St John

I haven't been here for a few months and it sounds like the service has gone down hill if the reviews below are anything to go by.

The last two times I ate there I found the waiting staff accomodating, smiley, professional, helpful and attractive!

Because a lot of the food is a bit...how do I put it...weird (!), I was not really surprised when I ordered hearts (which I had never tried before) and found them incredibly unpleasant and simply too chewy to eat. I gave them to one of my dining companions but she seemed to like them so I guess its a matter of taste. Roast suckling pig main course was delicious. Succulent, flavoursome and it came in a very generous portion. On another occasion I had langoustines which were also lovely, and very fresh- though I can't imagine it can be that hard to mess them up if you have the right raw ingredients. Do agree with others about the bone marrow. It seemed extremely bland and fatty, and you literally only get a couple of tiny bits of marrow that you must struggle to extract with an implement resembling something you would see weilded by a dentist!

I will be returning soon and really hope the service does not disapppoint me like it did a lot of other reviewers.
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kedi
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, September 29, 2010

We were served by a miserable bottle blond who clearly thought that serving was beneath her. The food was mediocre and over priced. This place is a rip off frequented by those who do so because it is cool. Not because of the food or service.
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Kefa
1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Two of us had dinner on 22 Sep 2010 and I must say the service ruined our evening as it was appalling. It was a surprise to me as the reservation service was very responsive and friendly. Here are some specifics about our service experience:-

1. There were 1 waiter and 2 waitresses who served us and none of them showed friendliness. None of them was interactive or even showed any interest in making any effort in serving. The guy did help us with explaining the menu at the beginning. But he didn't even say thank you when he presented the bill at the end.

2. The first waitress, when she served the food, just said "mussels?", trying to identify who between us ordered it. After knowing who, she just put the other dish in front of my dining partner without saying anything. Not to mention that she did not show a slight smile.

3. The 2nd waitress showed us the dessert menu without saying a single word. My dining partner had his elbows on the table in front of him. The waitress tried to push away his elbows with the dessert menu so that she could place it on the table. She didn't even say a word!

4. During the dinner, nobody came to serve wine, water, or check the satisfaction of the meal.

When we arrived at the bar, we were both quite excited about it as we thought the concept is special and unique. However, the service just ruined what could have been a wonderful evening.

I was glad to know that there was no service charge automatically added to the bill, like every other restaurant does. Because I will be even more dissatisfied to pay extra service charge on top of the bill.

We have been to several other restaurants in London during our holiday, e.g. Strada and Fifteen. It was delightful to dine there. I think the staff at St John has a lot to learn from the staff of Strada and Fifteen.
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Roy Lam
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Sunday, September 26, 2010

I had hoped for much from St John's including a good price. Went there for Sunday lunch. 1st Course - Roasted bone marrow and salad. Price about £7. Second course, lambs tongues with beans. Price about £17. Third course vanilla ice cream with profiteroles and raspberry. Price about £7. Total bill about £30.

There was a male waiter who seemed French and rather serious. I can't say I was made welcome. He was of few words and did not smile. The restaurant was somewhat dark, very open spaced with white walls and linen tablecloths, rather spartan. The first thing that strikes you when you walk in, for an eatery that specializes in offal is unsurprisingly perhaps the smell. Not roast meat and bread, more like sizzling fat.

First course very disappointing if somewhat filling. Four chunky bones, two slices of toast, some sea salt on the plate with salad. The problem I had with this "signature dish" is that it makes the marrow rather bland and tasteless and there were probably about 2g of marrow you could extract from each bone. The dish did not smell very pleasant and would have been pitiful without the sour bite of the salad and some salt. Personally, some marrow on its own with gravy of some description would have helped. Something that truly brings out the succulence that is marrow, rather than killing it on the rocks of abrasive and hard toast that totally destroys the delicacy of the marrow and turns it into an afterthought were it not for those very large bones which are in any case completely inedible and take a lot of space. At least it is a dish at which you have to work hard in extracting the marrow using a special knife.

Second course, about 6 lambs tongues with a very thin gravy and a few scattered vegetables including some pale beans. That was it. It was rather meagre compared to the first course if interesting. Though I did not feel cheated by the taste of flavor, I did feel cheated by the package after having paid twice as much as the starter and a little more. Neither especially good to look at, or enough to fill the stomach. The tongues were very tender, sour and the taste was appropriately delicate.

Third course, absolutely smashing. Well worth the wait. Among the cheapest desserts available were 6 or 12 madeleines. I asked the waiter about them and he explained that they were sponge cakes, so I decided to go for the ice cream. Really good ice cream, fresh raspberries and three profiteroles to act as a sandwich.

Overall verdict: The choice of offal available was not good. Maybe they change the menus daily? They did not have pigs trotters or ears as I had hoped. The whole place needed some indoor plants at least and more lighting. The open plan made it feel like a large, communal dining room, rather serious if practical. The smell was not especially inviting. The food is not really value for money. If you want the St. Johns experience on a bit of a budget, I suggest you have 2 starters and a dessert. The main courses just don't seem worth it.

We have very little idea about what these dishes actually are, so they could at least make some effort with better descriptions on the menu, chef's recommendations or maybe a few posters, cards or something about the philosophy of the place. The menu advertised a book about the philosophy of the place but it looked rather dear. The menu was just a printed sheet of white paper, nothing too formal. Like I said, maybe they make them off the cuff on a daily basis? For such an expensive restaurant, I think a little more effort is needed.

I am very supportive of serving offal and local "English" fare. Encore I'd say. I'm a sort of Asian trying to go for an English. Maybe I'll just keep looking and may consider an infrequent second visit though I should at the moment keep it to just once a year, hoping that they may improve or I can find a similar place that's worth the effort of making a booking.
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R Dissanayake
5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Over-priced and over rated. This place was supposed to be a different and enjoyable experience. In fairness some of the food we had was OK. My lamb was cooked just as I wanted it which was fortunate because as I ordered it I was told by the waitress that the restaurant will only cook it medium rare. At these prices maybe the customer should be given the option of asking for it to be cooked to their preference.

The roasted bone marrow dish looked like something you'd find in a soup kitchen scene in the Flintstones cartoon.

The service was very slow and indifferent. One waitress was obviously not very skilled at uncorking wine which is not satisfactory when expensive wines are ordered. When we asked about tipping we were told that if the tip is put on a credit card only a percentage of it goes to the waiting staff whereas cash tips all go to the staff. Could this account for the indifferent service?
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Warthog
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Friday, August 06, 2010

I took my family for my wife's Birthday Celebration to St John.s which was recently quoted as the 14th Best Restaurant in the World :-(

The appearance of the place is more like the Routier in France which in itself is not a bad point, but the prices are certainly not in path with Les Routiers restaurants. How to make offals make money..

The service is clumsy, the staff does not look neat with the Chef's vest most of them with ink stains. At the server the Head Chef on duty is slowly sipping his beer :-?

The food is good but nothing exceptional, it reminded me of my mother's cooking tongue or heart.

Why on earth does this place got to the top 50, the cooking or service are neither difficult or at their best.

In all a nice experience but disappointing one as the expectation was far higher.

Of course it is not that many places you can get good offals in the UK but that does not compensate for the average quality of the cooking.
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Nicolas Dreyfus
5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Monday, May 10, 2010

This place is different from the usual range of places in London. I would describe the food as Dickensian Coaching Inn food meets 4th form domestic science.

Do not expect finess or presentation.The beef and kidney pie was overpriced at £30 for two. Passable beef and gravy, very short thin pastry topping.The veg was very school dinners. I wouldn't rush back.This place to me is a novelty act and the service is very indifferent.
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Lawrence
5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Genuinely shocked by some of the reviews below... I am sure these are genuine comments, and everyone is different, but to me this place has it all.

The food is outstanding, but is surpassed by the service, which is the best of any restaurant I have visited in London. So helpful, friendly and genuine.

Great for lunchtime bar food too if you can get a table in the bar - amazing welsh rarebit.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, March 12, 2010

OK were do we start? It's shocking that this restaurant is rated as number 14 in the world on another well known website. We have just returned from an evening out at this restaurant and it certainly was not what we would class as top rated.

I had the signature disk of Roast Bone Marrow & Parsley Salad, this was over cooked. The marrow that was there was so small.

For mains I had the Roast Mutton, Chard & Anchovy. This was cold, bland and unseasoned. 2 thin slices for £21...It had to be returned has it was stone cold, it was returned after been flashed under the grill!!!!

For my pud I had a Chocolate Pot & Walnut Biscuit. This was nothing special, no better than a M & S pud.

One of my guests had the crab for a starter. This was no more that a whole crab in the shell served with mayo. No effort had been made to present the crab, the shells weren't even cracked!

My partner had the Cold Roast Middlewhite & Pickled Quince @ £8.80. The pork was once again bland and unseasoned. The terrine that another of our guests had tasted Ok, but it really it would of been in a ploughman's lunch box.

Overall the service was OK and the wine list had a good selection and the prices of the wines was good.

The food this evening was a real let down.
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Peter Hunter
4 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, February 17, 2010

I will admit that they do not serve my type of food so I will not comment much on the main courses. I am sure it is nice for the ones who prefer. However I will comment on my pudding which had black burnt pieces in it.

The main reason that I will not go to St John again is not the mediocre food but their service. It is very very very slow and sometimes clumsy. Our waiter split half of a full glass of wine to the tables and did not even offer to top it up. In addition to that, does someone tell the waitresses not to smile or to look dead serious?

I am wondering whether they will be able to keep their star for long.
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evrim - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, November 24, 2009