The Larder

Best restaurant in the area by a mile on both food and price. We've eaten here a few times and have enjoyed ourselves every time – we tell all our friends about it and several have visited. Might start asking for commission!!! The last time we went we had scallops and then lamb and a risotto then steak. Good clean flavours in hearty-sized portions. You really do get what you pay for. Good inexpensive wine list, too.
Highly recommended!!!

I have to say that this was one of the worst restaurants that I have ever, ever has the displeasure of visiting.

We arrived at 8pm for our booking and the place did seem very nice. However, the service was appalling. It took an hour for us to get our first drink and even then they arrived sporadically. We asked for some water and this then took another 15 minutes. So, just to re-cap we had been in the restaurant for 1 hour and 15 minutes and only just got our drinks.

When we finally ordered, there was a sense of relief around the table, given that it was now 9.30pm. However the staff then came to inform us that they did not have all of the starters we had ordered…then some 15 minutes later we were told that some of our main courses had run out. Shocked – yes we were.

Needless to say, we demanded the bill and paid for the drinks and promptly left at about 10pm. The manager was applogectic, but to be honest, it was too little and too late, especially having not eaten a thing.

Absolutely shocking restaurant. From what I saw, the food did look lovely, we were just not prepared to wait 2 or more hours for it!!!

Would not return.

We visited the Larder on a Monday night; on the basis of the following online booking deal with Square Meal: namely, “50% off when ordering both a starter and main course from the a reduced la carte menu, side orders and desserts. (excluding service and drinks).”

The restaurant was almost deserted when we arrived; and, through a few people arrived after us, the place was far from busy. Possibly this is to be expected on a Monday night; and certainly the dining room was large enough to make even a sizeable number of people disappear into the corners. The decor was attractive and simple, but the lighting was dingy and dim; which presented a problem due to the reduced a la carte menu being printed in tiny lettering. I'm in my early 20s and managed OK by squinting; but wouldn't imagine my mum managing very well.

The food was well-executed and impeccably presented. To start, I enjoyed some hearty chunks of hot smoked salmon with creme fraiche and capers; which was a pleasure to consume. My friends enjoyed the mackerel and the goats cheese respectively, both of which were well-plated and evidently consumed with gusto. Prosecco at £22 was somewhat pricey but a pleasant accompaniment.

Our main courses were equally good and again, well presented. My roast cod was super; and the calves liver and the duck were both much enjoyed. A Chardonnay at £18 was an adequate but unremarkable companion.

Our desserts were the cliched Chocolate Fondant; which was done the right way; with an unpreposessing exterior (as opposed to being coated in chocolate sauce, which is the mark of the unconfident chef); but admirably gooey in the centre. My friends both had the Pistachio Creme Brulee; which came in a witty coffee cup with accompanying butter cookie; a nice visual pun; and it tasted pretty good too. The cheese board, which we shared, was good; but had only 2 cheeses, instead of the 3 promised by the menu; and there was no explanation or apology made for this.

As good as the food was, our experience was let down by the service, which was insultingly slow given that there was a ratio of almost 1 staff member per table of customers for a large part of the evening. A cocktail ordered at the (empty) bar took almost 15 minutes to be brought to us. The upturned Prosecco bottle in the wine cooler went untended for ages, and for 10-15 minutes between courses I had to resort to staring across the room to catch the eyes of a staff member. This tactic was unprecedentedly unsuccessful; and the upshot was that we were forced to order wine from the waitress when she brought us our main course. When she brought the wine list, instead of taking our order, she busied herself cutting bread and straightening cutlery across the room. Meanwhile, our food grew colder as we failed to attract her attention. Finally, when it came to pay the bill, they failed to give us 50% off our side orders, desserts and cheese; despite the wording of the advert above. This is either highly misleading or borderline dishonest. If you want to give 50% off starter and main only then it is very simple to say so. This did not.

The bill was £160 with two rounds of drinks at the bar, for 3 courses for 3 people plus a cheese plate, with 2 bottles of wine. The discount made it £130; and the service charge would have made it £155.

We did not pay the service charge, in protest against the slow service and misleading (at best) offer. The woman who processed the payments did so with bad grace and asked us what was wrong with the service in a combative manner.

My feelings as to the restaurant are mixed. The food was excellent; though it would have been expensive but for the offer. The service was so mediocre that it will prove the undoing of The Larder if it that represents the usual standard. I think I can best sum it up by saying that I would offer the chef a job, but never return to the restaurant.

The Larder is a rare gem in London and I am amazed why more people don’t know about it. I work in the area and have dined in the restaurant on several occasions.
The food is fantastic with a great choice of dishes. The staff are really friendly and very helpful.
I have also been to a group birthday party in the evening which was fantastic – we were really looked after and everyone said the food was impeccable. Great buzz in the dining room when full and lovely ambiance on the quieter nights.

I have seen Greg Wallace of Masterchef in there at least 5 times, the staff said he visit about three times a week.
The Larder is one of those places that doesn’t shout about how good it is, but actually is head and shoulders above most other restaurants in a similar category.