Skylon

Took advantage of the Evening Standard offer, which was £15 for 2 courses, £20 for 3 courses with complimentary glass of Portugese wine. The menu was small but well selected. There was one choice each of vege, seafood and meat dishes. I had the chicken liver foie gras parfait to start, confit duck leg for mains, wrapping up with the bitter chocolate icecream. The food was lovely, only gripe was that the parfait came with only a slice of sourdough. This goes for all restaurants where there’s never enough bread to go with the parfait. Duck confit could be a crispier on the outside but otherwise it was good. Service was good and attentive, there wasn’t a feeling that the cheapos have come to eat with the offer. Have also been there when there wasn’t an offer and the Grill had a reasonably priced menu. The restaurant is on the other side of the central bar area. You’re not missing much in terms of views at all. So if you want to splash out, then go to the Restaurant but if you want to keep it reasonable, go for the Grill. Simples.
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juniperchick - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Friday, September 02, 2011

I went to Skylon on the recommendation of some friends, the restaurant itself is huge and highly atmospheric, with floor to ceiling windows of the south bank and the thames.

The service as excellent, as one of my party was 30 minutes late and we didn't fell rushed or uncomfortable.

The food itself was nicely cooked and presented, but there were some odd things that seemed out of place (raw cavolo nero with sauteed ceps?)

Desserts were ok. Wine list was very good with a nice eclectic wines from around the world.

Maybe it was too early in the week (we went on a tuesday) but it didn't live up to my expectations, will probably go again, but maybe a thursday or friday dinner just to see if things are different.

Well priced, and professional service were the highlights of this restaurant.
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Fu-Dog - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, August 22, 2011

My wife and I utilised the Evening Standard deal on a Sunday night: other than the entire building being rather hot (air conditioning problems) it was pretty much ideal. The wait staff were very attentive and polite but never overbearing, the menu was simple but the flavours were expertly matched. The wine list was great. It is a splendid room, after the sun had disappeared behind the north-bank buildings the blinds were raised affording a splendid view of the Thames and Embankment. A rather nice evening. The ES 3 course deal including comp champagne came to about £100 (with a half-bottle of wine)
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9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, August 01, 2011

Great cocktails, great location and views, pretty poor food!
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SE - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Thursday, February 03, 2011

My second time there and I had an amazing time in the company of 4 relatives at the Southbank restaurant on Saturday 6/11/10. Excellent food and the service was second to none, faultless. They have superb professional staff, always pleasant and smiling. Pampered we were and they have captured the true experience of dining out in style in a great location, and going home afterwards fully satisfied.

Highly recommended.
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Philippe Granger
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, November 07, 2010

I went to went to the Skylon restaurant to enjoy the Evening Standard special offer for £30 including champagne, on a Saturday afternoon, my first visit and I was very impressed. We had a window table,

which gave amazing views of the riverside, where there was a festival going on. I thought the menu choices were good, I went for the cuttlefish for my starter, adventurous for me, and it was a good decision. For my main, I chose the kidneys, again adventurous, and they were very tasty, this was finished off by the Eton Mess, that when it arrived look far too pretty to eat, but I am glad that I did. The staff were friendly, attentive, and did not raise an eyebrow when we asked for tap water at the table, usually waiters do seem offended when you do not choose to buy the high priced mineral water, but not here! They all looked very smart in the sage green trouser suits that they wore. We did not feel we were being rushed at all, in fact our lunch took nearly 4 hours, and the staff seemed genuinely pleased that we were enjoying our selves so much. The portions were small, but isn’t that the norm in gourmet restaurants nowadays, but the bead basket was brought so many times, there was no chance of us feeling like we still wanted more. But we did feel like more champagne, so we purchased our own bottle. I cannot fault the food or the way it was presented or served, and would not hesitate to recommend it.
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Susan Fanning
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, September 13, 2010

We went to the Skylon restaurant to enjoy the Evening Standard special offer for £30 including champagne. Unfortuntely, we were hugely disappointed. The atmosphere and setting for the Skylon is amazing and we have been to the bar many times for drinks but never for dinner. The service was very good although at times a little too attentive if that's possible. I think that because we were on the offer they did want to move us on quickly. Unfortunately my husband was late for our reservation and the floor manager came over to our table and mentioned our deadline for finishing dinner which wasn't appreciated. Both my husband and my friend had the mackral to start and I had the pork. We all thought the starters were passable. The main courses were disappointing with my gnocchi crispy if not burnt and flavourless. Suprisingly my friend liked the kidneys but my husband thought the seabass was just okay. Dessert was really nice but overall we all agreed that we would not recommend the food at Skylon and if the champagne hadn't been included we would have felt that we overpaid for the meal. Go to Skylon for the drinks and not the food. I can't image paying £40 to £50 for what we ate even if we had champagne included.
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6 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 1
Sunday, August 15, 2010

I went to Skylon last night for a friend's birthday. I had a great first impression, the place was nice and although they initially sat us on a table away from the window, when we requested if we could be moved they were nice and found us a table. The service was quite good, not amazing and we were twice interrupted in the middle of conversations and asked if everything was ok with our meal. It's nice of them to care so much, but being asked twice? And also, if something was wrong surely we would have said something by now!

For the amazing place that it is, I was very disappointed with the menu. There was not a lot of variety, and most dishes looked rather boring (steamed salmon with potatoes, vegetable risotto). None of the starters appealed to me. For main dish I asked for a "chicken, shrimp and peanut stew" as it was the only thing that looked remotely interesting. Well I was very wrong! The dish was very boring, and it came with 2 miniscule (not kidding!) 'shrimp' and 3 peanuts. The rest was chicken. The description of the dish was a complete joke! And it was overpriced too! Do not order this dish!!

Overall the place is ok, but I would go there for a drink or two and go have dinner somewhere else because you will not get any excitement from any of the dishes offered.
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5 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Thursday, July 29, 2010

Took friends and family to Skylon for a celebration. Service was good but food was really disappointing. We therefore wrote to them, and they very kindly gave us a voucher to go back.

We therefore went back last night, where we experienced some truly terrible service. We had to ask about 5 separate waiters for our drinks, before they eventually arrived with our food. If we didn't have the voucher we would have walked out. Food was niceish but overpriced for what you get.

My advice to Skylon would be don't employ 50,000 waiters all running around like headless chickens. Instead employ about half and actually train them so when you ask for something, they dont stare back at you with gormless looks on their faces.

My advice to you would be save yourself heartache to your stomach and wallet and dine elsewhere...
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Will
3 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Friday, July 16, 2010

I received an e-mail advertising the Brazilian summer at the Southbank and the Brazilian menu at Skylon (with sample menu attached). My partner's birthday was coming up and he's very fond of Brazil so I thought this was perfect.

Although we had a positive experience at the bar, where the staff was friendly and helpful, from then on it went downhill.

Our table was booked for 9pm and we had arrived at 8.15 to get drinks at the bar. At 9.10 the waitress comes to inform us that there is slight delay, would we like to order more drinks? We wait a bit longer, still no table at 9.20. My partner orders another cocktail. Still no table. The manager comes over to apologize, hand on chest (to show "real concern"?).

Finally at 9.40 we get shown to our table, rather upset at that stage considering we had a babysitter at home and would now be coming home very late. Then the assistant manager explains that the reason for this delay is that the persons before us arrived late for their booking, which I think is irrelevant as it's got nothing to do with us .

Then, climax of our disappointment, was the menu! The sample Brazilian menu advertised looks nothing like what was on offer on the night. There was only one starter, only one main and only one desert that were "Brazilian".

Then we had to wait for another long stretch of time before anyone came for the drinks or food order, although the staff was over the top (fake smiles and all).

As we were leaving we shared our great disappointment with the manager. All he did was repeat the same apology and insist that this was due to the people before us who turned up late. At no stage were we offered a drink on the house or any other form of compensation, which would have been the decent thing to do especially since we had to wait so long for our table. It is only when we were on our way out, with our coats on, at 11.15 pm that the assistant manager offered us a glass of champagne on the house (i.e. pretty much when he knew we would not accept it) . What an appalling level of customer service and what a disappointment !

When you spend £150 for a meal you would expect a bit more consideration as a customer. Needless to say it wasn't a great birthday dinner.

Have sent a written complaint to the restaurant who has so far ignored it.
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Julie B
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, June 29, 2010