Steph's

When I first walked in I thought that the restaurant looked fun and promising. Unfortunately the service and food were shocking.

I started with the chargrilled veggies as I thought that they looked like the only healthy option. They came out swimming in oil though and left me feeling slightly sick. I then had the marinated chicken, rocket and parmesan salad. The chicken was a tough as old leather and lacking any marinade. We ordered a bottle of Merlot and were served Shiraz.

The birthday girl was not given her starter and when she asked for it she was told by the waiter and the manager that she never ordered it - she was the first to order her starter

The yorkshire puddings were all burnt. The pie from the specials list was burnt. The cheese and bacon potato skins had no bacon. The chef and the waiter had a fight in the bar. One whole meal was not touched due to it being burnt and they charged us for it and charged us a service charge.

In summary if you like burnt, oily food accompanied by bad service then this is the place for you
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Clare
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, June 12, 2008

I went to Steph's yesterday with a few of my colleagues and this was the worst experience I have ever had! Having lived in London all my life and enjoying eating out, this place was just awful!

The service was slow, poor and the waiter got confused with our orders resulting in meals arriving late! Also some of the starters and mains were burnt, in fact we also had 2 additional lots of garlic bread to share and one set was normal and the other was swimming in garlic butter sauce like a soup, literally. I haven't seen anything like it before, it was soggy and we didn't touch it!

The boss lady was really rude, as for the burnt main meal, we returned it and all they did was shave off the burnt part of the pie and brought it back to our table. At the end of the meal, we asked her to take it off the bill since my colleague did not even attempt to eat it and she kept insisting it wasn't burnt and her final comment was 'oh, i'll take it off, i can't be bothered'! Nice boss!

Don't waste you time or money at this place, seriously.
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Man-Sin
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Thursday, June 12, 2008

I went to Steph's with my girlfriend for a "special night" (a year since our first date) and found the service very friendly, without being too OTT. The food was of a very high quality ( my girlfriend is Italian so she has high standards in this area) as was the wine, the bottle we chose was one of the best I have ever had.

Stefano himself even came over to have a chat, the sort of personal service that is all too often missing in London these days and something that actually reminded us of being back in Italy. Where a restaurant is kind of an extension of the owners house.

So I guess you make your choice, follow the sheep and go for what English restaurant owners would have you believe is the "way it's done in Italy" or get yourself down to Steph's and actually be served italian food, by Italian's. Even the bill wasn't too bad, 2 courses and a bottle of wine for about 30 quid a head, Que Buonissimo, as they say in Italy (Sorry if it's spelled wrong honey :O)
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Mal
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, October 22, 2007

Hi

I visited this reataurant for the first and last time last October and I am still angry at the treatment we received.

We waited over an hour for our food to arrive. No one came to explain what the problem was or apologise. When we finally caught the attention of a waiter we were told that they were short staffed in the kitchen. However they continued to take customers and food orders without explaining the situation to anyone We had two children with us who were by now really hungry and we had to weigh up trying to find another restaurant and another wait or we wouldn't have bothered to stay. The staff attitude was couldn't care less. When the food finally arrived it was burnt and inedible. At this point we our patience was spent and the waitress at last called the manager. She came over reluctanlty-the whole evening she had been chatting to friends while the choas ensued- even though we had seen the waitress apporach her and explain our complaint after the first hour of waiting. Her response was to offer us a free drink. Too little too late. I wrote a letter of complaint the next day and never even got the courtesy of a response. The worst restaurant experience I have ever had in London and I have lived here for over 20 years. I would never go there again .
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, July 22, 2007

Stephs has become a Soho tradition. The decor is wild! Pink Flamingos everywhere, including 5ft tall ones painted on the walls! If the lady herself is present when you arrive you will know it! A vision in Black.

Been going to Stephs for 20 years. The food is real British comfort food. The menu includes Fish And Chips (served in paper!), but my favourites always include the soups (which change daily, and are very fresh), and the Home made Pies (also change daily). If I need comforting its a Pie with Mash potato that I choose. . (the music in the backround consists of a mix of popular show music, and cheesy pop, which should give you some idea of the type of customers that frequent this place (usually Theatre lovers, actors and people in the business, and those of a type that apprecate Abba!)Desserts are good too. The Key Lime Pie is smooth and creamy, but tangy. If you want a giggle, with good British food, then Stephs is the place. Its also perfectly located for Theatreland, so before or after a show is the best time to go.
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Janet
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 12, 2007

I went into Steph's with my partner and was greeting professionally and shown to our table. We were offered drinks to start while we looked at the menu. We had three to choose from, the main menu, Tiffin Bites and Spamalot, a fun menu I tried one of the starters and it was surprising nice. My partner had steak, the best steak he'd ever tasted, which is a huge compliment(it's the only thing he ever eats!) I had Filo Pastry Parcel - spinage and goats cheese - excellent. We both had sweets, Key Lime Pie which was very tangy and Summer Pudding with Ice Cream. The bill came to just short of £80.00, excellent value, good food and attentive service, with games on the table to test our skills at solving puzzles, something else my partner won but I'll be back for a re-match! All in all good value
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John Ashby
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, December 19, 2006

The restaurant I went to was charming with extremely professional service and, unlike most places in Soho these days, did not seem to rely on microwaves. When I told the waiter I had a dairy allergy, he knew exactly what I should avoid on the menu and the kitchen was only too happy to alter my meal accordingly. The fries I had in place of mash were clearly home made as was my chicken liver pate, and like the calves liver and bacon, it was all perfectly cooked (they actually seem to know what medium rare means). My friend had a small chicken caesar salad (note: chicken breast obviously freshly chargrilled and tasting of chicken!) followed by lamb and cinnamon pie - lovely.

The food came to just under £22 each, to which we added two glasses of a very respectable Sauvignon Blanc followed by two of Merlot all at £4.95. My only caveat would come with the liqueurs at the end with our coffee, which we both felt to be a little overpriced (£6.00 for a large courvoisier and £8.00 for a large armagnac). These, together with the service charge of 12.5% pushed the bill to just over £45 each.

And I would happily spend £45 on solid home-cooked food and decent wine served by knowledgeable and experienced staff any day. It's just a shame I didn't get to meet the eponymous Steph - she sounds like a bit of a character to say the least!
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Jonathan Winstanley
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 6
Saturday, March 25, 2006

Despite that fact that we've lived in the area for over 4 years, this was the first time my wife and I had been to Steph's and what a disappointment. The food was ordinary at best with an very expensive Caesar to start (I've never had a Caesar salad that was stodgy but somehow they managed it). £6 for some lettuce strips, plasticy parmigiana and a bland dressing the consistency of wallpaper paste. Completely lacking any sort of freshness or zing. A side of garlic bread made up the other starter.

The mains were only slightly better with a decently thick and well cooked lamb steak being the best dish of the night. Unfortunately, the steak fries it came with were soggy and tasted like they'd been microwaved. My wife's sausage and mash was just plain boring.

All this with two glasses of house wine and a £4 bottle of still water came to £53 and the automatic service charge put it up to just shy of £60. Sixty pounds with only one starter and not even a bottle of wine. Even if I'd paid only £20 for the whole thing I would've felt dissatisfied.
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Stinger
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Thursday, January 19, 2006

Fantastic, fun and friendly that's Steph's. The chatter and laughter could be herad prior to entering. We were greeted at the door very effiently and shown to our table.

A very pleasant glass of pink champagne to start, not too sweet, not too dry tantalised our taste buds.

Starter we had meat balls which were spicey and delicious and whisky black pudding, again nice but perhaps a tad too much wishky for my liking.

Our main course Steph's fishcakes and shoestring fries just melted in the mouth, really really nice - I certainly will be back for more. The filo pastry parcel went down well too. A very good choice for a vegitarian, my companion is not but said the tomotoe sauce and vegitables were cooked to perfection.

All of this was washed down by a bottle of the house white, a rather fruity chardonnay.

The waiters were attentive and even changed the puzzle on our table for a game of contact 4.

Where else can you go and enjoy a wholesome meal, share banter with Steph, have table games and all for less than £35 each.

Thank you Steph and the Team I for one will be back.
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Tuesday, October 25, 2005