Criterion

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.

Love this place, visited the Criterion lots of times, it is SO nice to get inside away from the scrum of Piccadilly Circus. Try the Fillet Steak, it was meltingly yummy and the chips in their basket were utterly moreish. It always feels like such a treat to go there even though I know I'm not going to come out wincing with pain at the bill as theey often have a fab offer on. We didn't have it but the Comfort Food Menu this January looked gorgeous – think I'll have to come back and try it again…

I wish I could have had a more positive experience at the Criterion. Although the food is average, the dining room is very striking and they might just have got away with it, were it not for the appalling service.

There was no one there to greet me at the front of the restaurant, or by the cloakroom, and the bar staff were nowhere to be seen leaving me waiting for a good five minutes with my coat on! I would have thought the place was closed, had I not come at 1pm, and seen a few other diners seated, looking miserable.

…I should have taken the hint.

I ordered a starter of smoked fish with horseradish mousse. What appeared before me was what looked like 3 lumps of sashimi, and although the portion was small, I will give it credit for looking pretty. The horseradish mousse was nowhere to be seen – instead replaced by two large blobs of crème fraiche that dwarfed the fish. When I spoke to a waiter, he assured me that there was horseradish in the crème fraiche. Horseradish is pretty hard to miss as a flavour, but for my own peace of mind I asked my companion to taste it too, who agreed that it was definitely lacking anything resembling horseradish! The waiter was absolutely insistent, and I did not want to cause any further fuss with the waiter arguing black was white with me! The waiter eventually agreed to bring me some horseradish sauce – by which time I had pretty much eaten my 3 mouthfuls of fish.

The menu was missing the fun/unusual element that I had heard about -no popcorn or bobotjie. However my fish main course was nice and the lamb that my companion had looked lovely and succulent. For dessert I desperately grasped for something out of the ordinary to make up for my starter experience – the south african pudding (which was overcooked and stodgy) served with a fairly decent amarula ice cream. My companion fared better with a fairly decent chocolate dessert, but I can say with certainty that neither of us will be returning!

It's a lovely room, it's true. The ceiling is fabulous. But maybe just stick to a drink and go somewhere else to eat. Or better still, run in through the revolving door, take in the view and go straight back out again.

I have rarely met worse value for money. My prawn salad consisted of one and a half prawns, half a boiled egg, an inch of asparagus, plus a few supermarket-bag salad leaves. Kedgeree was plain weird – dry rice with a 1970s school curry sauce round it. And then chocolate pudding, more or less Angel Delight with a strong rubbery layer on top, like bouncy gravy browning, and an acidic raspberry. All in all, you might accept this if it was served to you on a tray by the NHS – but on any other occasion, you'd leave feeling robbed. Like I did.

So sad. Can't someone rescue this place?

God-awful. the only word I can find to describe this once acclaimed restaurant. Maybe its the new ownership, maybe it has always been this way inclined, I'm not sure. what I am sure of, is that I shall not be going back.

Service started off poorly at the door when we were rather forcefully asked for our coats, even though we didn't want to quite rid ourselves of all our belongings (it being a cold day). We were then told we couldn't keep coats on the chairs due to their ‘dress code’ when the restaurant was pretty much full of tourists anyway! I then asked for a ticket for our items which never came and upon leaving was adamantly told by the stroppy European woman that she distinctly remembers providing one. Upon which I had to remind her rather sternly (which I do not expect to have to do, being the customer that's supposed to always be right!) that she hadn't. That about summarised the beginning and end to a mediocre, dull and lifeless dining experience.

To add, food was uninspiring and lacked any finesse you would expect in such an establishment. Having ordered the pollock with chips, I found myself draining excess oil from the fish and chips and tasting nothing but grease. When I requested some vinegar, I was told there was only balsamic (on chips??!) and then later presented with some white wine vinegar half way through my meal. To top the vinegar debacle, one of my fellow diners who ordered the cumberland sausages with mash was told at 1.15pm that they had run out of these and had replaced it with a pork chop instead. Unacceptable.

Not a great fan of Gordon Ramsey but even if he'd had walked in, he could have spotted this was a kitchen nightmare upon first sight. Disgraceful service, poor standard of food and an ambience fit for a funeral. If there is any use for this place, it is to hide away the laggards of the hospitality industry – starting with the moody woman at the door.

I'm not sure what has happened to the ‘once’ great Criterion. I dined on Friday night with great anticipation only to be brought back down to earth with a bump…Firstly before I start the food was excellent. I had the Terrine followed by the pork finished with the divine crème Brule. The wine was also excellent but i played safe as the waitress had no idea what she was talking about after having asked for the sommelier.

The service was poor we were given a shy little eastern European girl who seemed lost with what was being asked of her…she even asked how my friends pork should be cooked???

Our starter’s arrived before our wine, which was left on the bar for 10 minutes before it was brought over.

The manager was a charming chap but by the time he made contact while on our desserts the damage had been done.

Won’t be going back…such a shame to see it crumble to this

Overpriced and generally disappointing. Unfortunately I think this one is trading on a reputation that is out of date.
Not one I would recommend.

It's been many many years since I last dined at the Criterion and yet again I'm wondering why. Centrally located, opulent and glitzy – The acoustics from the high ceiling create a wonderfully buzzy atmosphere. I love the old school outlook – starting with the charming staff and the luxurious decor.

The food highlights the best of British with many comforting and deliciously rich favourites. A starter of Foie gras torchon, tomato & onion relish, port reduction, brioche was very good – smooth and rich and gave little feeling of decadence, likewise the Native lobster & wild salmon ravioli, bisque was real treat and it was a bit of a struggle to keep room for the White & dark chocolate tart, praline mousse, kumquat compote for dessert (although I managed).

Personally I feel the new ownership will reignite interest – actually judging from the full lunch sitting I saw, it already has. The Criterion has so much to offer and is absolutely ideal for a pre or post theatre dinner. Prices are excellent considering the prime location and I'm a little surprised they are not higher considering all the polishing that must be done! After 134 years it's good to see an institution still going strong.

I haven't been to the Criterion for a couple of years. And now as I walked in you certainly see a difference. It sparkles! After it's recent take over from MPW, the new owners have done the restaurant proud. Cleaning it's marble walls and gold leaf mosaic ceiling and serving a mouth watering selection of UK oysters, English beef and finishing off with a array of delicous cheese whilst seated under such a magnificent setting. Well what more can I say. It's wonderful to see that someone cares about a London institution as the Criterion Restaurant is. Well done.