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Fay Maschler's rating
Arch One Bar is triumph for Gordy's Grill
By
Fay Maschler
29 Oct 2008
At long last Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) has filed its overdue accounts and it’s trebles — Gordon’s gin I trust — all round. Chris Hutcheson, Ramsay’s father-in-law, proclaims Gordon the highest earning chef in the world, which perhaps he is, but the bulk of the profits come from TV shows, advertising and books.
A combination of irresistible force applied to movable objects and a vague resemblance to Patrick Swayze has propelled Ramsay into the realm of celebrity. He has been fortunate in the fealty of his vassals — although cracks are beginning to appear — some of whom probably help quite a lot with the books and recipe features. Installing chef-employees at the head of their “own” establishments has served to keep some very able practitioners such as Jason Atherton (Maze), Angela Hartnett (Murano) and Mark Sargeant (Claridge’s) hors concours and when they gain Michelin stars — as they all have done — Gordy adds them to his total. How brilliant.
A result of these tactics is that there is no obvious school of Ramsay out there, the way there has been with the Roux Brothers, Simon Hopkinson, Marco Pierre White, Raymond Blanc, Rose Gray and Ruthie Rogers to name a few chef-mentors. But one young Ramsay chef has slipped the chain and escaped.
When GRH bought Foxtrot Oscar with the aim of rolling out bistros in that name, the publicity was keen to mention that the head chef was Gemma Tuley. My God, testosterone-fuelled Gordon was yet again supporting the right of a woman to lead a kitchen, just as he had done with Hartnett and Clare Smyth, currently head chef at his flagship restaurant in Royal Hospital Road.
Before revamped Foxtrot Oscar — misconceived as much in design and service as anything else — Gemma had worked for three years at GR at Claridge’s, done an 18-month stage arranged by Ramsay at Guy Savoy in Paris, put in nearly a year at Royal Hospital Road and helped open Ramsay pubs The Narrow and The Devonshire.
After all that and still only a tender 25, Gemma has suddenly popped up in Waterloo at a restaurant and bar called Arch One opposite the main entrance to the station. It looks and feels like a place for after-work drinking. When I rang to book a table — to the seeming amazement of the chap on the other end of the phone — he said I would probably want to be on the mezzanine level.
Up there in the evenings tables are laid with beige cloths, leather bucket chairs are comfortable and you are at one blessed remove from the thudding music and madding crowd. A sign that something is happening that is not quite wine bar or gastropub feeding is the arrival of amuse-bouches served in shot glasses. What we each received was a freshly, lightly pickled wild mushroom on a bed of puréed spinach that had a new-mown flavour like grass clippings. It was delicious.
The Balcony Menu is short, appealing and singular in a positive way. One of my friends who is almost nun-like in her food choices amazed me by deciding on a first course of sautéed foie gras with plum compote and a walnut crisp. But even more amazing than seeing Annalena tucking into foie gras was its price of £5.90 for a quite sizeable lobe.
For 10p less I tried cod croquettes served with a sour tomato salsa which were as they should be: crisp on the exterior, creamy within and the note of sourness in the sauce a nice riposte to the deep-frying. You could see the hand of a practised chef in the gilding of the fat scallops served with apple and fennel salad at the top first course price of £6.
What you gain on the roundabouts of starter prices you don’t lose on the swings of the main courses. Poached salmon with wilted bok choy, mussels and clams (£12.50) was lavish with the seafood and had a very agreeable purity. Rainbow trout that came with carrot galette and baby spinach (£11.90) was a huge specimen, its mild-mannered flavour enhanced by the inherent sweetness of the crisp cake.
Oxtail cooked in red wine with parsnips, turnips and baby onions (£10.90) would have been far better with at least one more hour’s cooking. The meat had to be wrestled rather than nudged off the bones, which was a shame as the sauce was shaping up splendidly. Vegetable of the day, which we shared, was homely cauliflower cheese.
Now get this. A pre-dessert dessert was served just as if we were eating in a posh restaurant and not in a railway arch where the rumble and roar of trains punctuated our conversation. Grapefruit in the shape of sections, jelly and sorbet fulfilled what has always seemed to me the unnecessary task of palate-cleansing but did so delightfully. Apple and blackberry crumble was much liked. The flavour of the crème brûlée — forgotten after ordering — was mysterious. Was it joss stick? Something from The Body Shop? It turned out to be camomile tea. Our palates had not scrubbed up quite well enough.
The chap behind this restaurant is Charles Gabriel, a winemaker based in Italy. At present the list is short and badly annotated, often no producers or vintages mentioned but, apparently, it is a work in progress.
Chefs leaving the constraints of a Michelin-starred kitchen then using the acquired skills plus a large dollop of inspiration to give people what they want at a price they can afford is most certainly progress.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (7)
Do not go here unless you are truly desperate, or really are a bottom feeder with no sense of taste.
Used to go here on a fairly regularly basis for dinner and drinks before catching a train home. Being so close to the station, it is convenient for a late night (early morning?) drink.
Food here used to be quite good actually. Sadly the ex protege of Gordon Ramsey does not manage the kitchen any more (although they would love you to believe differently) and the food is now average at best. Keep that in mind if they still go on about about having a great chef.
Last time I visited I ordered lamb chops to eat. Tough as old boots and literally inedible. Sent it back and got a burger. Burgers here used to be good. Not anymore. Go to Burger King instead. No exaggeration. Food= fail.
Beer on tap is Becks or Staropramen. What a Choice! Way too expensive as well. So fails as a pub. Cocktails are average and expensive. Music is way way too loud. Is this a bar, nightclub, restaurant or what?
Worst of all is service. The most disgustingly rude staff you will ever meet in your life. Manager doesnt know how to manage (one manager in particular I should say) and wait staff look like they are working in a mortuary. Door staff who come in the scene at night are thugs in (cheap) suits.
Arch One tries to be a jack of all trades and fails even at that. Really cant recommend it for anything, especially when there are so many bars/restaurants on the Southbank.
- bassmanx, London, UK, 12/01/2011 03:40
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Easily the worst pub in London, and certainly the least welcoming.
A glorified waiting room for people hanging around to catch a train from Waterloo, Arch One Bar & Grill is full of baying city boys, ditzy office girls and lost souls with nowhere else to go until their train home pulls in.
Incredibly rude men in cheap suits on the door and clumsy floor staff make this noisy, cramped bar unbearable, and the sort of pub only worth visiting if you're genuinely desperate.
- David McComb, London, UK, 07/07/2010 12:59
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Easily the worst bar in London, and certainly the least welcoming.
A glorified waiting room for people hanging around to catch a train from Waterloo, Arch One Bar & Grill is full of baying city boys, ditzy office girls and lost souls with nowhere else to go until their train home pulls in.
Incredibly rude men in cheap suits on the door and clumsy floor staff make this noisy, cramped bar unbearable, and the sort of pub only worth visiting if you're genuinely desperate.
- Dr Blackthorn, London, UK, 07/07/2010 12:57
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June -2009
Having checked out the website before visiting, we Sat down on the balcony area and I was looking forward to the Stuffed fillet of beef accompanied by new potatoes and romescu sauce as advertised on the web site. The menu I was presented with was very different. A menu for all that seems to have every thing but the kitchen sink on it. We ordered some Garlic bread with cheese to start with. This never arrived. My girl friend ordered cod and chips which was very average. At a cost of £13.50 this was totaly over priced and was no better than your average weatherspoons. She asked for some extra tartre sauce only to be told she could not have any as there wasnt time due to it being freshly made. From tasting the tartre sauce this is highly unlikely as it looked like and tasted like it came out of a jar. I had the lamb shank with mashed potatoes this was ok but not great. The waitress kept the wine bottle away from the table and was twitching around filling my glass up at every sip which I found highly irritating.
If you want a late night bar or after work drink then as a bar it is very nice, if you want to eat go some where else.
- Chris, London, 19/06/2009 11:06
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Front of house staff who are rude to the point of being offensive, and incompetent waitresses leave a sour taste in the mouth that the good food is unable to remove.
- Cathy, London, 12/06/2009 10:26
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I visited htis restaurant last night (30 Oct). We were told the kitchen would open at 6:00. It didnt start serving until closer to 7:00.
The environment was incredibly noisy - with the background music making it all but impossible to conduct a coversation across a table.
An amuse bouche was served (rosemary sorbet on top of a vinegared girolle with apple jely below) which just didnt work. The duck pate was very good, the foie gras less so and the squid practicaly inedible. The salmon main course was a delight, the rainbow trout good and the steak super. The service was great(apart from the head waiter who is unsymapthetic and clearly in the wrong trade).
Although the food was good, the noise and the questionable attittde of the head waiter means that this is one I will avoid inthe future.
- Andy H, Esher Surrey, 31/10/2008 09:06
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Like Ms Maschler, the thudding music is perhaps not to my particular taste (but then, perhaps I am a bit of an old fogey). that is my only adverse comment.
I have eaten at Arch 1 on several occasions, now, and have been very happy with my choices. The soups are big yet sophisticated in taste, and I have enjoyed some delicately-flavoured sea bass, while the presence on the menu of sardines (perhaps at the instance of Mr Gabriel?) has been very welcome.
And Ms Tuley certainly knows how to cook a steak! I like mine blue; and I find that not many places know what thie means. Clearly she has access to a good butcher; and the choice pays off on the plate.
The desserts are a delightful blend of the adventurous with the school food on which so many of us were brought up - yet there are gentle "tweaks" to old favourite dishes. Try the rice pudding!
I agree that the wine list is a work in progress (very well put). There is a way to go there, particularly in terms of range; but a good list does take time to build.
One aspect of the experience which Ms Maschler does not mention is portion size. A cynic might think that the portions are small in order to maintain low prices. I tell you that they are not! They are not gargantuan (and neither shoiuld they be); but the diner will rise from the table, with ease, feeling that they have dined both wisely and well, and very satisfied.
Worth watching - and very well worth a visit (I will definitely be back!)
- Peter Scrafton, London UK, 30/10/2008 18:23
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