1 Lombard Street (Brasserie)

Went here a couple of weeks ago with a high expectancy as I had heard a lot of good things about the Brasserie. Unfortunately my friend and I were shown to probably the worst table in the room, which was hidden away by the stairs leading to the toilets. I wouldn't have cared too much if the place was packed, but there were loads of tables at the front which weren't being used. We had a 5 course menu for £19.50 which was good value. Maybe we were shown to the bad table because we had booked the £19.50 set menu however we did order a £55 bottle of wine so I think the brasserie should really think ahead before relegating people to the Outer Hebrides. Needless to say the atmosphere was non-existent as a result of our seating. The food was good value but average. I thought the decor looked tired even though it has such an amazing setting). The menu cards look dated too.

Wouldn't go back again.
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Vicky - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 9
Friday, May 22, 2009

A work party went for the lastminute.com £15 for 2 courses special offer lunch. Firstly let me say that this is a great restaurant as is the food but the same cannot be said for the service. If it was because we were on the "special offer" that we were treated with a little more disdain then others or if it was because their staff are not experienced or .... I don't know what it was but the service did not impress. It took approximately 30 minutes to order 3 glasses of wine, a bottle of wine and some water. No bread arrived at the table (although there was butter - not sure for what if they had no intended to serve bread). We constantly had to make contact with the waitrons - it should be the opposite. The bill came - yes, £15 for 2 courses (not generous courses but courses nonetheless) - but it was £15 for 4 glasses of water and a £28 service charge. Be careful when you go for these things - they may look good when they say "£15 for 2 courses" but there are things you need to pay for over an above that but these are a little pricey!!!
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Karen B
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, March 25, 2009

How often have I heard the phrase "when a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is !" So when my wife booked a table for the five course set meal at £20, I felt she had been seriously conned.

Upon arrival, we were promptly greeted, seated and watered while bread was delivered to the table. Still nothing to quibble about........ especially at £20 for 5 courses.

1st course arrives; a small pumpkin soup...... fantastic.

2nd course: Salmon.........looks like an 80/90's triumph of colour on a plate. A few too many flavours for me, but still fun.

3rd course: shoulder of Lamb served atop of a bean cassoulet....AWESOME am I really only paying £20 for this.

4th course: the Berry and Mint Granita thing did it's job and cleansed the palate.

5th course: Cheese with no explanation as to what the farmhouses cheeses actually were despite our questions.

The service from the senior waitstaff was exceptional and they did go the extra mile.

The same cannot be said for their junior colleagues who are still grasping the finer points of the English language need to at least have the confidence to clarify what is asked of them. We asked what cheeses were served .... no response. I asked for another bottle of the wine we were drinking ... no wine, I asked again and specified the wine and the wrong bottle was brought. Perhaps it is just the one staff member and is the only small quibble on what was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

My suspicions could not have been further from the truth.

Recommended.
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Gregory - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 20, 2008

Had lunch yesterday at 1 Lombard St, 23/09/2008.

Not sure whats happended to this place because it used to be very good when i have been before. Yesterday, I met my guest at the table as she arrived before me, wasnt greeted by any waiting staff nor asked if i wanted anything upon arriving. Found myself having to ask for a drink. Then had to ask to order

Starters and mains were great, couldnt question the food.

Bill was reasonable expect the option tip is automatically added to the bill, which dosent make it very optional, was the service worth the tip, NO.

Poor service and very noisy.
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Marc D - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Went to this restaurant last Wednesday.

The 5 course meal offer was a very good value for money and the food was gorgeous.

I would recommend it to other people.
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Elena
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Sunday, June 01, 2008

Was taken there for my birthday....the experience ruined my day. Firstly they had double booked our table because they has two couples with the same surname (because that's unusual...). To their credit they sorted this out but not without a bit of fuss. Once we were seated and left with the menus we were offered some bread.....turned out to be the only thing we ate. I ordered a bottle of wine from Australia and some tap water. Our water arrived promptly. After 10 minutes I enquired as to the whereabouts of the wine and was told it was "being served". Another 10 minutes passed and I was still dry, so I asked again. After a further 5 minutes I was told that they were out of stock...and it took them 25 mins to go to the cellar and check! In the intervening period not one of the wait staff showed even a small amount of interest in offering us food or any other type of "service". So we left...and no-body seemed to notice that either!

Won't go back, even though the food did look good on paper. Lovely building, horrible service. Disapointing as I really wanted to like it.
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Ben
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Friday, April 25, 2008

I had the 5 course menu in the brasserie at £19.50 which was fantastic value for money.

The food and service were both excellent and I would definitely return again and again and tell all my friends of my wonderful experience.
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Maria
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, April 24, 2008

We ate in the restaurant last night. My friends and I thought for £19 pound it was great value for 5 courses. Who could complain for that price!!

Food was lovely with the right size portions. Chicken was perfectly cooked and the chocolate dessert was delicious.

Felt very comfortable and not stuffed at the end of the meal. Which enabled us to go on for more drinks!! Great!!

Friendly staff and very attentive. Nothing was a problem and service was reasonably quick. I found it hard to find anything to complain about.

Atmosphere was just right. I like the idea of things going on in the back ground and yet you can still have a pleasant conversation. They do have a fantastic marble bar, very stylish. We enjoyed it.
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Mrs Nicholas
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Saturday, January 19, 2008

Probably the worst food experience of my life! been yesterday for lunch with 3 friends, looked like no one was caring about us, maybe because we weren't dressed smart enough. After waiting 10 minutes at the door, someone came to us ad says " we have space at the bar", finally we sat at the bar. It took at least 25 m to take the order as 4/5 items were out of stock, even do some of them came back on the menu,: we ask if the lobster was Canadian or Scottish....they say Scottish and, of course, we had the Canadian one! With our shellfish dishes...no finger bowl and side plates for the shell. All together we had 4 starter, 4 mains, a bottle of pinot grigio and 2 dessert to share. The final bill was £220.11 inclusive of £24.46 gratuity.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, January 10, 2008

Just been to 1 Lombard (the brasserie) for a business lunch. The place itself is lovely - marble floors and walls, lovely and light thanks to the big dome over the restaurant. We walked through this area to the smaller brasserie, which is less posh, but where the food is substantially cheaper (c. £9 for a starter, rather than c.£19 in the restaurant).

The food was superb, as was the wine. I had the Cornish crab starter - beautifully presented and utterly tasty. A bit of a wait till mains, but nothing outlandish. The sea bass was again superb - just the right amount, not too rich, and again colourfully presented. The white wine was excellent as well.

No complaints about the service except for the fact that there was a bit of a delay between starters and mains. Otherwise, I would strongly recommend this as a great place for a business lunch. It was some of the best food I've had in a while.
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Pete
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, August 02, 2007