Twelfth House

We recently visited the Twelfth House. The place has a lovely atmosphere. We were lucky to have the best seats in the restaurant. The menu, wine and food is good. Minor point however is the hospitality. We were served by a waitress who showed no interest in her guests: she read a magazine and did not even ask us if everything was ok, no desert was offered and we had to protect our plates because she wanted to take them away from us before we finished our meal.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Sunday, April 20, 2008

I have eaten out a lot over the years, and have often been compelled to write regarding restaurants that I have really enjoyed. Sadly, this time around, I can honestly say that this was one of the worst evenings out I have ever had in London.

The food was mediocre and the atmosphere was rather cold and unfriendly. As the main selling point of this place is their astrological bent, my friend and I had requested an astrological chart (£5 each) on booking. Unfortunately we were charged for an astrological reading (£30 each) and on politely querying the bill, the manager was quite amazingly rude - surly, aggressive and threatening.

We left harrassed, stressed and angry. There are so many fantastic places to dine in London - avoid this place - bad management and bland food should not be rewarded with custom.
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Carolyn
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, April 11, 2008

Good decor and perfectly ok food. But qute agree about the female manager. Not a warm welcome.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Saturday, March 08, 2008

Stumbled across this place like many others looking for somewhere to eat in Notting Hill and went in because of the really unusual and inviting layout downstairs in the bar area (much nicer than what looked like an old fashioned hotel type place upstairs). Lovely barman on his first night but appalling welcome from the boss who couldn't even crack a smile and seemed in an aweful mood.

Both went for the burger and chips - and the burger was one of the best i've eaten. really homemade, perfectly cooked and juicy. Just enough cheese! Came with a nicely dressed salad but the chips were a real let down. Probably frozen but just not fried for long enough - it looked like they were shown the oil for just enough time to cook through and really let the whole thing down. Fortunately the burger was large enough and nice enough to make up for it.

Only other thing to mention was they list wine with the vintage - we went for a rose saying it was an 02 yet it was brought to our table as on 06 - not an issue bhowever bit of bad practice. My friend wanted a coffee afterwards but was told by the barman he wasn't allowed to serve coffee after 6pm!!! Didn't bother to argue but a bit stupid as we left instead of staying for a coffee and I would have had another glass of wine!

Oh and the toilets are literally covered in mirrors - bit strange!
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caza1001 - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, December 14, 2007

My husband and I were in London for 3 days staying in a hotel in Bayswater. We ended up in Notting Hill for dinner thinking we could then walk back to the hotel. All the pubs were full and no restaurants seemed appealing until we found The Twelfth House. The menu was interesting and reasonably priced for London (2 courses for £14.50). We first sampled the drinks menu in the downstairs area. To us, we felt like we were in a tearoom more than a bar was none the less we enjoyed the atmosphere. We then went upstairs to the restaurant and enjoyed a surprisingly good meal. There were only 2 other parties dining, which is a bit of a shame but it being the 3rd of January, we weren't surprised. We both had 2 courses, sampling one starter, 2 mains and one dessert. The crab cake starter was lovely, though could have been a tad more spicy for my taste. My husband had the bavette steak with sweet potato chips as a main- what a beautiful plate! The steak was presented like roses on a huge portabello mushroom and a nice salad and those gorgeous orange coloured chips - absolutely brilliant. I had the tuna steak which was cooked to my liking but again a bit on the bland side. The dessert was fair but still frozen (banoffee pie) so it disappointed us a bit. Every plate was beautifuly presented and showed a certain desire to please the customer which we appreciated. Overall , we will definitely go back there again with friends and we have passed on the beautiful star sign business cards to our londoner friends.
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Sophie-Anne Kroon
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, January 12, 2007

Notting Hill at lunchtime on a Saturday when the rain is cascading off the market stalls and bouncing off the pavement is not that fun a place to be. Well, it wouldn't be without two favourtie eating companions, a long awaited reunion over lunch and a birthday to celebrate. Yet the problem still remains - where to eat? I will admit to our stumbling into Twelfth House more or less at random, hungry and in need of a table and certainly not expecting to find one at the first restaurant we tried. I will also admit to the somewhat rooky error of being attracted by the menu on display outside which we later found, (somewhat disappointingly) was not available at lunchtime. Resigning ourselves to the fact that lunch (whatever it was) was a more appealing prospect than facing the rain again we proceeded to choose from a fairly limited but nonetheless inviting menu made up mostly of familiar and fairly simple lunchtime favourites. The penne with spinach and ricotta was particularly good and the beef burger, I am reliably informed, was certainly to be recommended. I went for a chicken baguette with avocado which was very tasty! All good as yet? no. Unfortunately despite lovely, intimate and fairly unusual surroundings and very good food the service we experienced really marred the meal. Our waitress made no attempt to engage with us and was, frankly exceedingly rude throughout our time there. It was so disappointing to have an otherwise lovely meal spoiled by service which really did not meet the otherwise high standards of the restuarant.
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Meghan Ormerod
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Friday, June 02, 2006

Visited last night & had readings done by Priscilla whilst eating our meals - the food was very tasty & do try their chocolate brownie with ice cream!

This is my 3rd time here, bringing different people so they can experience it too. Always goes down well & ends up being a great night out in this cosy & intimate little place! Great value for money as well.
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~S~
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, March 18, 2006

Review of the bar:

Whilst the cocktails are cheap, I have to say that it is a bit presumptious to add a 12.5% service charge, even if you didn't receive much in the way of service. i have to say that female manager at twelfth house was very abrupt and rude, choosing to discipline staff in front of a floor of customers [none of whom had received bad service from the member of staff in question]. totally uncalled for, and if this is the standard of management in twelfth house, i will go elsewhere. and yes, it's about time that twelfth house had a spring clean - very dirty curtains, and a skanky sofa & carpet. not recommended unless you fancy cheap cocktails, in a venue that's past it's sell by date.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, February 15, 2006

After a horrible week at work, my boyfriend and I stumbled upon the Twelfth House. What a lovely surprise we had. It was warm, cosy and comfortable but food and service were still high quality. The restaurant is quite small and intimate but I felt totally relaxed and able to have a quiet meal. Even though there was only one waiter, he did a sterling job. Will definitely go back.

Thanks Twelfth House.
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Jo
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, February 13, 2006

I recently moved to Notting Hill and the Twelfth House has become my local hangout. They have lovely sandwiches and salads, but best of all is their hot chocolate (which they will happily spike for a couple extra pounds). It's low key and friendly although because there is limited seating in the downstairs area you have to take your chances on a busy afternoon, best to go at an off time or midweek. Of course best to avoid this area on a Saturday all together unless you enjoy battling crowds of tourists.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 23, 2005