Livebait (Waterloo)

Had planned a pre-theatre dinner on the Saturday of the May Day weekend and was a little apprehensive having read some of these reviews - but went anyway as previous experiences in Leeds & Covent Garden had been good.

Well - what can I say - do we have lower expectations - I think not - and we had a very acceptable visit both food and service were fine. Is it something to do with time of visit - we arrived at sixish and restaurant was about third-full so no hectic activity. Food was as good as other two Livebaits tried and service friendly and timely. It is a little overpriced but so are most in big cities - we paid with Tesco vouchers anyway.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

My friend and i were at the ring for a drink and decided to grab some food. Livebait was the first place we found. The only table left was in the extended section of the restuarant which had a really bad smell, but they managed to find us a table by the door, which, because we were starving decided just to take it. There was a nice atmosphere and despite the draft i was looking forward to some nice food. It wasn't the worst food i'd eaten but the prices were pretty high and for the size of portions it really wasn't all that. I had the Lemon Sole goujons at £16.95 for 5 goujons supported by 15 or so deep fried onion rings, and a tidly portion of chips at 3.25. I wasn't impressed. Also slightly off-putting was the wooden chopping board which it arrived on. I'm not opposed to the rustic look but it had a green napkin underneath the food which by the end i was having to pick out pieces of soggy green paper from some of my goujons, i then looked to the table next to me to find that one of the diners had also opted for the goujons only to be served up in a lovley shiny white plate - although i over heard them discussed with the waitress that they had finished a whole bottle of wine and were still waiting on their starters. Poor things! I love a good fish restaurant but there are much much better places around then this. Service was pretty good though.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Friday, March 28, 2008

Three of us went there on 9.2.08. Service was friendly & food excellent. Can highly recommend and will certainly come again.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, February 11, 2008

My girlfriend and I had the pleasure/displeasure of eating here on a recent Sunday afternoon.

We went for the special 2 course option at £14.50 a head each

The starters (me - crab cakes, she - goats cheese) were fine if unremarkable.

But my problem was with the mains, we both went for Cod, my partner had the classic fish and chips and I had the roasted cod on wilted spinach with sunblushed tomato.

The classic F&C was good, two big chunks of battered cod, nice batter perfectly done not oily at all, and a healthy handful of chips.

However the roasted cod was abysmal. The portion was approximately 1/6th the size of the battered cod on the opposite plate, the sunblushed tomatoes were apparently a part of the flavourless 3mm thick nappy of breadcrumb paste sat atop the fish and the whole thing was coated in an oily sauce which tasted of precisely nothing, the fish, the spinach and the nappy all tasted exactly the same - warm, wet, greasy and uninteresting.

I find it hard to understand how two portions of cod can be so vastly different and charged for at the same price, and how a deep fried portion is lovely and dry whilst a roasted portion is under an oil slick?
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

We had a great meal at Live Bait Waterloo. We had tickets at the Old Vic and unsure iof what we wanted to eat turned up adhoc with no reservation and found the staff really helpful. We had the set 2 course menu which was fabulous starting with the crab cakes. Between us we tried the seared cod, fish and chips and the ravioli. All were very well cooked and tasted great. I would recommend this to anyone and would certainly go again. House wine was good too.

A little tip to previous reviewers, in nearly all cases a seafood platter is cold and brown shrimp are small. Best way to eat them, as shell is soft,is to hold between the head and tail and bite. Don't bother to peel as it is tedious and takes all the fun out of eating fab shell fish.
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sandy goskie
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, January 21, 2008

We caught the restaurant in the New Year pre-theatre rush, very busy. Service was friendly, fast and attentive and the food was excellent.
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Jon Watson
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, January 06, 2008

I visited Livebait in Waterloo on a rare time that all my family are together on Saturday the 27th of October. Sadly it was a very dissapointing meal. I had the Crab cakes as a starter, presented and tasted like poor gastro pub starters do, followed by the Monkfish, over cooked, tasteless with the most vile red wine sauce. The service was dull and once the bill arrived, with the service charge and table charge had bummped it up by 28 pounds extra for five people we too left feeling like the food, dull and tired. Overpriced and will not be returning.
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eton chef - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Saturday, October 27, 2007

I was rather scared about visiting this place after reading the rather poor reviews on here! However, it was ideal for a pre-theatre meal before visiting the Old Vic - so me and my sister braved Livebait.

I am so glad we did.

I honestly can't relate to the dire reviews on here AT ALL, and I am one fussy person to feed. I am fastidious about good service and food. The staff couldn't have been more friendly, attentive and polite, and the food was beautifully presented and tasted great. It was, in short, a lovely experience.

We had a 'special deal' pre-theatre meal, which had meant I was even more nervous about visiting this establishment - as I feared we'd get even worse service than normal. However, my fears were unjustified.

This is a really lovely place, and I highly recommend it. You can get a bottle of super champagne for £22 if you get there before 7.30PM. We also ordered a bottle of house white wine (about £13) and it was absolutely super (again, I am really fussy about wine quality).

I wholeheartedly recommend Livebait, Waterloo.
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Lizzie Gould
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Having dined at the Covent Garden location I was hoping for so much more from our evening out at the Waterloo location of Livebait. (21/09/07) Sadly this night turned out to be the most disappointing meal we've had in years. We ordered their signature Livebait platter. To start with there was no warning on the menu or from the waitress that it was a cold platter. Every other restaurant that serves something similar either states 'cold' or serves it as a hot meal. Shortly after it was served our waitress vanished for 45 mins, with nobody else coming by to check on us or even to check to see if we wanted another bottle of wine. Very poor service indeed. The platter too was very poor. The lobster and crab were under cooked so much that a layer of goo/scum was present between the shell and meat. The whelks were rubbery and inedible. I will say the king prawns & mussels were properly cooked, however why oh why include brown prawns that are so tiny as to be impossible to shell. My partner spent the rest of the evening face down if you get my meaning. Overall a night to forget and a big black mark against a company that normally provides an excellent dining experience. (Livebait Covent Garded, Bertorelli's) We would have been better off at an east end whelk stall.
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Andrew
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Monday, September 24, 2007

Having read some negative reviews on the Waterloo branch of Livebait, my husband & I were a little unsure about eating there. However, a love of fish and a half price promotion finally persuaded us to visit on a Sunday evening about 7.30. (We thought if it was going to be a negative experience - why pay full price) We made it clear to the waitress upon arriving that we had a discount promotion voucher and it crossed our minds that maybe this would produce a meal & service of a lower quality. We need not have worried - we both found it to be a really great evening. The service was so attentive from the moment we sat at our table. We chose the extravagent platter for two - but even we were surprised when it arrived at our table. It was enormous and the presentation was first class. The platter had been topped with 2 whole crabs and they even managed to make these look attractive. We are former restauranteurs so unintentionally often find ourselves being quite judgemental on food venues, but we had no complaints about our experience. Restaurants unfortunately may have 'off days' and it is very disappointing if you visit on one of those days, but we have to speak as we find and would recommend this place. We are definitely going back, offer or no offer.
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Adette
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Monday, September 03, 2007