Bankside (SE1)

Worst restuarant ever - DO NOT GO THERE!!!

See recent reviews re sewage - accurate and unacceptable.
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Chris
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, December 21, 2007

I WILL NEVER, I repeat NEVER go again, "I've been so you don't have to", there are enough restaurants in London to avoid this. ......I went to this place for a relaxed team Christmas lunch with 12 colleagues. Frankly this group could have fun in a library, so its not the people!!! It stank from the moment we arrived and by the time we departed it was waterlogged and made a bridge from cardboard to get us out. Now everyone has a bad day, I know! but the toilets had been blocked since 11am and my table were seated at 3pm so they could have warned us, right? wrong! The manager wouldn't discuss it, they told us to pee at the pub down the road, they didn't offer us a bottle of house wine, we ordered and paid for Rioja but the gave us Tinto (apparently its the same!??) they wouldn't offer any cash or % off the bill, the dim waiters delivered every course twice to our table, they expected us to pay full service!! the crackers were crap.....However at the coat check we met another office party who had been informed before they arrived and got 50% off their bill, they were the infamous Southwark council and a happy new year to you too Sir!!!
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Wardy
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Booked an xmas party lunch here. Arrived to sit and wait for 30 mins for the table to be prepared, to then notice that water was halfway out into the bar area from the overflowing toilets......funny no one mentioned there would be no toilet facilities for the duration of the meal. Food was pretty average and halfway through the meal a distinctive smell of sewage started wafting over to the table. By the time we left 3 hours later the water had flooded from the toilets out to the entrance. When we demanded a discount on the meal we were told flatly no by the rudest restaurant manager/owner I've ever met, who quite frankly has no concept of customer service!!!. Luckily though when we left the drainage truck pulled up to unblock the toilets. My recomendation is if you want bland food, bad service eat here otherwise book elsewhere it was probably one of the worst restaurant bars I have ever been.
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Dan Carter
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Monday, December 17, 2007

This has to be the overall worst restaurant in London. This afternoon I paid £34 for the Christmas menu. The food appeared and tasted like it came from a discount frozen food store. Thankfully portions were small. There was no bathroom or toilet facilities and an aroma of sewage engulfed the eating area. The staff were surly too. AVOID!
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Newington Causeway
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, December 14, 2007

Great space but amazingly rude staff behind the desk! Our booking wasnt on their system and I endured a 5 minute grilling to see if I REALLY had booked the table. All in a partially deserted restaurant. Food was just plain bland and actually quite nasty. I had the pork chop and the gravy was inky sticky and vile. It appeared to be topped with a doughnut which on closer inspection revealed itself to be a apple fritter. I would really avoid this place like the plague.
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Lee Blackwell
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, February 27, 2007

I came here with my sister and girlfriend for a meal and I thought that the food was really good - with plenty of choice, decent-sized portions and it was all pretty good value-for-money. The service wasn't the best I've experienced, with the waitresses being fairly inattentive / slow but at least they weren't rude. Overall I'll probably come back, but perhaps not around opening as they seem to take a while to get going.
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Ian
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Saturday, December 02, 2006

We tried Bankside SE1 and opted for their offer set menu (2 courses for 13.50£, 3 for 18£). The service was attentive and very good, although the venue was only half full on sat night. It's got nice decor, nice athmospherem and the food we found very tasty. The set menu might be slightly too restricted compared to the a la carte, but still, the portions were very generous and well prsented. The carrot soup had a good flavour to it, the chicken liver pate was huge and v good, and so were the salmon and cod fish cakes, with an amazing rataouille. The mains were all good and plenty. We had only one dessert, a fresh fruit salad, which was even too big to finish and came with a nice green caramel deco. Wines are fairly priced too, starting from around £12.
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Fried Egg Fred
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, February 26, 2006

Whenever we have people over from America we always bring them to the Bankside restaurant - not only is the ambience excellent, the food is good and plenty of it - sometimes too much to eat; also cheap for London. The waiters are attentive (although sometimes when it's busy they are hard to find)! Everyone we take there is impressed with the food, the surroundings and the service. Recommended!
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Barbara Hall
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, February 09, 2006

It's a little hard to know what isn't working at Bankside -- the ingredients are fresh from Borough Market, the waiters were nice and seemed to be working hard, and a lot of thought has clearly been put into the layout and branding of the restaurant.

In spite of all of these promising beginnings, however, the food is bland -- it's not badly cooked or prepared, just dreadfully bland.

A Greek Salad is supposed to have strong hints of lemon and vinegar from marinating for a few hours, but ours tasted of *nothing* (not even fresh vegetables). The salmon on cheddar mash tastes only of salmon and there wasn't even a hint of cheddar. With Neil's Yard pratically next door this is unforgiveable.

On the plus side, there *are* sparks of something better -- the deep fried brie (I can't resist a good cheese) is nicely paired with the gooseberry sauce/compote since the berries lighten the overall fattyness of the fried brie very nicely. But I wonder if, for instance, a baked brie wouldn't be a better choice and require the kitchen to step away from the deep frier for a bit.

To be fair, there did appear to be four large tables in the restaurant that evening and the restaurant may have been a bit overwhelmed. It's probably a popular place for the farewell and holiday dinners since the prices are very reasonable for London. The crowdedness was reflected, I think, in the service -- when we could find a waiter they were very helpful (waiving the cost of the Greek Salad we didn't eat and the meat dish we had to wait thirty minutes for), but it was hard to get their attention. Moreover, the restaurant also gets rather noisy with large groups because the low ceilings bounce the sound straight back down on the diners.

Ultimately, I can't shake the feeling that someone at Bankside doesn't actually care about food all that much or simply doesn't love to cook because there's no other way to explain how something so promising could end up being so disappointing. I've certainly had much, much worse in London, but you can also do rather better.
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Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Great place! good value for money in a nice location away from the tourists! A proper London restauarant as they buy a lot of the produce from stall holders at the nearby Borough Market.
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Paul Cranstoun
Tuesday, September 06, 2005