Harden's survey result
Summary
“Always a good place to meet people” – this Wolseley Group operation on a corner of Sloane Square feels like “a slice of Paris in London” and its supremely “convenient location” means it “can get very busy”. Somehow standards have never quite gelled here as well as at the group’s better-known sites: the “predictable, ersatz French brasserie fare” is merely “fine”; the service can be “quite patchy”; and the “buzzy atmosphere” can tip into bland anonymity. Harsh criticisms were absent this year, though, and seemingly there’s “been no perceptible drop in quality since C&K’s departure”.
Summary
“A top location on a corner of Sloane Square” helps define this “Parisian-like café/brasserie”, which is decorated “with minute attention to detail in the quintessential Corbin & King style”. It’s “always crowded and noisy”, but doesn’t inspire affection the way its siblings do; and it’s nominated much more as a convenient rendezvous than as a destination in itself. “All the Gallic classics are there on the menu”, and while the food is “reliable” enough, definitely don’t expect fireworks. “Very efficient and friendly service” this year though. Top Tip – “good range of breakfast menus”.
Summary
“A very fashionable location on Sloane Square” complete with outside terrace guarantees a steady crowd and “great people-watching” at Corbin & King’s classic café-brasserie – bang next-door to the Royal Court Theatre – and its “delightful” faux-period decor goes a long way in this corner of Chelsea, where flâneurs and ladies-about-town gather en masse. Never C&K’s best performer, it was better rated this year, but even so “the food can vary – it’s usually good, but occasionally bad”. Oft nominated as a good place to start the day, it’s a “great venue for meeting business associates over breakfast”.
Summary
“A slice of Paris in Sloane Square”, this hugely popular brasserie rendezvous is “great for people-watching” and its “atmospheric” faux-period decor evokes “a gallery of film noir scenes”. But while it’s incredibly convenient for those out-and-about in Chelsea, or visiting a production at The Royal Court, there’s something slightly transitory about the experience that makes it the least engaging of Corbin & King’s ventures. Even fans concede its Gallic brasserie fare is “not exceptional” or that it feels like “a treadmill that verges on a money-making machine rather than a relaxed venue”. Top Tip – “they do breakfast just right”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Colbert?
51 Sloane Sq, London, SW1W 8AX
Restaurant details
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | £24.75 | £29.75 |  |
|
|
Traditional European menu
| Starter | Main | Veggies | Pudding |
|---|---|---|---|
| £13.75 | £26.50 | £5.95 | £9.75 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £31.50 |
| Filter Coffee | £4.50 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 10.00% |
51 Sloane Sq, London, SW1W 8AX
Opening hours
| Monday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Tuesday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Thursday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Friday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Saturday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Sunday | 8 am‑10 pm |
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