The Portman Marylebone

Food was really good and on a surprisingly sunny day in October we were able to eat outside at lunchtime. The setting and the pub interior are great, but the pub is small and so it would be prudent to book in advance. The wine list is extensive, but surprisingly expensive, there are only a few 'value' light wines suitable for lunchtime. The staff were friendly and attentive. All in all a very good dining experience.

What London really doesn’t need is yet another generic high-end pub posing as a restaurant. The Portman, in its former incarnation as the Mason’s Arms, used to be a traditional London boozer with lovely wood panelling and a decent atmosphere. ‘Reinvented’, the walls are now whitewashed, multiple TVs show rolling BBC news from almost every seating location and the lights are turned up to an excessively high level of brightness. Atmosphere? Forget it. This is not a recipe for success. The suits and their corporate credit cards now dominate. I had dropped in for the odd beer since I live in the area, but recently came here to eat for the first time, a friend having suggested the location. Breakfast may not show a kitchen at its best, or certainly it is not the meal where chefs would typically most excel, but our experience here was frankly depressing. At 8.30am, beyond our table, just one other was occupied. Our server seemed broadly unenthused about being there (and who wouldn’t be?) and the main activity seemed to be suppliers arriving with food for use later in the day. The coffee was lukewarm and a curiously disquieting muddy brown. My smoked salmon and scrambled eggs was unpleasantly salty and I really did not expect it to be served with just one piece of unbuttered flabby white bread – especially not when I was paying over £10 for said choice. My comrade’s Eggs Benedict looked similarly uninspiring, plonked on the plate with zero love or attention to detail. Based on our breakfast experience and with so much other, better, choice nearby, I have no desire to return to see the Portman’s attempts at either lunch or dinner.

This pub has a lot going on at the bar and a beautiful dining room which is something you would not expect to find in a pub. The food was out of this world and we had to compliment the chef when leaving. The service was very prompt and the staff friendly. A good stopping place for a quick one or a lunch/dinner. £££

This pub has a lot going on at the bar however the dining room was much quieter although looked very intriguing and nothing you would expect in a pub. The food was out of this world and we had to compliment the chef when leaving. The service was very prompt and the staff friendly. A good stopping place for a quick one or a lunch/dinner. £££

The food arrived in less than 5minutes. Our fish&chips had terrible soggy batter. The beef burger was dry. Hasty waitress dint provide any drinks menu and the house wine cost £6 each diluted in lemonade! Terrible

Unbelievably, about 50% of menu choices were unavailable on this Sunday evening, so we chose the only remaining options chicken and sea bass, then they told us the spinach (also one of the few vegetable choices still available) was also ‘off the menu’. When complaining to the manager, who was pretty indifferent to the appaling catering, making no apology, he did say he would find some. Amazingly, our dishes were served literally 5 minutes later… Draw your own conclusions from that! I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

Had a great dining experience at The Portman. Had only ever been for a drink in the pub beforehand, but enjoyed a meal in the Upstairs Restaurant with work collegues. Would 100% go back with friends for a drink and food to experience it in a less formal circumstance.

Portman is a decent gastropub. It's a bit confused as to whether it wants to be a proper pub or a restaurant (linen table cloths in the bar, for example, with ketchup and HP sauce bottles). Fish and Chips was OK, although chips were powdery and clearly not twice cooked; mushy peas was only a teaspoonful. Steak was reasonable. Beers are limited: standard real ales (Pride, Adnams, Black Sheep sometimes). Beer lovers should go to the Carpenters' Arms down the road, where the choice and quality are wider and higher. Prices not too bad; locals get a discount with the Portman card.