Smiths of Smithfield

We visited SOS and dined at the 2nd Floor dining room at 7.30 on Friday 4th March 2011.

The great thing about SOS is the bar, we had a wonderful warm up on the ground floor from 6pm and managed to get sofa seats. We had a great time although I was overcharged twice at the bar and the staff (to be fair unlike on previous visits were disinterested and clueless about the drinks on this occasion). Staff apologised on both occasions when errors were spotted. Overcharging asside, the SOS bar is a great way to kick off a night and one of its best assets.

Moving to the second floor for dinner we were seating uncomfortably close to other diners despite more than half of the floor being empty which was a little weird at first. We ordered starters which were both satisfactory, my salted fish gougons were very tastey and nicely cooked. The mains however were very dissapointing, I ordered the burger which was overcooked and quite uninspiring, the chips also were less than mediorce, flat and to be honest I could have done better at home deep frying some home fries.

I have been to the SOS many times, always with a large group of friends and had a good time but have also always felt the food was nothing but average. Once again I was dissapointed with the poor food but still had a good time. I live in Clapham and be honest all pubs there serve far better burgers than the dry waste served up on SOS.

A great night but dont have high expectations of the food which is poor.
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DANIEL EDWARDS
4 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, March 09, 2011

as an avid fan of masterchef i was thoroughly looking forward to my dining experience at Smiths. my feelings on the evening can be summed up with one sentence, "mr. torode, before you continue criticising amateur chefs you should visit your own restaurant because it is far from professional."

Booking a table for around 12 people for a company Christmas dinner we were assured there would be a roast style meal available. after spending time deciding what to order most of us wanted the lamb, which we were then informed there was only three. should have been told this before ordering. food arrived at different times. my beef daube tasted like it came from a can and was luke warm. the accompanying truffle mash had no truffle favour and was consistancy of glue. my poor colleague who waited what seemed an eternity for game pie had to send it back because it was cold then when it came back the crust was burnt.

while discussing what to eat for dessert with a fellow diner i had a menu thrust into my face from behind so that i could not see who i was talking to. this was the final straw for me, having ate my meal in a coat and scarf as it was so cold in the restaurant to be treated so rudely by unattentive staff was shocking. John Torode has no right to judge anyone for their efforts after this spectacle in how not to run a restaurant. substandard atmosphere, comfort, food and service. an absolute disgrace from a man who makes a living telling others how to cook and be successful.

DO NOT EAT IN THIS RESTAURANT UNLESS YOU WANT TO EAT COLD BLAND FOOD IN A COLD ATMOSPHERE WITH NO HEATING, RUDE UNATTENTIVE, SLOW STAFF. DONT BOTHER TO DRESS UP AS YOU WILL NEED TO WEAR YOUR COAT AT DINNER. DO NOT EXPECT A PLEASE OR THANKYOU FROM STAFF.

my ratings are zero for everything. worst dining experience all year.
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MR. J. STEWART
0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, December 07, 2010

after an exhausting day trip to london we were really looking forward to going to Smiths . we were meeting our friends son and girlfriend who had recommended smiths ! well wish he hadn't ! arriving at the resturant we had a drink in the bar . brr not used to keeping all outdoor clothing on whilst having a drink . after going up to the dining room the temperature got no better , other people actually sitting eating with their coats on ! i personally could not take my scarf off just to cold .

starters : i had beetroot gravalax which was lovely and very fiiting with the temperature another member of our party had mussel tag and i think that it had sat on pass for too long it was cold ! main meals came out ranging from belly pork to the pheasant . all hte meals looked nice , i had fish which was cooked nicely (cant go wrong) a few of our group had the belly pork which was nicely presented but lukewarm quite stringy and the green sauce was actually quite disgusting and we felt that it wasn't the sauce for this dish ! the staff never reappered after setting plates down to ask if everything was ok . the side dish of vegetables was supposed to be Green beans & carrots ( 1 carrot ) come on !! most disappointing for me was the cheese & biscuits (which i love ) not worth the money for what you get on the board ! (think i was paying for all the biscuits on there !) we had wine with the meal red & white, but ice bucket for the white was left on the floor ! what no stands !!!

on the whole our experience at smiths was not a pleasant one . no atmosphere , place was freezing , food getting that way , staff not attentive (but i guess that's because they all looked young and messed around too much ) so for the money that the six of us had to part with it was not value for money . would not recommend this place and would not go back
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Ms F NORTON
1 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Friday, December 03, 2010

Booked a table this evening 26/11/2010 for my birthday. Very disappointed with the quality and flavour of the main courses, very bland I had the chicken and my wife had steak. Total cost was £85 including a good bottle of Malbec. Starters (bacon and chestnut soup & egg and mushrooms on toast were ok). There are better places to spend your hard earned! On a positive note service was good
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5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Saturday, November 27, 2010

I loved this place. Until recently.

The last time I went there was a group of 7 of us. My partner booked for 7 people for 7 o'clock. When we arrived we were told by the VERY aggressive lady on the front desk that we had only booked for 6 people. When I said there must have been a mistake as we definately booked for 7 people I was told that they had not made a mistake and it must have been whoever booked made the mistake! So much for the customer is always right.

When I expressed my surprise that they had made mistake with the booking, giving them a chance to rectify it, we were simply told "we can just about sit you but you must be out in 1 1/4 hours" and then gave me a look of 'take it or leave it'. I was disgusted, but being 7 of us I didn't want to spoil everyones night so we took it.

We ordered and as usual the food was nice, but once again the service let the whole place down. We ordered 2 sides of vegetables with the main courses. All the mains came out and no side dishes arrived. I asked and was told "they are coming". Another 10 minutes and no side dishes. Another of our party asked again and pointed out that we had nearly finsished our meals. The waiter repsonded very sharply that he had already told us they were coming. Eventually ONE very small plate of veg turned up. Low and behold our bill had TWO on it. When queried we were told, again very sharply, "that was two". We asked him to confirm with the manager when all of a sudden he changed his mind and perhaps it was only one we received.

Nice food. Disgustingly rude staff! I will not returning until they are all sacked and new staff employed.
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GL
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Thursday, November 25, 2010

Horrible place. Waiter was rude, they dropped half of the dishes on the floor, so adding 15 mins of waiting time to the food. Price was far high for food quality. After dinner, half of us out to smoke, half stayed in to have a drink. The ones out smoking could not get in back, and we were verbally abused by the doorman.

Awful place - find another place to spend your money
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Fernando
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Saturday, October 30, 2010

We booked a table on the top floor at Smiths as a relative from out of town wanted to go. I had not been for years and could not remember what it was like. Reading other reviews now I realise my experience was very similar to most others. We were a party of 8 and were greeted very well and given prompt service. Thats where it ended. Incidently, TIPS stands for To Induce Prompt Service and was usually given to the waiter/maitre D at the beginning of the meal. But then changed to the end of the meal IF good and prompt service was given. The restaurant was less than half full.

I asked the manager which wine was the better between an Australian and a Chillean and in his Australian accent chose the more expensive Oz one. He returned to the table with the Chillean one saying this one was actually better as they had ran out of the Oz one. Nice.

We asked for more bread as we only got offered once and they forgot to bring it.. If our starters didnt take so long to arrive we wouldnt have been so hungry to ask for more. Starters were ok if not a bit bland £10-12 pricey.

I asked if they did a Sunday roast . £20 for the Beef (extortionate). I asked what it came with. It came out, again after what seemed like a long time, cold stringy fatty beef. A jug of luke warm gravy and overcooked roast potatoes and an Aunt Bessies yorkshire pudding. THATS IT!!. Oh and a ramekin of creme fraiche which was supposed to be horseradish sauce. I asked if I could have a bit of the truffle mash and some red cabbage which was on the menu to which the waiter replied I will ask the chef. When it arrived it tasted like school dinners mash potato, bland and dry. So to have a decent Sunday roast you had to add 2 side dishes at £4 each or go somewhere else more like.

It was also served on stupid square wooden chopping boards so if you were to add your luke warm gravy it would have run off.

When we did ask for horseradish the manager did try to get us some, I opted for English mustard in the mean time. He then returned to the table with an actual horseradish and a cheese grater. 10 out of 10 for effort but not what we wanted.

One of our guests had the seabass which he said was nice, 'but you cant really go wrong with that'.

One of our guests could not eat the beef and wanted to have a dessert so I talked him out of it and asked for the bill. I also asked the waiter if we could have a complimetary shot to compensate for the bad food and slow service. He went to ask the manager and came back embarrased with the answer 'NO'

I have managed restaurants and if guests were spending £66 per head and were clearly not happy I would have obliged. When my guests left the restaurant, as not to embarrass them, I told the manager very politely what I thought. He clearly did not care.

I left with a nasty taste of grease in my mouth and will not be returning or recommending.
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Paul Drayton
4 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Monday, October 11, 2010

We went to Smiths for brunch and first impressions were good. The place looks great and had a nice atmosphere.

The food? Pretty lame. Frozen chips were served! Come on Torode, how dare you criticise other's cooking when you have the temerity to serve up frozen chips in your restaurant.

There are better places to eat brunch, either of "The Breakfast Club" locations for a start.

It's such a shame that no-one's realised there's a completely untapped market in London for good quality diner style US food.

Ed's Greasy Diner looks good, but the food is bad and overpriced. A greasy spoon cafe is halfway decent, but god forbid you ask them for a pancake :)
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Richard Hall
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Thursday, September 16, 2010

Ate there today (18th Aug) with friends and we were bitterly disappointed. In fact, one person who had ordered the "pasta of the day" had to exchange it for something else because it was so dry (when asked, the waitress could only offer some olive oil to liven it up - not even any pesto!).

"Pies of the day" turned out to be steak in a very runny gravy and chicken & leek which was all leek and hardly any chicken (in fact, there was a large piece of skin in the pie). Pastry was awful - even if they'd used frozen it would have been better.

In fact, the only decent thing was the chips!!!!!

Prices are outrageous for what you get.

Would definitely not recommend to a friend.

Also, take a cushion as the wooden benches get even harder over time.......!
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Disappointed of EC1!
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Ate here last night (a Tues night) and had a great evening. The service was good and atmosphere most enjoyable. Starters of onion soup and asparagus (with hollandaise sauce) both lovely with mains of Pork Belly and Grilled Lemon chicken also very nice. Sweets of pavlova with strawberries and cream and sticky toffee pudding again most agreeable. Value for money not bad considering the portions were a decent size and the decor is quite remarkable.

Only down side was the chef who was standing on the public side of the kitchen area. Us customers really dont need to hear you losing the plot and screaming at the kitchen staff. Oh dear. Literally couldn't stand the heat and got out the kitchen! Tut tut young man.

Anyway, will be going back for another special treat regardless of the association of a celebrity owner.
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7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, May 19, 2010