We wanted to try The Dover for a while since it opened, but how wrong we were to come here. Are people being bribed these days to say good things regardless? Perhaps I am too much in my bubble, but the truth always needs to be said, good or bad, people do want to know. Influencers trying to get free food maybe not but for the rest of us out there we don’t like to be abused.
Firstly, the bar set up felt cramped and narrow, which was not an enjoyable space, but they clearly had a good interior designer on board for the dining room delivering an elegant and cool ambiance. The decor had been designed in a way as if to make you feel you were in New York. A very classy space. This we did like. But there were many things that we didn’t…
Why is it everywhere we go recently nobody can seem to cook a steak? My last nightmare was in Milan, and I am still rather traumatised by it. I wasn’t expecting the same thing to happen here. We thought that ordering steaks would be a safe bet for the night, so I ordered the fillet, and my guest had the ribeye. We ordered them medium rare and what came was medium to well done on the fillet. The ribeye was medium which we could cope with, so we didn’t make a fuss. The chips came in a posh version of a McDonald’s carton. Why? Is this a trick? Am I really at McDonald’s? Just give me some well-made chips and plenty of them in a bowl please… Regarding the steak the Maître d’ apologised and offered to cook another. A clear difference to Milan, this was no trouble at all in Mayfair. It was taken away without questions.
We were told that it wouldn’t take long at 10 mins max, but it took forever to come. When it did arrive, it was even worse than the previous one. It had been overcooked both outside and in. I started to feel stressed, thinking oh no it is happening again… I just couldn’t get my head around the fact that once again there is a chef in a kitchen such as this who can’t even cook a steak to order. I just left the ‘well done’ steak, which was food waste at its finest. Throwing away two fillet steaks made me upset and angry. And I was starving and unsatisfied.
Some more details you should know- The tiny weeny pot of ketchup for the chips was laughable. This is clearly a place that is trying to be Mayfair posh but as usual, delivering nothing. The mash texture was gluey, it wasn’t the Joel Robuchon mash of dreams that’s for sure. The jus inside was pointless, no need for it. Just put a decent amount of the jus in a sauce boat on the side, so there is sauce for the steak. The asparagus was underwhelming.
The good- We had excellent service, especially from a young gentleman who is also gluten free. The maitre d’ was professional, and the staff overall were particularly good. But their efforts are wasted here at The Dover.
In a nutshell- If you do not care for cookery and just want to be seen in Mayfair/show off to your date then come here. This is what this place is all about. If on the other hand you have some knowledge about cuisine and can cook a great steak at home on your cast iron grill or on the barbecue, here you will be utterly disappointed. You will just want to go home, buy the best product from your local butcher, and start the night all over again yourself. There is really no point going out of your way to come here. On that note we booked The Dover as a post opera restaurant, and it didn’t even manage to half fill that role. I welcome small portions but here it was stingy and uptight, on the wrong side of posh. Another case of Mayfair rip off unfortunately.
