Browns (Covent Garden)

Me and my husband visited the covent garden restaurant recently and we were extremely happy with our visit, one waiter in particular was very attentive, he was a tall guy who introduced himself as fared. He was very patient with us when I was indecisive about what to order and even suggested nice foods to me after asking what I liked to eat, he was very well mannered and well presented, he served us for the rest of the night, coming over to ask if everything was ok and if there was anything else he could get us. Overall our experience was great, the food was great and because of this waiter in particular we will be returning.
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Sarah
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Went last night - party of 5. One of the waiters was fine - attentive and polite. The others were a mare - one chap rushed about slamming glasses down and the cutlery and eventually the plates. My teenager sets a better table. Another cleared away our wine glasses without asking and then slammed down clean ones when we ordered another bottle. The food; what a waste of ingredients and money. I started with scallops (£9) which were sandy and underseasoned followed by a grilled fillet of beef salad (£15) which had tough bits of meat hiding in a mountain of leaves which in turn were drowned in the slimy chilli, honey and soy dressing. HORRIBLE. It is a nice venue but what is the point when the waiting staff don't wait on you and the food is substandard. This is not what eating out in London is about and gives our city a bad reputation.
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2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Friday, April 27, 2012

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