L'Ortolan - Reading

Very good staff, very helpful, excellent eating. worth a return visit.

Very tasty. Had the 7 course taster menu. Great staff who were very knowledgeable and explained each course. Made to feel very welcome.

Worth a trip if you’re in the area but I wouldn’t necessarily go out of the way. The restaurant decor is quite tired and worn and just looks like an old hotels dining room. The menu is good, varied, fresh and very tasty. The service is good apart from the initial reception. We obviously didn’t fit the profile and despite being wheelchair friendly was quite difficult to get into the place and the bathrooms certainly weren’t easy to get to being up a big step. The food well presented, but some of the sauce is obviously put on the plate well before serving so arrives with a skin on. Very little wait between courses which is good as they’re on the small side. I’ve eaten a lot of tasting menus and I’ve never been hungry after leaving the restaurant until this place. The in between courses on the tasting menu were excellent and a particular highlight. The “upsell” as someone put it for the lobster was not worth it and clashed with the cheap curry sauce congealing on the side.

We went to L’Ortolan after being given a voucher. We will definitely be back! We were at the Chefs table and it was a joy to meet the members of the kitchen team and see them at work. The food is incredible and the service was faultless through all 7 courses. One of us had the wine pairing which was really interesting as we learned lots about some less well known wines. The steak was out of this world and the sweetbreads were wonderful. Soufflé was outstanding too. Would thoroughly recommend.

An absolutely fantastic evening in a lovely environment with great service and wonderful food.