Browns (Covent Garden)

Below average food at high prices. Nice atmosphere and decor.
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3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Sunday, July 03, 2011

I went to Brown's WC2 recently with a social club. The venue was noisy and our table was cramped. The food was mediocre apart from the ice cream. The side plates for vegetables which were shared among the diners had no serving spoons. This was unhygienic. I won't be going there again.
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2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Saturday, November 20, 2010

I've had previous form with Brown's. I visited their Oxford branch on one of my very first dates with my lovely wife and they gave us a real run around about where we could and couldn't sit and what we could and couldn't order. However I complained to their head office and they were really good at getting back to me and one complimentary voucher later I was happy to use their chain of brasserie type places. The one in Mayfair is a pretty good spot for lunch whilst West End shopping. I had only been to the Covent Garden one for a cocktail demonstration evening many years ago where I won a bottle of vodka for inventing an African inspired alcopop called the "Hakuna Mattata"

On Saturday we were meeting up with Le Grand Tommo, his wife Kirstin and Tommo's brother Matt who is appearing in the Enron musical. It was an early lunch as Matt was in the show and the Tommo's were going to watch. We bought baby G along so everyone could coo over him. Brown's Covent garden is a big old restaurant and is nicely done up. Nice use of the buildings period features and despite being busy you aren't rammed in. We had a long table near the bar with plenty of room for baby's buggy. It was busy in there so baby was more than happy watching the world go by.

We ordered a fairly standard lunch selection, burger, fishcakes, salad and a shepherds pie for me as i was off to the football later. The food when it came looked good but it lacked taste. I was a bit surprised that the kitchen had taken the trouble to slow cook the lamb shoulder and build a very nice looking sheperds pie but then didn't season the dish so it was really bland. Similarly the nice portion of spinach and carrots tasted bland. I was hungry so I finished it but my abiding taste was the pint of guiness I had with lunch. The others found their food fine but nothing exceptional.

Matt went off to make up and we had an hour to kill before the start of the show so we thought dessert would be nice. Unfortunately it took an age to get served. Half the waiting staff seemed to be standing around gossiping the other half working hard. The managers were non existant, for a place this size I would like to have seen someone working the floor chaising up food and helping out the waiting staff. I eventually ordered the chocolate brownie and ice cream which was distincly average, none of the desserts had a wow factor. The bill for us two came to about £40 which would have been reasonable had the food been tasty. In a way "Browns" Covent Garden is a good metaphor for theatreland, it may look nice and offer attractive options but deep down it's just after your money. It is so busy here that repeat custom is not a priority. It's conveniently average.
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A truly awful experience. We were tempted by the pre-theatre menu (finishes at 18:30) and arrived at 10 to 6 to be told that the waiting time was 35 to 40 minutes. That didn't sound too bad so we decided to stay, the show started at 19:30 and was only a couple of minutes away - plenty of time. They have an odd system of letting you know (or not) when your table is ready - a board that was meant to flash up the table number - it showed anything but! We were patient and occasionally asked what number were they up too and when we could expect to be seated. The responses were very offhand and not very friendly or helpful - "we're busy" being one response. 55 minutes later we did eventually get seated. This was by now beyond the 18:30 "offer" time - there was no argument about us ordering from this menu and we managed to get the 2 courses down, pay and be out by 19:28. Waiting staff were not very attentive - I didn't manage to get a drink until the desert came. We got to the theatre as the curtain went up - almost a miracle. Altogether a bad and stressful experience. The food was OK but not worth waiting for.
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Richard West
5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Friday, February 19, 2010

We had a fantastic meal here tonight, the waitress could have been a bit more focused on us as a guests and a smile would have been nice. but the food was delish.

we had seafood antipasta with breads and dips followed by the ribeye steak and braised lamb shoulder both dishes were presented well and tasted as good.

what a lovely restaurant in a prime location well worth a visit.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 11, 2010

Our family (2 adults, 2 children) attended after a matinee ballet performance on 28 Dec 09. We were not able to reserve for a small party beforehand, but we had no problem getting in. We ended up sitting rather 'in a passage way', so it wasn't a particularly peaceful meal. Service was slow and not very interested: it took 15-20 minutes to bring the starter and another 10-15 minutes to bring the main course. That said, the food on the Prix Fixe menu was good and reasonably priced at £12.95 / £14.95 a head. Although the food was fine, the service was uninspiring; our impression was that the organisation was rather living off its name and the staff didn't feel they had to try too hard. We're unlikely to go back.
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5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, January 05, 2010

My wife and I went to Brown's last Saturday, 28/11/09 after the theatre, so we didn't arrive until 22.20hrs. We had booked and were shown to our table immediately. The place was packed, but we were served our drinks within 5 minutes of arriving, including free tap water (no over priced bottled water). My wife ordered baked flat mushrooms to start and I had Crab and Avocado salad. Both were excellent. For mains we both opted for Browns Bacon Cheeseburger. Again excellent, freshly made burgers cooked medium - just how we like them. If I had to criticise one thing it would be the celeriac coleslaw. It was bought-in and almost completely tasteless - but that is nit-picking. We had selected a bottle of Chenin Blanc from the very reasonably Wine List to accompany our meal and that too was of good quality.

What really impressed us was the service - this is a big restaurant, but the level of service was very high indeed, with a very knowledgable waiter who was always attentive without being at all pushy.

Overall a very pleasant experience and one that we will certainly repeat the next time we are in London.
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John Bambridge - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, November 30, 2009

I was unsurprised by the poor reviews on this site - the service isn't always great and the place is always busy and hectic and involves a bit of a wait for a table. But I love it - it has atmosphere, noise and a great menu. Hang out at the bar while you wait for your table and sink a few vinos/beers, order some hearty British fare and be prepared to be stuffed full. I first visited Browns in Oxford as a child (this may have been the first one) and I always have a great time. Yep the service is slow but if you're out catching up with friends, what's the rush! Just order another bottle of wine and enjoy the place.
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Kelly
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

We came to Browns for a hen do dinner on Saturday night in one of the private rooms - been to the Covent Garden one a few times before but I didn't know they had rooms upstairs until a few weeks ago!

The food was good and not too expensive, although the puddings could've been more inventive (would've preferred a brownie to a fruit salad but that wasn't on offer). Really good atmosphere though and a few little touches to make it extra special - bubbly on arrival, decorations etc.

i really like Browns, and other than sometimes slow service Ive always had good experiences - it can get really busy and a bit too hectic but thats covent garden - always packed around there so not that surprising. They do yummy cocktails here too which we all took advantage on Saturday - needless to say a very fun if a little hazy evening.
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8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Went there last night - the worst food I have ever been served in a restaurant - any restaurant; even fast food joints! The starters were poor; I had sardines which were bony and garnished by dried out tomato that had seen better days. Then came the steak; the worst steak I have ever had - full of gristle and inedible. It came with thrice fried chips ...... FROZEN chips that obviously been reheated by frying them again ... and again - appalling! My steak was replaced with a burger. It was dry, seasonless and came with the same quality chips! There were 7 in our party; all of us felt the same. The staff (our waiter was very pleasant) were far too busy and obviously unable to cope with the packed restaurant - I felt quite sorry for them. We expressed our disappointment and, without qualm, had 6 of the main courses taken off the bill. Nothing they could do, however, could compensate us for such a dreadful experience. Nothing could pursuade me to go back EVER!.
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dm
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Sunday, March 01, 2009