Sophie's Steakhouse

I dont normally write reviews but I have been to Sophies Steakhouse in Covent Garden twice with the 2 for 1 voucher and had really good experiences with delicious meals but I went a few weeks ago with the 2 for 1 voucher again with a relative and I had said that it was a really good restaurant. We sat down and our waiter took our drinks orders, and when I thought the drinks were taking ages, they were sat on the edge of the bar and our waiter was more interested in taking photos of one of the bar staff on his phone rather than serving us! I asked him where our drinks were and he went back to the bar only to loiter around there for another 5 minutes brining the total time for getting drinks to 20 minutes!!! We ordered our food and my relative ordered the soup of the day which was pea and mushroom, but that was only luke warm.

Our main took so long that I actually had a look around the corner, to the kitchen and then it was still taking ages. When my steak did come it came in a very greasy herb 'sauce' and it would have been so much better without it, nicely cooked though (medium rare). Chips were as nice as ever though.

Dessert wasnt much better, on the menu it states that the ice creams / sorbets are hand made but the vanilla ice cream I had was clearly frozen and tasted nothing like vanilla.

The waiter then gave us the bill which came to a lot more than the £12.95 for the Express Lunch and this took a while to sort out. The atmosphere in the restaurant was lovely though.

It is such a shame this restaurant has come to this, it seems that standards are really slipping as I would have reccomended it to anyone before this!
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Lauren
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Monday, August 23, 2010

Very impressed with our visit to Sophie's on Saturday 21st August. My husband and I have visited for drinks only on a few occasions and loved the bustly, vibrant atmosphere, decided to go for dinner as part of a weekend celebrating our 2nd anniversary.

Yes, we know it's not a quiet, romantic sort of place, but we're also not really into the gazing across the table stuff so for us good food, good wine and a great environment are much more important. We were a bit concerned after reading some reviews on this site, but wanted to find out for ourselves.

We arrived just before 9pm and as the restaurant wasn't jam packed managed to get a table straight away. Service was fantastic, really friendly and knowledgable staff. Starters we had were prawn cocktail and the roasted mushrooms with goats cheese. Have to say they wouldn't set the world on fire but did exactly what you'd expect - tasty, generous and well presented, kind of good quality pub grub. Main courses were very good, the hubby went for the cote de boeuf which was fantastically well cooked, huge portion (we're beginning to wonder if it should have been for 2!) and served with great crispy chips. I ordered the rib eye cooked rare, a few bites in showed it to be little more than blue - now I do like rare steak but thsi was a bit over the top. The reaction from the staff was extraordinary - the steak was whipped away and re-done to perfection, I was visited by the manager with a sincere apology. When my steak came back with fresh accompanyments I got another apology - all in all a very pleasant experience of sending something back!

Would love to be able to confirm the price for our meal, but after a couple of glasses of very good sparkling Cloudy Bay, bottle of great rioja and a few pre-dinner drinks, neither of us can remember exactly!!

I would definitely recommend Sophie's and will be returning.
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Amanda Miles
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, August 23, 2010

I go to Sophie's every other month and still haven't been disappointed.

Food: A must at Sophie's is the meat. Apart from Goodman, I can't think of any other places where the meat always comes so tasty and tender. The beef is dry aged for 28 days and always cooked to perfection, even if the guests of a same table have various requirements. I had the 10oz ribeye with mashed potato and ratatouille, and two of my guests ordered the Chateaubriand (for 2 people) while the 4th guest had the 7oz rump. Mashed potato is very tasty and so is the ratatouille. If you are more a desert kind of person, I recommend the Lemon meringue pie or the creme brulee..

Wine: The wine list is reasonably priced, with a very good value for money house wine.

Service: In spite of the rush, waiters are always friendly and do their best effort to please you.

Atmosphere: The place can be a bit noisy at times so if you are looking for a quiet place for a romantic date, it's maybe not the right place

Price: Including service, deserts, 4 glasses of wine and soft drinks, the bill came at £135 for 4 people.
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swiss_gourmet - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, August 18, 2010

WE ATE FOR THE FIRST TIME AT THIS RESTAURANT LAST WEEK-END.WE HAD SEEN IT ON LINE AND GOT A 2 FOR 1 FOR A LUNCH TIME MENU.AS WE WERE STAYING JUST AROUND THE CORNER FROM SOPHIE'S WE ATE THERE ON OUR FIRST EVENING.THE NOISE WHEN WE WENT IN WAS AMAZINGLY LOUD AND THE CONSIDERATE STAFF SAT US NEARER THE BACK AREA WHERE IT WAS A BIT QUIETER. WE BOTH ORDERED SCAMPI AND CHIPS.HOW DISSAPOINTED WERE WE THAT IT WAS SERVED IN WOODEN BOWLS AND THE SCAMPI WAS SO WELL OVER COOKED AND SO WELL OVER BATTERED AND BREADCRUMBED,THE CHIPS WERE NICE.BUT THE DESSERT WHICH WAS CREME CARAMEL WAS DELICIOUS.LOVELY CRUNCHY TOP.THE PRICES WERE GOOD FOR THIS MODEST MEAL AND THE STAFF WERE EXCELLENT.I THINK THEY ARE THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN OF SOPHIE'S.WE WOULD NOT EAT THERE AGAIN I THINK IT IS MORE SUITED TO YOUNGER PEOPLE. WE PREFER OUR MEALS ON A PLATE. WE DID THE FOOD IN A BASKET STYLE IN THE 70s.WE DID NOT RETURN FOR OUR 2 FOR 1 LUNCH TIME MEAL.
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Mrs Ross
5 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I used to love this place-not any more. Several years ago I used to eat at Sophie's 2/3 times per week but I noticed it going downhill and when the prices started creeping up I stopped going. I returned a week ago. The prawn cocktail was served with no bread (they add a surcharge for this), and my £18.50 steak was just a slab of gristle and fat. (I had 2 bites of it and left the rest). When I complained, the very friendly manager apologised and asked if he could give me a free pudding, which I accepted. The problem is though that not only is the food no longer acceptable (unless you just eat burgers), the prices have become ludicrous-my bill was £50 not including service and I only had 1 bottle of house white wine. I am definitely not returning. I'd love to know if it changed hands as I notice Sophie wasn't to be seen. I've seen many Chelsea restaurants falter over the years falling into the "Chelsea residents don't get put off by high prices". Sophies SteakHouse would do well to take a leaf out of Christopher Gilmour's book-He has opened another restaurant around the corner in Park Walk which serves a slightly older clientele but serves much higher quality food and is cheaper.
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Jimmy
4 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Monday, July 19, 2010

Love this restaurant!

Nice cocktail, kid friendly and has amazing food!
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sophdobe
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I heard of Sophie's Steakhouse through Masterchef and a friend, so I was quite keen to go there. Whilst the service was very pleasant, my toasted sandwich with roast chicken was less than satisfactory. The bread was burnt, tomatoes were unripe, the inside of the sancwich was soggy, altogether not very good. My friend's chicken and leek pie was good, but when nearly finished he found gristle and a bone. Then we shared a sticky toffee pudding which had a hard center, which we could not eat. Very disappointing, thought Masterchef would choose better.
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Agatha
6 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Friday, March 12, 2010

Recent Sophie's (Chelsea) visit did not disappoint - I had their Steak Frites with a glass of house red - priced at under a tenner and beautifully cooked - it was a bargain.
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Sophie Lewis
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Not bad but waaaaaay too pricey.

I agree that this place has lost something of it's original charm, not least because it's now firmly in the "decent restaurant" price category.

Thursday night dinner with a couple of mates: cocktail each in the bar (the worst, and weakest, dark and stormy I have ever had - come on guys, my 4 year old could do better than this - not a difficult cocktail for crying out loud); one shared starter; steaks all round with a couple of sides; a very poor Italian red followed by a decent claret; tap water; coffees and liquors.....£75 each! Blimey! How did that happen?

It was dead when we arrived at 8pm, but was packed by the time we left an hour and a half later. The atmosphere was good but not great (as it used to be). The service by our gorgeous Polish waitress was faultless.

I wouldn't go back. They've managed to slightly sour the magic formula that made this such a hit a few years ago. Has it been sold on to a big chain or a private equity fund?

Go back to basic's improve qaulity and price.
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Kwev
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Thursday, July 09, 2009

Have been going to Sophie's for several years and have always really enjoyed it but I must agree with some of the comments that in real terms the price is now quite high, £45 a head last time we went.

Still good fun if you want a very noisy night out but not for a first date as it used to be.

Steaks are much better, loads of fish dishes of a restaurant quality and you can book. It's a bit more grown up and not so busy but probably about the same price.

Sophie's is still great though - we love you.
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Mark Hinchcliffe
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Thursday, June 11, 2009