Swan at the Globe

Disappointed! Food was good, our waitress helpful but the restaurant was obviously understaffed. Our apertifs ordered before our meal, arrived half way through our first course. For dessert we ordered the pancakes but they were more like a cross beween a waffle and a crumpet, not what we were expecting. A shame because the outlook is great but there is certainly room for improvement!
Comment on this reader review

Jill Fulco
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Sunday, January 22, 2012

Great view of Thames, but that's where the good part of the review ends. We were informed there was only a set menu to choose from. The mains all came with tomato and bread...a bizarre side dish for any meal..and as with all the tables around us was returned untouched. My shoulder of lamb came with one baby carrot and one baby leek precariously balanced on top, and desperately could have done with a potato side dish of some sort.

But worse to come was dessert. My wife ordered cheese and biscuits. This turned out to be just one thin slice of brie and 5 crackers. When we asked if it was possible to get a selection of cheese, or even just one more, we were told abruptly that this is how it comes on the set menu! When we pointed out the table next to us had a selection we were told they didnt have the set menu (the only option we were given!). surely when a customer asks for something the professional response it to be more accomodating than this. I mean how much does it cost them for a slice of cheese!

A most bizarre experience, and one we shall not repeat.
Comment on this reader review

russell
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Thursday, September 08, 2011

We arrived on time and table booked was not ready, was kept waiting for at least 15mins, it then took 55 mins from main course ordered till it arrived at the table, all six main courses were cold, food was poor quality and the service wasnt much better to be honest.

The only good points about this restaurant was the setting and the views across the thames and St Pauls.
Comment on this reader review

5 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Monday, June 20, 2011

I booked an Afternoon Tea for Two at the Swan as the result of a promotion through Living Social. An old friend was visiting and I wouldn't have asked for a better place to enjoy some delicious sandwiches, cakes, tea and champagne than at the Swan. We're already planning our future visit with a larger group of friends and couldn't recommend it more.

Lovely service from a friendly waitress in a beautiful venue overlooking St Pauls too.

Perfect :)
Comment on this reader review

Zena
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, June 12, 2011

Visited the new brasserie at the Swan for dinner on 5 May and whilst the restaurant is lovely with beautiful views of the river , St Pauls etc. the food was at best average and on the whole unexciting.

The staff were pleasant and what should have been a memorable occasion for my wife and I was memorable for all the wrong reasons, namely that the food was so bland (and so expensive) with the choices on the menu being so unadventurous and unappealing.

Suffice to say, despite the loveliness of the surroundings and the restaurant we will not be returning to dine there in the foreseeable future.
Comment on this reader review

James Leigh
6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Friday, May 06, 2011

When we arrived just before our booking at 6:30pm, the room was empty except for a large party having the special Xmas menu. A waitress said hello, then continued to set a table for another Xmas party. We stood for quite a while before being seated at a corner window table, the only table in the restaurant with no overhead or wall lights, only some tea lights on the window sill. My eyesight is excellent, but I had trouble reading the main menu as it was so dim. We tried to look at the wine list, but the print was so small that we simply couldn’t read it in the gloom. Then inexplicably, the lights were dimmed, making it even worse. When (after a long time) a waitress came to ask us if we wanted to order a drink, my partner said we couldn’t read the menus and asked to be moved to a window table where there were lights. The grudging response was “I’ll see what I can do, but we have put candles here.”

We were eventually moved and ordered. The waiter did not write anything, which is always a bad sign. Then two further large Xmas parties came in and sat near us. They were fully entitled to enjoy themselves and laugh and joke, but the noise was not conducive to a quiet meal for two close by, and we felt the parties should be in one area of the restaurant, and other diners in another. The only focus of the staff’s attention for the rest of the evening was the parties.

Our starters arrived, and mine was not what I ordered. Hardly surprising as the waiter did not write our order down. However, it was promptly replaced. The presentation of my chopped salad with smoked salmon was dreadful. It was served in a pyrex pudding basin! I have such basins at home; I use them for puddings and mixing ingredients etc. NEVER for serving food in. The salad was also not at all what I expected. “Chopped” salad is supposed to be just that. The only thing chopped in this dish was the smoked salmon. I had to hunt for the extremely small pieces amongst large pieces of lettuce and thick slices of cucumber.

When we had finished the dishes were whisked away without a word from the waitress, and our main courses brought. These were fine but nothing special. When we had eaten them the waitress simply said “finished?” and took the plates away. We ordered desserts which were the best part of the meal, but not amazing. The plates were removed and we declined coffee.

Not once during the whole meal were we asked if the food was OK. We asked for the bill, which was just plonked on the table. In view of the lack of service we crossed out the 12½ % service charge, something we have never done before. A waitress came to to take payment, and seeing what we had done said very aggressively “Is that ALL you are going to pay?” We asked her to tell the Maitre D that we were not happy with the service. She processed the card payment, shrugged and walked away. No-one came to talk to us about our comments.

So we left, the final insult being we had to get our own coats as no-one offered to get them.

The bill for all this, without the service charge, was £88 for two very average 3 course meals and 4 small glasses of wine.

If I could have given no stars I would. So let us just say the one star I have awarded is for the terrific view from the restaurant across to St Pauls, which at night is spectacular.
Comment on this reader review

2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Saturday, December 11, 2010

Went for the pre theatre.

Ummm.....5 slices of chorizo, 2 slices of ham, 4 bits of bread, a dip of cottage cheese another of tomato sauce (confit). For 2, not much of a starter.

Main - Fish or chicken, they were ok, nicely cooked

Dessert - cold apple crumble, with cream that was i guess as close as you can get to milk. And the crumble didn't taste of apple.

so not a very good score. 30% less and it would have been good value, I guess its for the tourists with the A1 location.
Comment on this reader review

Pete - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Friday, August 27, 2010

The pre-theatre menu at the Swan is expensive for a very limited menu showing one meat dish, one fish and one veggie, but given the riverside location a few feet away from my seat in the theatre, and the restaurant's need to process diners in limited time, they just about get away with it.

Starters (no choice) consist of bread and cold meat with a cream cheese spread and tomato salsa. Simple main courses come with boiled potatoes and a basic salad so you will get the message that the kitchen here hasn't exactly gone into overdrive. An overcooked apple crumble with ltitle evidence of apple and a rock-hard pastry base (for a crumble?) was a bit of a disaster, and Eton mess lived up to its name.

I'd like to experience the Swan cooking me a proper meal from the a la carte before passing further comment.
Comment on this reader review

Kentishwanderer
7 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Monday, August 09, 2010

On a stretch of river in our capital city filled with world famous buildings and iconic views, there can only be two sureties; loud, jostling hungry tourists, and overpriced, substandard restaurants to feed them.

One of the jewels along the waterside is the Globe Theatre. Only a teenager (started by Sam Wannamaker in 1970, opening after his death in 1997), it fits in perfectly with its older neighbours and has rightly become a real destination along the bank.

For the last year or so they've also been blessed with the Swan. A lovely little bar and brasserie adjoining the theatre 'directed' by ex Ramsay cohort Mark Sargeant, there's a sense of real purpose about the menu. They shout loud and proud about their reliance on foragers, farmers and local markets (they are just up the road from Borough Market after all) and the menu reflects this seasonality. Sadly that season has just passed. On a gorgeous spring night it's a shame that most of the food on offer has a distinctly wintery note. Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of the Cashel Blue macaroni cheese and spiced Elizabethan mutton casserole is just what you'd expect to eat before outdoor Shakespeare, but not when the weather outside is so warm.
Comment on this reader review

www.grumblinggourmet.com
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Monday, May 24, 2010

This restaurant oozes quality and class without ever being froo-froo or pretentious - there is a very assured and serene quality to this place from the simple and unfussy menus to the relaxed, informal staff. The decoration sits perfectly with the location next to the Globe and there is a nice bistro-like buzz. The food was excellent - simple dishes made very well. The wine list is very reasonable so can drink well without feeling fleeced. One of the best eating experiences I've had for a long time in London
Comment on this reader review

Paul
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, January 20, 2010