Criterion

Great Very Ornate Vintage Leftover

The guilded ornate gold leaf decor is probably quite off putting to the casually dressed younger tourists outside.This bastion of Piccadilly continues to service surprisingky unpretentious good value meals at the 20-30 pounds for one mark.
Its almost an undiscovered gem.
Remembered in The 1930s for hosting Sir Oswald Mosleys BUF Blackshirt dinners in grand Mussolini Style!!
Toilets are immaculate and lavish.A staff member called a crumb brusher is assigned to you at your table. Meals are nouvelle and cooked excellently.Desserts are surprising and very skilled.
No quibbles.

Oh Criterion. I really wanted to enjoy your company, but what a dull companion you were.

I'd expect the set menu to be a fair representation of what the rest of the menu could deliver, but the choice was really disappointing.
A starter of ham hock terrine for him and smoked salmon mousse for me was fine, but only just – the terrine was pretty dull. The mains were a choice of cottage pie, seafood stew, and canneloni. I felt like I'd regressed to the 80's.
The veal cottage pie was fine, with nice sprouts (but if you have to turn to sprouts for comfort it's a sorry state of affairs right?), the seafood stew was really dull. Moules mariniere would have been a nicer option.
The pannacotta dessert was quite nice but didn't come as described on the menu, no almond biscuit to break up the texture. The man was happy with his brownie, but it would have had to be covered in washing up liquid to put him off.
The service was, dull. The toilets were scruffy and on a different planet from the decor in the main room. The food, dull. The wine, nice – but then I chose it and they couldn't get that wrong.

I'm so disappointed we went there. The room is beautiful of course, but you can't eat mosaic. £100 down the drain.

Unless it changes hands, I won't be back. Sigh.

What can i say!!! WOW. me and my friends adore this resturant, we live in Southampton but always do trips to the theatre (for birthdays) and always finish with an excellent meal at the Criterion. We've never had an issue and the food is gorgeous. This resturant is a special treat for us, And the pianist just makes the evening complete. We've just booked up again for my birthday in March and cannot wait :)

Like many others, I've been coming to the Criterion on and off for a number of years now. Back in the days of the MPW ownership the food was usually excellent. How times have changed! I went for dinner last weekend with my sons to celebrate my sister's birthday and could not have been more disappointed. The menu itself was quite boring so I opted for the soup to start. It wasn't offensive but just wasn't great. My main of rump steak was similarly not great. Others in my party opted for the lamb and fish (hake I think), none of which inspired teh smacking of lips. I won't describe the deserts but just suffice it to say that they were not worth it. Service was pleasant but uninspired. There was no effort to engage or suggest dishes. Neither did the waitress offer to suggest extras when it was obvious (or should have been to her) that the mains would have been complimented by sides.

In short, unless ownership changes again, I won't be coming back here any time soon. The decor is stunning but the food is a big let down. The bill came to over £200 which in teh scheme of things isn't excessive. However, i was left feeling very short changed.

The Criterion is, without doubt, one of London's most beautiful restaurants with its gold mosaic ceiling and its perfect proportions (despite being located right in the heart of a part of London where natives never go).
I used to come here quite a lot in its Marco Pierre White days and it invariably delivered (it later veered seriously off course), so a pre-theatre meal suggested a re-visit.
we booked for 5.45pm (heaven forbid!). We were eight, with two youngsters and arrived in two groups of four – the staff rather ill-advisedly sat one four in the bar and suggested drinks, which needless to say turned up just as the next four arrived. But having checked the curtain-up time of our show we were seated at 6pm.
The pre-theatre/set menu offers two courses for £18 (£22 for three). It delivered a smallish portion of smoked salmon with buttered bread and a carpaccio of salt beef. The mains included skate wing – the menu should have said ‘portion of skate wing’ as one skate wing was clearly made to serve at least three people. It came with a tomato and onion salsa and some green beans – in short, it would have made a reasonable starter! (Some of our party went ‘off piste’ and had a nicely seasoned sirloin steak and a good trio of pork.) A decent Stellenbosch Mourvèdre blend (£34) eased the disappointment.
We finally managed to pay after traumas with three credit-card machines and took our seats in the theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue with two minutes to spare before curtain-up – not good for the blood-pressure.

I had a theatre evening at Theatre Royal Haymarket, and emerged from the theatre wanting dinner. Upon entering the Criterion, I feared a tourist trap but was very pleasantly surprised. The place was busy, though tables were available (probably not likely if I'd tried walking in before the theatre). The room is very beautiful, a combination of good lighting, beautiful accoutrements, and elegance. I found the post-theatre menu to be an excellent value—a choice of two or three courses for a set price. A la carte was also availabie. Service was well-meaning, though not seamless, and I thought I had to wait too long for my cocktail, for water, and for bread. That said, I was treated with courtesy, and my Kir cocktail was generous and made to my specifications. My food was faultless. I will visit the Criterion again.

The interior design of the restaurant is exceptional and has a wonderful Empire feel. I have been to the restaurant three or four times over the past year and have always enjoyed excellent food and service. The meats are particularly tender because they are specially hung. The menu is more varied and exploratory than most London restaurants – I have even enjoyed venison and ostridge dishes. The ingredients are of the highest quality. I am surprised by the mixed reviews on this website but understand that every establishment can have the occasional ‘off night.’ I have not been disappointed. I eat out a lot and I would say that if you would like to endulge yourself or treat someone to something rather special this is an excellent restaurant.

We went to the Criterion restaurant because we were going to see the 39 steps at the Criterion theatre next door. I was also attracted by the history of the place and hoped that despite the bad reviews it would be ok. My hopes were in vain. Upon arrival the staff were aggressive and unfriendly – it certainly didn't have a welcoming atmosphere. We had the set menu, both my husband and I had a pork chop which was fine (nothing to shout about but perfectly edible). However, my dessert was so disgusting I couldn't eat it (it was supposed to be mint chocolate cake) when asked by the waitress why I had left it, I told her that I didn't like it, there was no offer of an apology or anything instead she was very curt. My husband did say his pudding was nice – so that was something good. The interior is very attractive and pleasing but they were playing music that really didn't fir the surroundings or create a calm atmosphere. I wouldn't recommend it, which is sad because the restaurant has a lot of history and character that with a good chef would make it an incredible place to go. So my recommendation is listen to the reviews and go somewhere else!

How is it possible to get a venue as brilliant and a restaurant as visually astounding as ‘The Criterion’ wrong ??? This should be a 5 star venue but it still, sadly, is not and is a long long way from 5 star. The service – average to say the least, food was okay – good, ambience was shockingly bad, music was off putting from the moment we arrived. Just bad. So bad. And you know what – its such a shame. Another minor detail – but what actually said so much – inside the food menu (on the inside front cover) there was a print out stuck in with the Criterions history. The fact it was just a poor print out which was out of fit so it did not even read clearly and then was stuck in with some sort of prit stick just emphasised everything that was wrong with this restaurant and how much the owners do not value what they have. Such a shame.

After reading the other reviews I was reluctant to visit here in spite of a recommendation from my daughter. However a friend and I had a pre theatre 2 course meal last night and it was excellent. we hadn't made a booking but were seated quickly and the service was first class. we opted for starter and main and when we said know to a dessert we were still given a taster of marshmallows and chocolate brownies – a lovely touch. the bottled water was free and the house white wine great value for London prices. all in all a fabulous start to our evening.