We sat in the lounge area upfront, a quartet of us (our hostess plus us three). The hostess is a friend of the house, so to speak, and is putting out the word, trying to help them develop a bit of a “scene”. She ordered a couple of appetizers for the table – the same duck springrolls I’d had, plus some deep-fried shrimp. The former, same experience and thoughts (right down to the springrolls sliding off the plates and headed for the floor – waiter said it happens all the time – you’d think they’d fix the plating), the latter, the prawns were fine, a nice crisp, not oily batter, but the “tonkatsu” sauce just a stodgy, sweet mess.

For our main courses, a nicely cooked bit of steak, though unseasoned (again), with a broccoli hazelnut puree and port sauteed mushrooms. A bit of crackly suckling pig with some braised pork cheek – all beautifully cooked again, though the overly sweet quince puree and pomegranate syrup didn’t do much for it. The best dish of the evening, two of us got the day’s special, perfectly cooked quail – four legs each (they were using the quail breasts for a different dish), with a sweet potato and mushroom puree, little toasts with quail liver pate, and caramelized figs – the puree and pate were great, the quail was great, the fig was too sweet, but easy to ignore.

We also tried a couple of desserts – an interesting chocolate and coffee parfait with kumquats in syrup that was unfortunately marred by a slimy, ectoplasmic-like mascarpone foam; and, a pear tarte tatin for the night that was burnt and tasteless.

Our hostess’ assertion that the place is a real scene didn’t pan out with the dozen and a half people who were in the place, none of whom seemed particularly scene-ish, most just having a cocktail before heading elsewhere for dinner – in fact, few people seemed to be eating there. Then again, it was a fairly frigid midweek night out, so maybe folk were staying home and warm.

Oh, by the way, Leopoldo turns out to be an ancient king, possibly Rey Leopoldo I of Belgium, or some other one, who was known for his love of food, apparently.

In the end, the same feelings about the place. We were well taken care of, I like the room, and perhaps in nicer weather there’s a bit of a “scene”, though I’m not sure that’s a good thing when it comes to fine dining, depends what the scene is. The food – lots of really interesting ideas, beautiful presentations, but lacking in seasoning and balance.