1 Lombard Street (Brasserie)

This place should be great, but it didn't quite make it. Let start with the positives. Lovely interior. Nicely spaced seating where you could talk privately. Our waitress was excellent. Knowledgeable, friendly, attentive. She was also very good at talking through the wine list so we did not have to suffer some snotty sommelier. The wines she suggested were all good

Starter was a passable crab, avocado salad with a novel blob of Bloody Mary sorbet balanced on top. Not bad. My colleagues had asparagus with a soft poached duck egg. Lovely

Now the huge downer. My main course was roasted cod. This cod was not roasted, it was incinerated. Over-cooked, dry and tasteless and, given the price, meanly proportioned.

In summary I think this is an attractive restaurant, very pricey, friendly professional staff but not a totally convincing experience.
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Warthog
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, July 05, 2011

I usually bring clients here for business lunches as the setting works perfectly and the food is always good. I enjoyed dinner here for the first time last night and have to say how impressed my wife and I were with the service and the atmosphere. The food was good as always - I started with carpaccio of smoked haddock and my wife had a delicious crab and avocado salad with bloody mary sorbet. For mains, she had the grilled sea bass and I went for the lamb cutlets with straw potatoes. Neither of us left a crumb on our plates! We had some good wine recommendations couldn't resist sharing a hot chocolate fondant for dessert.

All in all, a really good evening and my wife has said she definitely wants to come back again.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, March 02, 2011

My company choose this venue to reward our high achievers. The location and first impressions where exactly what we had aimed for, however it went somewhat down hill from there. Despite being one of the only tables in the restaurant we were seated at the top of the stairs that led to the toilets. There was a real lack of atmosphere that may have been due to very few other patrons, but it certainly was not helped by the staffs apparent lack of interest. Our food was ok and I mean ok, it was far from amazing and came up short in comparison to it's pricing. The biggest let down for me was the service, empty plates were left on the table, we constantly had to ask for our wine, that was kept on the side away from our table, overall a real lack of care and attention, in an empty restaurant! A real shame.
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Mark Channon
3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Saturday, February 12, 2011

I am not one for bickering but this was one disappointing dinner...

The dinner didn't start well as our aperitifs, wine and water took over 15 minutes to arrive. After we finally received them, we asked the waiter that we were ready to order the food. Unfortunately, waiters don't take orders in this establishment, so we had to wait for a manager. After waiting for 20 minutes and asking several waiters to send over a manager, we actually thought about using our mobiles to call the reception (to get some type of attention).

We finally ordered our meals and ordered more drinks which incredibly took another 20 minutes (why?). Our starters were decent but really nothing special. Unbelievably, we had our empty starter plates on our tables for a good 15 minutes before anyone noticed.

Our main courses were better but still not that special. After our main courses we shared a carrot, pecan cake, which really tasted like something off a sainsbury's/waitrose shelf. It was all getting very tiring and incredibly our empty aperitif glasses were still on the table. It really was unbelievable. We were upset and will never be back.
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Oliver - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Thursday, December 09, 2010

This is my go-to venue when I'm in the City. I've enjoyed breakfast, many excellent lunches, dinners and met up with friends for drinks at the bar. The setting is a huge draw - I can't think of any other dining establishment with such a spectacular domed ceiling - but it's the food I come back for. Favourite dishes include a melt-in-the-mouth calves liver and bacon, and classic bangers and mash. The service is friendly and efficient and I can't recommend it highly enough.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, October 28, 2010

cant recommend this place. the food is overpriced. management is very unprofessional.
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peter - View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Been there several times in the last couple of years, including taking 20 customers there for lunch. Always very professional service, good food well presented, busy, noisy and lively atmosphere. Enjoyable experience and would no hesitation in returning.
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Tony
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Poor atmosphere, lukewarm, overpriced food and surly bar staff - not recommended.
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1 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, February 12, 2010

Three of us had lunch at the bar last week, my second visit.

It was pretty empty, but it is a nice room in any event. The food was adequate without being special, but it is well run, clean, airy, uncramped and hospitable. As places in the City go, these qualities make it unusual.

I would go there again happily - the bar is fine to eat at, but the tables are preferable if you are on expenses.
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James - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I had lunch here this week and it was superb.

A working lunch without much time, and just had a main course - the friccasee of seafood with a risotto. Absolutely delicious pieces of fish - tuna, swordfish, seabass, red mullet and monkfish. Risotto was very good too, though could have been wetter.

Service was good, they need to improve on the bread portion, even though it was tasty. All in all, no complaints.
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mattsay - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, November 27, 2009