Skylon Grill

Sunshine & a view makes everything better

I almost feel bad writing (yet) another review of (yet) another working lunch. It's still not a euphemism, by the way.

Chosen by a supplier today, Skylon Grill would not have been choice #1 for your veggie correspondent, but it transpires that they understand “us” rather well.

It is slightly odd that the Grill essentially shares the same space as the main Skylon event, and presumably the same kitchen space. I suppose that this is no different from choosing the “bar” rather than the “restaurant” menu at your local gastro-gaff.

Luckily, we had a window table, the sun (remember that?) was out, and the tourists were outside. Call me picky, but if there's one thing (apart from torture / bad food) more likely to spoil lunch, it's really noisy tourists. Obviously, this rule does not apply when I'm the tourist.

Scene set? Good. Then we'll begin.

Wine list: v good. Interesting, and as it turns out “quaffable”. Menu: varied, and capable of raising an eyebrow or 2.
Service: v v good. I do like a waiting staff who smile because they like what they're doing, rather than because they have just read the “Smile, it costs nothing” poster on the back of the door from the pass.

In short order, we demolished an excellent pate (not me, natch), salad and soup, followed by codling, tortelloni and a steak, all liberally washed down with a couple of bottles of something white and then red (a Cotes de Rhone which made me realise how bad a supermarket CdR usually is).

All in all, a rather splendid place. I booked on the spot to take 'er indoors in a couple of weeks, and frankly, I can't wait.

We arrived as walk-ins to the restaurant one sunny Sunday lunch. The maitre d' sized us up immediately; one of us in shorts the other in a hoodie. Perhaps we would prefer the grill?

Sure: it is one room, separated by those silly screens that Victorian ladies would modestly derobe behind. So far as I could tell, the only difference between the grill and the real restaurant is that the latter has white table cloths. Otherwise, same room, same staff and strikingly similar menus.

The room itself is a stunner; high, high ceilings, double height windows and cracking views of Hungerford Bridge. I guess it is better at night, with twinkling lights that don't quite illuminate the detritus of the South Bank.

The menu is standard grill nosh, with terrines and salads to start and steaks, confited duck and the like for mains.

Having just been to the aquarium next door, we had to have the fish. In fact, I wonder if the aquarium isn't really a holding pen for the restaurant: as soon as you walk in you are met by lobster, langoustine, spider crab, cod and all sorts of tasty looking piscine delights. The cod (yes I KNOW, but come on, it probably came from a sustainable source. Next door in fact) was as gorgeous a piece as I've had for a while. Crunchy skin, firm white flesh atop chorizo and chick pea. As lovely a fish dish as you'll find in London bistro land. The other dish, a linguine with wild mushrooms, was pleasant too; properly al dente, but a cold poached egg on top didn't really add anything.

Foregoing the dessert, we instead had a dessert cocktail; a Jaffa martini, which was a Jaffa cake in a martini glass, with orange and chocolate liqueurs. In fact, the bar looks pretty fine too, and turns out a good array of cocktails, with a good number of wines by the glass or half bottle too.

An odd place to find such a good restaurant but, if lost on the South Bank feeling peckish, it is worth negotiating the nightmare maze that is the Festival Hall to find what is, by a country mile, the best place to eat on this stretch of the Ping Pong and Yo Sushi infested river front.

I visited the restaurant last night and was extremely underwhelmed by the entire experience. It was like dining in a massive food hall and it was very difficult to have a conversation. It was my boyfriend's birthday so a more romantic and personal setting would have been nice. The views were non-existent as we were sat far away from the windows. I suppose that can't really be helped. The staff were OK but they were quite impersonal in my opinion.

The Chateaubriand was nice, but we had asked for it to be cooked medium/rare and it came out very rare. The accompanying french fries were served cold and they were tough/chewy and too salty!

We decided not to opt for dessert and not to go back to this restaurant again.

Do not bother. Aside from great atmosphere and view over the river I wouldn't rate this place at all. The service was abysmal. Clearly not enough staff for the no of busy tables they had. We waited 40 mins before our drink order was taken. The food was rubbish. My foie gras was so warm it was almost swimming on the plate and the quince chutney still had most of the stones in it. A mouth of hard stones is not palatable and very bad show. I guess the only upside to that was the manager taking it very graciously and removing it from the bill. All in all below average (except for the wine) particularly for the price of food. I defintely won't be back.

I am puzzled by the rave reviews this rather bland restaurant seems to attract. We booked on the back of them but all four of us were left scratching our heads. It was “OK” and that is really the best word I can find to describe it. Food was fresh but lacked zing, and there wasn't very much of it. We had the pre-theatre menu: a salad of herring and new potatoes was pretty but didn't taste of much, a fricassee of orecchetti and spring vegetables was a very meagre tablespoon-full of pasta stir fried with some broccoli, cauliflower, broad beans and almonds with a few flakes of parmesan and that didn't taste of much either. The pear on the pear and chocolate tart had been sitting in the sun awhile and the guinness ice cream had a rather unpleasant bitter taste. Oh dear. The chocolates with the coffee were nice and the coffee was good. Service was hit and miss. The view is lovely, we agree, but I am not sure that you can rate a restaurant solely on the view, the food and the service would be more important to me. It depends what you are looking for: Skylon is safe but is not going to set your pulse racing.

Excellent meal there today. Delicious chateaubriand, perfectly cooked; juicy entrecote steak; good kids' meals; fresh salads – especially nice tomato salad, with red and yellow fruits; tasty sorbets and ice creams at just-right portion sizes. Impeccable service and catered well for a wheelchair user and kids. Gave us a good table near the window – but window tables themselves are only for tables of two or four. Prices are not low, but it's value for money.

The key attraction of Skylon is the great view out over the river through the huge 25ft tall front windows. If you can time your sitting for sunset in the summer it’s awesome, but on any evening the twinkling lights of London look great. They are also good from virtually any seat in the house, making it a safer bet for views than Oxo Tower for example.

I was there on a D&D offer of £15 for three courses so I had no complaints about pricing. The food was good throughout, with an excellent tirmasu yoghurt thing that is quite hard to describe but was delicious as dessert.

The atmosphere is fashionable, buzzy and makes a great setting for a Friday or Saturday night out with friends or a date. Service was well timed throughout. Décor is pretty cool, being a modern interpretation of the 60’s Royal Festival Hall in which it is set.

I recommend it as a good stylish all rounder, suitable for both weekend fun or something more intimate.