Nick's Reviews

4 of us went for Sunday lunch, being my wife 25 year old daughter and her boyfriend.

The place was full and we enjoyed the buzz of the place – the dining area, very plainly decorated, is fairly small so quite noisy when full which was fun for a ‘chatty’ sunday lunch.

We really liked the fact that you could approach the meal rather like english tapas i.e we choose 6-7 dishes of the starters menu and shared – it worked very well and the food was all good and tasty – incidentally the choice of main courses is very limited so this is not a place for a more formal occasion if that is what you want.

The wine list is Ok – not cheap overall although they had a couple of binends on the board and i chose a red burgundy from there.

Considering all the postives above, I was disappointed with the service – it took some waving to get someone to take our wine order and then replenish wine and water later – service of the food itself is ok. I think they could do with one more member of staff just making sure everyone has got what they want to drink and fast – actually they would probably sell more if they did. Having said that we did finaly manage to get 3 bottles of wine delivered and much enjoyed between 4! Hic!

Price, all up, was just over £200 inc service for 4, with £90 of that being the wine!

Having been taken to the original St John's for snday lunch a month or so ago my wife and I feel that we enjoyed this restaurant better – the food, atmosphere, decor and pricing all seems to work better than at the more ‘formal’, relatively, original.

Definitely will go again for Sunday lunch!

6 of us went for their sunday lunch menu last weekend and very pleasant it was too!

The sunday menu is fairly short but full of interesting combinations and the cost of £25 for two courses and £30 (I think) for 3 courses seemed to us to be reasonably value, particularly as we shared 3 puds between six which worked well!

It was a cold bright day and up on the top floor with loads of glass walls around us it was a very pleasant location. The main part of the restaurant was pretty much full of people having a good time – very relaxed.

The service was really very attentive and excellent – for example we told the wine waiter we had a limited budget and he took a lot of time to take us through the very extensive list and come up with two excellent wines at the cheap end of the list.

A good location for sunday lunch in the middle of the city and not a suit in sight!

Three of us had lunch here for our first visit and can be defintely deemed a success!

The first impression is given by the huge (10ft high I guess) wooden front door which is a tremendous quality introduction.

The room itself is well decorated with a intergral bar area where you can also eat. Tables do not have table clothes, which helps to provide a less formal atmosphere but everything smacks of good quality including the cutlery (not an item that I would normally comment on). The round tables for 3-4 are reasonably spaced. The tables for two looked rather close together but no more so than other places in the westend.

Service was attentitive and efficient without being overbearing.

The menu, which changes twice a day between lunch and dinner, is varied and interesting across both starters and mains, and between fish and meat (being a protein eater I didnt notice the vegetetarian choices – sorry!). I had ‘ Heaven and Earth’ to start- yes I didnt know what that was until I asked – black pudding with potatoes and apple – lovely! Followed by the haddock which was also excellent. One of my partners had the smoked salmon and then the beef shoulder with bonemarrow – both very tasty although he doesnt eat bone marrow _ why did he order it you might well ask as we did!

Our third companion is a prospective client and he did not mind being a guinea pig with us on the day and he was very happy with his food choice too.

The wine list is not extensive but more than adequate for most except those with a very particular requirement.

I was very impressed at this first visit and will definitely go again – i did wonder if I shouldn't grade it 9 overall but decided another visit was required to achieve that high a rating from me!

My wife and I went for Sunday lunch today – 28 floors up and the sun shining! Sadly the queen was not in Buck house (wrong flar flying) so no sightings of her way down below! We were given a table at the window and I strongly recommend you ask for such a table because if, like us after 30+ years of marriage, you run out of subject matter then you can just look at the great view!

Actually our visit didnt start brilliantly as a very brusque young lady was at the door ‘demanding’ if we had a reservaton and pointing my wife to the corner to leave her coat! If they aspire to a michelin star then the door manners have too improve! However thereafter the service could not be faulted.

As we had the time we chose the tasting menu I(£75 pp), which we enjoyed a lot. To save the trouble of choosing wine we also went for their choice of wine (£35 extra pp) which worked pretty well overall all but was not compelling.

The place was virtually full and had a good feel about it and we were not rushed at any point – we were there in all about 2 1/2 hours. The tables are far enough apart to mean that you can speak easily and in confidence despite it being busy.

Not a cheap outing given our choice (the 3 course menu of the day was, I think, £25 pp) and given the location and the quality of the food that looks a bargain!

Good fun and we will go again and try either the menu of the day or the a la carte for a change.!

Four of us went to the oyster bar for a pre-theatre meal on Saturday – we were able to book in advance.

Had previously been to the restaurant several times and liked it ,so, given the restaurant was fully booked, we decided to try the oyster bar.

The menu is shorter than the main restaurant and the size of helpings about 2/3rds the size of the restaurant ,which worked well for a pre theatre event (not too heavy on the stomach!).

When we first arrived it was chaos (5.30pm) as lots of people were in the bar (and sitting at the bar) waiting for their tables in the restaurant to come available (restaurant opens at 5.30 pm). It took a few minutes to get any proper attention but once the crowd disappeared the service was friendly and efficient. Food (crab, fish pie, calamari, cheese and crumble) was all to the usual high standard and the place had a very good and buzzy atmosphere.

We all enjoyed it and will certainly go again (not cheap at £200 for 4 all up inc. 2x bottles of wine) We were told that they always keep a number of places at the bar available for those who just drop in so when there is only two of us we will do just that!

We were at the theatre again the following week so my wife and I dropped in without booking and if anything the food was even better than the previous time ( I had the abroath smokey salad and Cornish stew). it is a very civilised place for a pre-theatre bite to eat if you dont want a full meal! i think it will be a regular haunt for us for pre-theatre visits

My wife and I went to Friday night dinner – our first visit to this restaurant.

The previous reviews below are accurate in our view i.e

• the location is cosy and ideal for a chilly winter's evening
• the menu is attractive in its range and the wine list interesting (26% off their New Zealand Trinity Hill wines when we were there)
• the quality of the food was very good.
• we strongly recommend the Trinity Hill Homage Chardonnay 2002 which was well priced, with the 26% discount, at £75. Every bit as good as a high quality white burgundy
• the atmosphere was quite ‘buzzy’ as the restaurant was virtually full (as far as we could see) and the numerous small rooms makes it feel cosy
• and then there is the service! The best way of describing it is ‘quixotic’. It is informal and the multiple staff coming to our table were all very ‘French’. There were moments of confusion during the evening and some of the staff seemed uncertain about what they should be doing and service was not rapid but it was Ok given we were happy to have a leisurely dinner. Nevertheless the result was we had to stop sparking water being poured on top of tap water and visa versa, we had to ask for more bread and after a longish wait for our main course (whole seabass – delicious!) we were approached to be told we were being given an extra course because the chef had forgotten to put our seabass in the oven. We had some rather delicious scallops! We prefered the fact that they didn't try and ‘bullshit’ us about the delay and the offer of an extra course which came immediately was a good gesture.
  

Overall we felt the food quality was high, the location good, particularly for small groups of say 2 -4 people and the service acceptable but I wouldnt want to have the same experience again when we go there because it could get rather irritating!

We will try it again.

My wife and I went for the first time. it was a Friday evening.
The bar was ‘buzzing’ when we arrived and the restaurant almost filled up while we were there. We really enjoyed the visit and will definitely go again with our 20's children (we are in our 50's.)

They have a club membership scheme apparently which gives discounts for regulars that we will probably join.

Points to mention:

• the style of the place is not quite up to the ‘glitz’ of Gaucho but not far off. Although if I tried to describe it, it might sound naff but it works!
• the service was excellent, plenty of people around and our waiter drew our attention to the wine of the month (South African) which was £15 cheaper than the one we were about to choose, which was excellent. That is a very good sign!
• the food was good and, by London standards, reasonable value. We ate a starter (squid and battered prawns) followed by rib-eye and filet steaks. All cooked to our liking. Our only negative point was that the sauces for the steaks were very disappointing. Approach these with care would be our view although clearly it is a personal choice.
• there was a live band playing in the bar (Wed to Fridays apparently) who played great music at a sound level that could be heard clearly but not so loud that we couldn't speak.
• instead of having a dessert we moved to the bar and had cocktails (plenty of choice), whilst listening to the live music.
  

It was fun!