Cork & Bottle

John S. ( 40s, Male )

Something of an oasis in the culinary wasteland that surrounds Leicester Square, the Cork & Bottle is a place I've frequented off and on for almost two decades, drawn back by great wines at reasonable prices, reliable gastropub-standard food and a lively atmosphere. Standards may have slipped a little since the 90s, but for me it's continued to offer good value. When I had dinner there last week for the first time in about a year the decline was more marked. The food was bland. My spicy sausages tasted of spice and little else. My wife's chicken in parma ham might just about have passed muster, but only if we'd bought it prepackaged from a supermarket, and £13 for each dish represented a hefty mark-up from 2010. The wine was far better — a supple and punchy 2005 Gigondas — but again, at £34, it seemed overpriced compared with the price-to-quality metric we'd got used to on previous visits. We'll probably give it another go for loyalty's sake and because the staff are as friendly as ever, but unless it's upped its game by then we'll be ticking the winebar-with-food box elsewhere .