Orrery

My fourth time here and probably the last. Orrery seems to be reclining into the future: the food is lackadaisical and misses a spark, the service is deliberate to the point of plodding. Oh well.

What is whong with the Michelin inspectors ?
This place is worth easilly a two star, from the amuse-​bouche to the deserts, the menu was truely excellent.
Beautiful tables, crockery and cutlery set well chosen, all pleaseing to the eye.
Now if you want to be accurate, the service, although very efficient and well orchastrated, was cold and impersonal. This was a clear let down where the manager could have either tought or hired a bit more smile for this amazing place.
Highly recommended !

I came here on a lunch date dining on the Evening Standard. From when we entered the restaurant to when we left the service was spectacular. There were so many different types of servers I can’t even tell the difference in their roles — there were almost more servers to diners in the restaurant on this Thursday afternoon!
We had the 3 courses for £30. You’d think Orrery would ‘downgrade’ their service for those eating the Evening Standard specials, however, their service was great (and I’ve got high standards!)
All 3 courses were cooked to perfection, well flavoured, and most importantly, weren’t incredibly tiny (like many fancy restaurants — you leave hungry!). We even got Prosecco on arrival.
My only gripe with the place is that during lunch there are some people on business lunches and unfortunately one of the diners had their mobile phone ring loud with THREE different callers! Why didn’t he turn off the ringer the first time it happened?! One of my serious pet peeves, especially in a nice restaurant. I would have expected one of the servers to politely tell him to silent his mobile phone.
Great location, right at the top of Marylebone High Street and on top of the Conran store — definitely worth taking a peek after you’ve enjoyed a great meal!

A brilliant restaurant.
My wife and I dined here, starting with a G&T in the small bar (£17 each!) then into the restaurant for an early supper.
We both had the lobster bisque raviolo which was stunning, a fab strong flavour from the bisque sauce.
For main I had beef bourguignon which was superbly flavoured beef, a creamy mash and roasted veg, with a healthy dollop of spinach. My wife had ravioli for main, which she found too rich, a reflection of the healthy stuff we eat at home rather than the restaurant’s food.
For pud, my wife and I both had panna cotta with raspberries in champagne jelly, which was divine. Followed by single espressos and heavenly chocolates.
The restaurant also delivered a mis en bouche and a sorbet, on the house, which added greatly to our experience.
Oh, and the wine with the meal — my wife had a Reisling which was sharp not sweet and I had a great, meaty Rioja.
Service was attentive throughout the meal — we left feeling like royalty and making any excuse to come back in the future.
I can’t recommend this place highly enough.

I have only been here once, but the food was aammmmzzaaaaing! loved it. The chocolates are just perfection. Everything just tasted it was worth it and money well spent, I have eaten in few restaurants in London that are pricey with no substance, but this place was not the case. Will come back again when I have the time & money, but I feel it is worth the trip. Also the staff are a bit over attentive some times, but not intrusive, rather have good service than bad service. Finally, I can look at times scruffy … so when it comes to a place being pretenisous or in lame terms stuck up, I did not get that impression from this place at all, which is always a big thing I have when going to places that are well presented and of a higher price range.

I had a lovely dinner at Orrery last night! We walked in right on time for our 6:30 booking to find the restaurant empty of customers — this is their earliest booking, so it makes sense. Orrery is not very big, but it’s a bright, airy space with lots of windows and skylights. My companion was seated facing the windows, but there were mirrors on the wall behind her so I was able to enjoy the park view as well.
The service was spot on, and I was impressed with everything I ate. They provided two amuse bouches — a french onion soup shot (for lack of a better way to put it) and a squid ink risotto ball. The soup was stellar, but I had to pass on the risotto. My friend seemed to really enjoy it.
I ended up having the wild garlic veloute and beef fillet, where my companion had the pâté and salmon — both of us enjoyed our food considerably. We both ended up with the blackberry dessert, which was preceded with an apple gelee as a palate cleanser.
The wine list was extensive — almost overwhelming — but we finally settled on something that we ended up being quite pleased with. Overall, I thought it was a beautiful evening, and I’d like to try Orrery again.

I love French food & was excited to try the tasting menu, it was good but I just wasn’t blown away. Dishes looked amazing but were just a bit bland & the ambiance was just slightly sterile for my liking. They had a great cheese selection, but I’m not a cheese person & the bill for two was 230GBP!

I don’t know which planet this restaurant is meant to be on, but it is not one I care to spend much time visiting.
There were aspects that were superlative; the partridge, the crab cake, wine list, service and possibly the «Cornish» sea bass, although being used to Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) as sea bass, I was not expecting brazini, (Dicentrarchus labrax) a very light and delicately flavored fish.
The ambiance was cool, creamy and classy and the waiters young, keen and once their obligatory snobbery had been stripped away by a couple of precise questions about the food that they were unable to answer without consulting the kitchen, quite manageable.
The real problems started with the menu organization, which was sufficiently unwieldy that even the waiters aren’t sure how it works and my ordering a third appetizer caused a bit of stir, and eventually it was left off the bill.
The appetizers were really lovely, the dressed Dorset crab, airy and delicate and would have stood alone, and came with some perfectly cooked beets and tiny artichokes. There were also some smears and foams around the plate and that is where this place goes horribly wrong, but more about that later.
The second appetizer, I think a ravioli, was technically superb, but came with a selection of hard to define emulsions and foams. The third appetizer, a roast spiced ‘magret gras’ duck breast, choux farci, Armagnac and plum sauce came out with the meat wonderful, the plum sauce soaking into and ruining the pastry it was served upon and again some smear and foam that added nothing significant.
One main course of Cornish sea bass, the bass (foam on top), came with a tiny squid tube, for some reason stuffed with an excellent ratatouille that overwhelmed the fish and the squid, a squid ink emulsion, some other smear on the plate that were puzzling in their lack of contribution other than colour on the plate, separately cooked tentacles, braised fennel, a bad choice for such a delicate fish, young artichoke and some more foam of unidentifiable origin.
The other main course of partridge breast, again the main focus of the dish was entirely lost in the ubiquitous fennel, artichoke, foams, and sauce and also served on a soaked square of pastry. The only high note that was actually in tune with the wonderful bird breast, was the roast mushrooms, of which there were far too few.
The chef is superb in individual accomplishments, but seems to have lost any ability to define the character of a dish, just puts a bit of everything on the plate and thereby serves a multiple personality disorder.
As for the surprise at the beginning, you must cook your white beans more, otherwise I will suspect revenge against happy couples as the motive for serving the amuse-​bouche of white beans with roast pork foam.
First for free
An amuse-​bouche
Replete with beans.
Terror in the night!
Yikes!
Wonderful location, great potential but at those prices, I expect something more coherent, more mature and well defined and I demand food that will leave me talking about only the fantastic aspects. We were so disappointed that we left without wasting money, time and good feeling on the admittedly entrancing dessert menu.

A group of us enjoyed a spot of french cuisine here as part of the London Restaurant Festival. Some dishes were excellent, delicious and delicate the roasted cod and caramelized onion and goat’s cheese tart were especially well received. Other plates were a little more mystifying, like the oddly presented and very mild salmon mousse.
However, the final course was a triumph. We agreed the Orrery could have stumped up a little more of that incredibly sharp raspberry coulis with the impossibly light and tasty lemon tart. Plus the standout cheese trolley had arteries furring up in anticipation, heaving under its own weight with artisan french delicacies. A very pleasurable way to pile on the calories in the company of other foodies.
This gets 4 stars because we ate as a special offer.
Would suit: Relaxed evening with friends, discreet romantic dinner

Everything was handled perfectly.
The servers and food arrived at the right times.
The space was elegantly bland, so as to not offend anyone.
The food was clever, but not passionate. Sometimes that’s all you need.
You should come here if you’re in the mood for perfection and you don’t want to leave anything to chance. Like with a client.
I’d wager there aren’t many mistakes here.
It’s pleasant to be surprised with an amuse bouche, and again with a chocolate truffle. I hope I haven’t ruined the surprise.
But then again, you may not like surprises.

I went here for a Sunday lunch. The restaurant is well lit with natural light and feels quite spacious. It did get a little warm, as all of the glass creates a bit of a greenhouse effect. The service is very good.
They run a Sunday special — 3 courses 28.50.
The wine list is quite impressive, with lots of selection at all price points.
The starter was a bisque, which was quite nice. The main was a rib steak, which was decently cooked but quite tough. The green beans side were fresh and well cooked. For desert I had the crème brule, which was excellent.
Overall, a little expensive for what you get (but not too bad).

Orrery is hidden on the second floor of a building off Marlyebone High Street. I’d probably passed it a hundred times and never noticed it.
We had an early seating at 7pm on a Friday and the restaurant was empty. It was a little worrying at first but the friendly service and good food made up for it. Given there were so few people, the head bartender also popped by and talked us through some fresh Martinis they were featuring — the fresh strawberry Martini was really nice.
All three courses were tasty and well prepared but nothing really blew me away. What made the meal stand out was that we were offered a number of complimentary dishes which was a nice surprise. We had a cream cheese profiterole, a small soup and brittle for desert on top of our 3 course meal.

This is a really good restaurant.
Their excellent service is very professional though friendly, and the food and wine are just simply amazing. No doubt this place deserves 5+ starts!

Orrery provides near perfect service, I counted 7 different staff making sure my evening was served to perfection, if only the food had been equally attended, whilst my beetroot was an amazing start, the beef main course was overly salty and to be fair a little too sparse with the onions being frankly too vinegary and a little jarring. The desert was adequate, nice, but merely adequate.
All in all I was a little dissapointed, for the prices being asked I expected the food to equal the excellent service and superb winelist.

Although it’s been about 7+ years since I’ve been to Orrery, it was still one of the best meals and services I’ve had.
The staff was very attentive. Granted we went on Monday evening and it was not busy at all. I guess this is more of a power lunch restaurant. We had several waitstaff and all were very knowledgable and attentive
Food — I remember ordering the venison with a chocolate gravy sauce and it was nicely paired with like a whisky. I mean, if you’re gonna come to a restaurant like this, you gotta splurge and boy did we ever :0)
Overalll, its definitely one of the better french meals i’ve had. Believe it or not, better than some of the french place I’ve been to in Paris and NYC.
Although I havent been back there in awhile, I do hope to return one day and relive my experience there once again :0P
Price: Expensive $$$$ ($ 150-​$ 200 USD per person, at least). That’s a full course, including drinks
Décor: Simple and Elegant. Love the large windows staring out to a park
Staff: Very attentive
Food: Delicious… need i say more :0)

On a visit to Orrery earlier this year, food was good overall but a terrine starter with truffle velouté was bland (which seemed rather puzzling given the ingredients involved). The cheese chariot was well stocked with around fifty choices, although the waiter struggled to identify them individually. Service also faltered when my half-​full glass of still water was replenished with sparkling. The same waiter proceeded to block me in my chair on two occasions, firstly with the bread trolley then with the cheeses. (You can see a theme emerging here!) When coffee was offered, we were not given any choice and a burnt, bitter Americano arrived. Despite this, the meal was pleasant and reasonably priced but I completely agree with Michelin’s decision to rescind their star following André Garrett’s move to Galvin at Windows.

There are some restaurants in the world that blows your mind away. Granted, I was jet-​lagged and in need of biochemical readjustment, but I had to have the tasting menu. For there is no better way to dine at a restaurant than with samplings of their best offerings! And although my visit was years ago, I still remember how good the amazing and delicious food was, and the impeccable service. And the fromage. I definitely remember the cheese cart. Each occupant at my table got a sampling of various cheeses and we spent the rest of the course swapping plates.
My advice? Splurge! Go! This is an incredible restaurant and worth the experience! And you’re going to love it!

An unpronounceably fantastic Conran joint.
It went a little something like this:
— «Let’s go for lunch at Orrery.»
— «Orr errr whaaa?»
— «ORRR ERRR REEEEE.»
— «Pardon?»
— «It’s Conran.»
— «Oooh. Go on then. Spell it first.»
Very clean in all respects, as you would expect from the man, and it’s tucked away at the North end of Marylebone High St which just tickles that posh London vibe that other roads can’t reach.
There’s lots of other similarly priced and similarly excellent establishments in the area, but if you fancy an unfussy, elegant, French lunch then give it a go.

The Orrery remains one of my favourite restaurants in London. Sunday dinner menus offer the best value. For only £25, you get 3 courses and you’re offered a wide range of choices — 6 starters, 6 mains and 6 desserts to choose from! If you’d like to add a glass of champagne to your meal, it’ll just add up to £30, which isn’t bad value at all.
If you get a chance to try, I strongly recommend their foie gras — like a spoonful of heaven, the creamy concoction simply melts in your mouth. I confess I’ve ordered this on more than 4 consecutive occasions while dining at this restaurant. They have a creative ravioli consommé which is rather palatable as well.
For mains, I’d recommend the confit of duck, although if you love lamb, it’s equally delectable. I’d avoid paying the £8 supplement for the beef rossini, as that turned out to be most disappointingly bland.
Desserts almost never disappoint, so be adventurous and take your pick!
Lest I forget to mention, service at the Orrery is surprisingly warm and friendly. The staff are eager to please and aim for efficiency. No snooty French attitudes to endure at this restaurant, so go ahead and indulge yourself.

I visited this place in the early evening, and thought the place was a bit lifeless. It seemed to lack any kind of atmosphere. Never the less the food here is great, I had Pork, which is not my favourite of dishes, but they managed to make it taste delicious. The amouche bouche were very much present, and tasty also.
The wine list was extensive, and the staff seem to know their stuff. There is still something about this place i’m not too keen on… there is a certain pretentious stuffiness aimed at the older crowd, although you can’t escape the fact the food is top notch.