The food at Wolfgang Puck's Cut is special but the prices are ridiculous, say critics

The food at US celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck's first European venture Cut may be very special but the prices are ridiculous, according to both The Times and The Daily Telegraph food critics.

Located at the Dorchester Collection's newest hotel, 45 Park Lane, the restaurant is modelled on the original Cut in Beverly Hills serving a menu centred on steaks at extremely high prices.

Giles Coren of The Times is so abhorred by the prices he talks about the bill before the food. "Sorry. I don't normally mention the money before I've got to the food," he says. "But this was ridiculous. Half a grand for a steak and a glass of red. If ever I could get a swearword past The Times censors, this is where I would try."

Matthew Norman of The Daily Telegraph is equally baffled by the bill: "The proprietor is clearly a talented chef and clever businessman, and doubtless also a splendid chap. But is this Puck, we wondered as we left, a robbin' goodfellow?"

Meanwhile The Observer's Jay Rayner says that Simon Rogan sets very high standards at his Michelin-starred L'Enclume in Cartmel, Cumbria.

Writing in The Independent, Tracey MacLeod dines at the Asquith, the latest venture from Glynn Purnell in Birmingham, and says the only thing the restaurant is missing is customers.

The Sunday Times's AA Gill reviews the Gallery at London's Westbury Hotel, which he says is a restaurant designed to appeal to everyone that doesn't please anyone, while The Guardian's John Lanchester quite likes the gimmick of DC Diner in Coventry being housed in an old plane, until the food starts to arrive.

In London, Time Out's Guy Dimond says Abbeville Kitchen doesn't court bloggers, has no well-placed friends in the media, and - because it places the customer first - is all the better for it.

The London Evening Standard's Fay Maschler says the Lady Ottoline's decent cooking is hobbled by otiose detail and fancypants presentation particularly unsuited to the context of a pub, while The Metro's Marina O'Loughlin says Bread Street Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant in the City, is no more than a one-night stand for her.

For these reviews in full and more, see What's on the menu? Visit Guide Girl for the latest gossip from the fine-dining world.

By Kerstin Kühn

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