Lansdowne

The Landsdowne always had a good reputation for serving fresh, well prepared food with seasonal ingredients but I am sadly to report these days are gone. I went there with a friend for Sunday lunch and we were both hugely disappointed with the food, customer service and general aspect of the place (they had two jars of bloodmary behind the stick ybar ready to be served after the many flies had helped themselves first).
I ordered spinach fritters with spicy lentils and my friend ordered the lamb steak with mash potatoes. The presentation of my fritters was quite shocking and it didn't taste good either. Two uncooked oily pancakes with tinned lentils on top of it and some greek salad (!!!) on the side.
My friend's lamb seemed much more presentable on top of the mash and a beautiful looking gravy. Sadly, the meat was really tough, over cooked and the gravy was full of vinegar which made the whole thing taste rather sour.
I sent my dish back to the kitchen after 2 bites, was offered something else by the waiter but couldn't risk having another badly executed meal and asked for a refund instead just to be told by the manager that it wasn't part of the company policy to offer refunds if the client is not satisfied with the standard of the meal. Great policy!!! I was expecting much more for £9.50.
If you are after a decent meal in a pub with good atmosphere, don't bother going there. An insider told me their head chef is leaving looking for “fresh challenges” and the kitchen has been left to under paid trainees. Enough said, the area is full of good options, so look elsewhere but don't waste your time and money there.

Once upon a time the Lansdowne was a reliable gastropub. No more. I've visited it twice in the last 3 months with several guests and each meal was a disaster. The food was terrible and took ages to reach the table. Each main dish had the texture of over cooked mush and shared the same “whatisit” over spiced flavour. Have the management and chef changed or just lost interest? I won't be back.