Smollensky's on the Strand

rotten cocktails pure spirit no flavour , overpriced undercooked food, staff abusive when you complain. Not a place to take your kids for the staff's language and attitude alone!!!!
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Robert Jones
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, June 22, 2009

Just had a wonderful Fathers Day lunch at Smollensky's. We took advantage of the 50% offer and felt this was a real bargain as there is also kids entertainment at weekends. They were busy but the staff were friendly and efficient, the food good and the atmosphere lively.

For anyone with kids under 10 I would recomment this restaurant.
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Judith
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, June 21, 2009

Just recently had the most amazing birthday dinner at Smollenskys andi must say it was by far one of the best dining experiences I have had in ages, they said that they recently have had a change in management which is obvious as everything was simply perfect. From the moment we arrived the smiles service and helpfulness of the staff was second to none.

Our table had been decoreated with balloons, party popers and streamers, it looked fab, I had the biggest portion of ribs and fries, cooked to perfection.

We had ordered one of there home made peanut butter cheesecakes, they really are homemade on the premises and my god heaven in every mouthful. We we then moved to the bar to keep the party going after dinner, which was lively and full of other parties, but yet not over crowded. You must try the Chinese snowkiss cocktail, delicious! Cant wait to head back soon.
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Kristy Wilkinson
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, May 02, 2009

A fantastic restaurant. It is not that expensive, had there one of the best meals I have had out. Has phenomenal service, from the moment we arrived, we practially had our own private waiter. There was lots and lots of staff, and they were all so nice.

For appetizer, I had the calamari and scallops. It was in a sauce and delicious and then my steak arrived.

My steak was large for fillet steak, and cooked perfectly.

At the end of the night, the waiter that was looking after us when we first arrived, came to as to see how we were all doing. Talk about service!

Would definitely recommend it to anyone. You will need to reserve well in advance though, I heard one week advanced reservations are required. Although, we had an extra person join us just before we were to head to the restaurant, and I phoned the restaurant to confirm they could accomodate. A very nice gentleman on the phone said that one extra would be no problem.
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Nick
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, April 30, 2009

Very slow service, the steak was low quality and overcooked! Very overpriced given the small portions and bad cooking.
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Elisabeth
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Friday, March 06, 2009

This was without doubt, the worst restaurant I have EVER had the misfortune in which to dine. I can only assume that the 12.5% service charge has been interpreted by the staff as granting them carte blanche to be rude, obnoxious and unhelpful. We were at one point the only table in, but still took 30 minutes to even acknowledge the fact we were there! Despite numerous attempts from us, there was no conversation (and i mean zero - no please, thank you, you are welcome - nothing (a few grunts maybe....)) throughout the service. We then had to ask twice for the bill which took another 20 minutes to arrive. Food was ok, but a supermarket meal would have been just as tasty. Just not a good representation of London restaurants!
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Thursday, December 11, 2008

Totally unacceptable

Went to Smollensky's last saturday for my neice's birthday. With 4 adults and 6 children we thought this would be a London treat. It was simply horrendous. The food was inedible. The £9 burgers were cold, no relish and thin slabs of what looked like frozen hamburger meat. It was disgusting. We sent back the cold adults burgers but all the children's food was cold and we decided they didn't mind so much as us. The salad's were dripping in tasteless dressing, limp salad. I was horrified by the food which was being served. The poor waiter looked as in shock as us and totally fed up with complaining customers (of which he certainly had had a few). Do not go near this place. The price, the food, the entertainment was poor, poor, poor!
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N Sarosh
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, December 04, 2008

My family and I had occasion to have Thanksgiving dinner at Smollensky's last week. The service was excellent and the food very good--but I question whether anyone on staff has actually ever seen or eaten a typical American Thanksgiving meal. True, many of the main ingredients appeared on our plates--turkey, cranberry sauce, and potatoes--but in unusual form. The turkey was "escolade" and seemed to be formed of some sort of paste or was at least pressed so flat as to be little resemblance to the standard slice; I suspect whatever as in the middle was supposed to be stuffing, but it was unidentifiable as such. The potatoes were whole instead of mashed, and did not mash well under the attentions of fork and spoon; no gravy either (major omission!). The cranberry sauce was excellent, but of such little quantity that it was very quickly gone. Again, the food itself was excellent--but I would not try to pass it off to Americans as a Thanksgiving meal.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Monday, December 01, 2008

I was so dissapointed when with the service at smollensys, we were seated at our table which I booked for 7.45 the only available time left, our waiter never came over for nearly half an hour it was rude and unhelpful, when the food came my starter was cold and my husband was dissapointed with his, I did not eat my ribs they had a unual taste to them, when our table was cleared they took the plates away and dumped down our main courses, we was not even asked if our starters were ok, the mains both had a funny taste (the same as the ribs) I wanted more drinks we could not even catch anybodys attention. We did not wait around any longer we just paid the bill and left which they have the cheek to put on a 12.5% surcharge for service.
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Sonia Murtha
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Had a great meal here in July for my daughter's 13th birthday. It was an early sitting as we were off to see a show afterwards, but the minute we arrived, we were made to feel welcome. The food was great and all the kids enjoyed starters, mains and desserts. The two younger kids had great little party bags which kept them occupied in-between courses. Timings were spot on and we left in plenty of time to get to the theatre on time. Highly recommend this restaurant.
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Catherine Baldwin
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, August 19, 2008