St John

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
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

friends of mine went here the other week and got serious abuse from a staff member for not tipping. things were said by the waiter that are not repeatable on this site.. i myself on a previous visit found the staff to be arrogant beyond belief whilst the food was really just ok. you have been warned.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Monday, November 16, 2009

I took one look at the menu when I was roped into coming to eat here and the only thing I could eat was Welsh Rarebit!!! I like meat, do not mistake me, but do not want to be subjected to food that is pretty much the animal equivalent of Jeffrey Dahmer's basement!!!
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Cath
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Friday, November 13, 2009

Spent literally 6 weeks ruminating on, choosing, planning, booking and un-booking restaurants to take my brother to - he rarely gets a night out in London and is a huge foodie. Money no object and he loves eating strange parts of offal and the like. I eventually plumped for St John - thought is was the perfect choice. What a huge disappointment. The food was bland beyond belief. After 2 courses of such mediocrity we decided not to bother with dessert and instead chose very expensive calvados to try and cheer ourselves up. Left over a hundred pounds out of pocket, fairly hungry and a bit gutted.
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SE - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, November 04, 2009

I've visted St John several times now and am neither a 'lady who lunches' nor a 'city banker needing to get a taste of the authentic'. I've eaten in the restaurant on a number of occasions and, when short of time (or having failed to make a booking) have eaten on the bar with a few drinks. On every occasion I have been made to feel welcome, abley advised on wine choices and have received service second to none. I have eaten meat, fish offal and some of the vegetarian options and have never been disappointed.

The highlight of one of my visits, when advised that a dish I wanted on the bar menu was now sold out, was to be told that I could have something from the restaurant menu prepared and brought out for me if I preferred, even though this is not the norm. It is this sort of service that makes St John a regular visit for me.

My only complaint (if this is indeed a complaint) is that sometimes the portions are a little too large for me!
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, October 26, 2009

I love this restaurant. Even though it has a Michelin star it is not at all 'square platey'. There are no jelly cubes or foams just honest, flavoursome food from good provenance. Food is seasonal and the atmosphere is fairly casual. The restaurant has great flair and I recommend you end your meal with an order of madeleines, warm from the oven.
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Fanny Rowland - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Sunday, October 04, 2009

The food is nothing to write home about, with very few options on the menu, and the service - oh, my, the service - it couldn't be worse! Waitress disdaining and very careless; on the top of everything, they tried to rip me off when bill came.
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Roberto German
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Saturday, June 27, 2009

I had heard a lot about this place and was very excited at the prospect. I left slightly disappointed, having expecting more.

The food was good, the bone marrow in particular an unusual dish which works well, albeit that four bones is perhaps a little too much but that cannot be a critisism of the restaurant - only my lack of stamina. The eccles cake and cheese was excellent and well worth having.

The wine was good and the wine list is decent.

The service was infuriating - just far too slow, indifferent, no apologies. They all looked like they had other days jobs and came to earn a few quid as robotic waiting staff at night.

The atmosphere is wierd - definitely not one would expect - but in that regard it makes it rather unique. That is not to say it is a great place to sit for hours on end enjoying your meal though. Quite the opposite I would say: bright lighting, slightly uncomfortable chairs, tables close together, poor accoustics, abatoir look - presumably all of which they intend given the focus on offal and cuts of meat?!
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Rick Brown
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Monday, June 22, 2009

Warning, this is not a restaurant to go to if you have nothing to say to your partner and / or friends. St Johns allows for a leisurely paced dinner with a break between each course and yes, at busy times this may quite long. The food appears to be cooked to order rather than prepared in advance and kept warm. The food was delicious, although the pigeon could have been rare rather than bleu. The size of each course (plus the break between courses) enabled us to enjoy a 3 course dinner without feeling bloated when we left. The French wine list is a bit hit and miss, unless you really know your French wines. If you aren't familiar with French wines I would suggest downloading the wine list and googling the wines before you go.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

went there sunday for lunch which my girlfriend took me too cause it was my birthday and i have got to say that i was not impressed with this place. i am sure it got a michelin star in january, really dont know why.

my starter was 4 spears of asparagus boiled, not even peeled, on a plate and served with warm butter. then i had to wait 45mins for my mains which i got 2 slices of beef 5 shallots and a bit of horseradish oh and some watercress for 23 pounds. come on...when i think that i have been to better places than this and no stars. think it all comes down to politics getting given the stars out for this rubbish...
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dave a
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, May 05, 2009