one of nine restaurants Ramsay supposedly 'oversees' in London, but what with his restaurants in Dubai, Tokyo, Florida and New York, not to mention the pub he's just bought in Maida Vale, I don't suppose he pops down to The Strand very often. According to a recent 'exposé' of life behind closed doors at the Grill Room by an undercover journalist, appearances by Ramsay are so rare that the staff treat them like 'royal visits'.

Still, at least the company at the Savoy Grill is very well drilled and Wareing's understudy - head chef Lee Bennett - does a pretty good impression of a leading man. My wife and I were bombarded with amuse-bouches from the moment we sat down and my Arnold Bennett omelette with smoked haddock, followed by pork cheeks with a ragout of white beans and vegetables, were executed perfectly. Even my wife, who's notoriously hard to please, pronounced herself satisfied with her starter of artichoke salad followed by fresh linguine with seasonal vegetables and wild mushrooms.

Before the Savoy Grill became part of Gordon Ramsay Holdings, it was one of London's grandest dining rooms. Typical customers on an average weekday lunchtime included Jeffrey Archer, David Frost and Richard Harris. (Adam Faith even had his own table.) The head chef, Anton Edelman, and his maitre d', Angelo Maresca, were one of the famous double acts in the restaurant trade.

That all ended in 2003 when Marcus Wareing was put in charge and, in spite of a tasteful makeover by veteran restaurant designer Barbara Barry, it has yet to fully recapture its former glory. One reviewer compared it to dining inside a cigar box, though with its extensive wood panelling and combinations of yellows and browns I'd say it was more like the state room of a billionaire's yacht.

In the old days, you could tell how important the management thought you were according to whether they seated you on the right or the left. Generally speaking, the further to the right you were, the higher your status, with nonentities being confined to the far left-hand side. On the night I visited, the only VIP present was Jacob Rothschild who appeared to be hosting a celebration for a member of his family. Like me, he was put somewhere in the middle, and I got the impression that the left-right distinction has been abandoned in favour of a more democratic seating policy.

As with all Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, the Savoy Grill is a very slick operation and it's impossible to find fault with either the food, the service or the décor. However, the overall effect is less than the sum of its parts - it lacks the X-factor that makes Gordon such a spellbinding personality. If it was a West End show, I'd give it three-and-a-half stars out of five. A thoroughly enjoyable night out, but not destined to become a classic.