Bonds

It was a fantastic evening overall; lovely food, brilliant service and a perfect atmosphere. They were not in any hurry to get rid of us, which meant that we could properly enjoy our evening. The price was only £12.95 for two courses and the food was clearly of a standard that far surpassed the cost to us. The wine was a little more expensive, but not overly so. I would highly recommend this restaurant!
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Tatiana Cutts
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Wonderful value £12.95 set lunch, which was also very, very good. With my partner being a very good chef, we're both very fussy and over fifty percent of the time, we find eating out a disappointing experience. It is a very classy place, pretty quiet and they aren't in a huge rush to get you out the door, but then we weren't in a rush to get out the door! Recommended.
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Suzanne
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Monday, August 04, 2008

Appalling service. Most of the waiters were not in possession of basic English and the "sommelier" couldn't have been more patronising.

When the food FINALLY arrived, it was nearly cold & mediocre.

For some reason they got stroppy when I refused to pay the 12.5% DISCRETIONARY service charge.
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- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Went to lunch at this restaurant this week. The setting was great, and the service was excellent. The quality of the food was superb, and will definitely be visiting again in the future.
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Simon Poole
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, June 19, 2008

Probably a nice place, but I'll never find out.

A stroppy receptionist informed me that I'd need to complete and return a written application, complete with my credit card details before they'd confirm my lunchtime booking for six.

I was looking for a venue for a relaxed, interesting lunch for one of my favourite clients.

I decided to go somewhere that understands that concept.

(Given the review 5s for food, service, value so I don't skew that part of the review)
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Nick - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Thursday, March 13, 2008

Had quite a good dining experience at Bonds recently. Service was a little slow, but main course (which all three of us had) was particularly superb: wreck-caught bass with borlotti beans and minestrone-type pasta with a basil sauce. Really did taste outstanding. Starters were acceptable, not great. Lovely dining room - perfect for a business lunch as it's not too cramped.
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Conorh
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Having frequented Bonds many times before for dinner, lunch and drinks, I was most disappointed at my recent visit (3 Sept). The limited starter menu has forced me to consider other restaurants; one vegetarian starter, and one with pork, one with chicken livers and rest all fish? Dinning with a Muslim client, allergic to fish myself and not an organs or pork person, it was by default that I opted for the artichoke starter. When I asked the ever-knowing waiter whether I could have some asparagus, I had a detailed 2 minute lecture on how asparagus was out of season (despite buying some the day before in M&S). I informed the waiter that I had bought some the day before and that they were still available, to which he promptly replied “we don’t serve anything that isn’t fresh”. To top it all off, my artichoke salad, drowning in a sea of lettuce miraculously had 2 asparagus heads in it – quite a mean feat considering they were out of season. The time delay between courses took too long for a business lunch and my request for duck to be medium (accepting full risk of it being overdone when ordering) was served rare! Last time I checked I was paying for the meal. Needless to say I didn’t question the freshness of the asparagus heads!

Honestly after the 'asparagus debate' – I thought it best to try and focus on the purpose of the lunch, i.e. business and get out of there ASAP. Definitely not going back in a hurry and definitely warning future potential patrons.
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tralee - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Thursday, September 06, 2007

The food was pretentious and inventive in all the wrong ways. However, a mistake on one direction is never enough, and my friend got a green salad that made a tesco one seem Michelin starred. A nice balance to my entree, where flavors worked together like Romans and Carthaginians.

The food however, was the least of our worries; with 3 waiters trying to cover the entire place, they could only be helpless. I did not expect them to be rude however, which happened twice during dinner. I think they might actually be actors, just working in the food service industry for the time being. Then again, if I want to experience that, I'd be living in NY, not London. I regularly get better service from my local kebab joint. Oh, and my friends at the kebab shop don't have me waiting for 3 hours while they continuously get my order wrong.
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Rodrigo
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Thursday, May 17, 2007

What a great place, stunning room, fantastic food, excellent service.

Don't know what the previous reviewer was on about but he sounds like the guest from hell!
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Irma
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, March 01, 2007

If you are thinking of eating at this restaurant I suggest you ring before you go and ask:

1) How long will it take to serve my meal from start to finish?

2) Do you have enough staff in today to meet the demands of a City restaurant?

3) Will I have professional waiting staff to serve me today?

4) Will I get quality food to the standard I might expect of a good City restaurant.

And you should be able to judge for yourself if the reality of the experience matches the promised benchmarks.

I just wish I had asked those questions before I booked today. They are not the normal sort of questions you would think of asking - especially if you know this restaurant. But I do, and of old...

I have eaten very many times at Bonds and thought it was great - excellent food, brilliant service. Today it was a disaster - and it appears that everything has changed.

You don't have to be Mystic Meg to get the feeling that this was not a one-off.

And believe me, I would much rather praise than complain.

However....

The food was not good - there was a marked difference in quality when compared to the many times I ate there before.

The service was painfully slow...we arrived at 1pm and didn't get a coffee until 2.45...the service was also terrible: two different wines poured in to the same glass...waiters brusquely reaching across my guests...there was more but I'll spare you the details.

One of my party was expecting great things, I had told him how wonderful the restaurant was and how much he would enjoy it. He was annoyed with me for taking him there.

Two of my guests had to get up and leave the table early as they couldn't wait any longer.

I did not pay the bill...having explained, at length - and politely, just why we were all so disappointed...but this episode leaves a very bad memory.

The meal should have been a treat for my guests and it turned in to a nightmare.

Such a shame when somewhere that has hitherto been so good treats its customers like this.
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Just Want A Reasonable Meal
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, February 07, 2007