Lola & Simon

A very good neighbourhood place, simple but tasty food (best breakfasts in the area) using good ingredients. Works well as daytime cafe, the atmosphere not so good for an evening place (often the case with cafes). Several bottles of wine from a good list have, however, been enjoyed in the evening. This is not by any means the 20th or so best restaurant in London (as it's ranking in Trip Advisor gave it a few months back!!! - I feel sorry for anyone who made the journey from central London to eat here for this reason) but is a great place that is in a similar league to the other good King Street places - Zing, Tosa, Saigon Saigon etc

Major issue for me here is the inconsistent coffee. In the 18 months we have been coming here I have had some excellent coffees and some below average ones. People who know about expresso coffee making know that many factors effect how a coffee comes-out – amount of coffee in the each shot, adjustment of the machine valves, adjustment of the grinder valves, ratio of froth to milk…..I have ordered 2 flat whites here within 1 hour of each other that have arrived with different strengths. With a typical coffee having a 75% profit it is reasonable for customers to expect it to be good, and consistent. The 3rd (Aussie and Kiwi led) wave of cafes in London is producing some excellent places (e.g. Kaffeine, Tapped & Packed, St Ali, Flat White….) so stuff the passed as OK a couple of years ago will (I hope) become increasingly less viable. And what an opportunity for a local cafe to excel over its competition if the copied the leaders! Maybe some of the staff here need professional barista training (which is becoming a bit more standard these days).

Staff - very friendly, most of the time.
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CoffeeM - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, September 13, 2011

We were looking forward to this restaurant , a friend of mine is from NZ and so it was a perfect place to taste some traditional NZ cusine.

The meals tool 30 mins plus to arrive. My friend had an extremely rare steak which was un-edible and she had asked for medium. My chicken was ok but bland.

We sent back the steak only to find it was still on the bill! It was eventually taken off, the bill was slammed down on the table.The waiter then walked off in the middle of taking our payment and we were asked to leave as the table was booked for someone else. We wanted to leave desperately but we couldnt because they would not come over to take payment!

We asked for the manager in the end. We were told the manager was not there and that was why everything was going wrong. They didnt care!

Would i recommend? Definately not. Save your money. I wanted so badly to tell people not to sit down when i saw them waiting at the door!!
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2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Monday, November 22, 2010

Despite being day time regulars, it's been a while since we had dinner at Lola and Simon's. We ate in a group of 7 last Monday and had a really lovely meal - as good as we remembered! We pre ordered some starter platters to kick things off - a mix of empanadas, risotto balls and provoleta cheese. Then everyone ordered a la carte for mains - we tried most of the dishes on the menu and no one was disappointed. We chose our own favourite white wine from the New Zealand end of the wine list (Tin Pot Hut Sauvignon Blanc - excellent value) and Nico's favourite red from the Argentinian side - good choice! Sadly, we were all too full to have pudding! Next time....
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Maggie
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, October 19, 2010

We have been to Lola & Simon lots. We love it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! If you appreciate good coffee, delicious food and great wine, this is the one! We had a lovely evening the other night beginning with the mixed starter which is great - especially the risotto balls! For main course I had Milanesas which was really tasty and the lamb was fantastic and perfectly cooked. Desserts are well worth it too! The wine list is really good and reasonably priced too.

All in all, well worth several visits!
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Sarah
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, October 18, 2010

Spent literally 2 weeks ruminating on, choosing, planning, booking and un-booking restaurants to take my brother to - he rarely gets a night out in London and is a huge foodie. Money no object and he loves eating strange parts of offal and the like. I eventually plumped for Lola & Simon thought is was the perfect choice, the first New Zealand /Argentinian restaurant in the world!!

What a huge disappointment. The menu is a mixture of Italian (Salad of pear and Parma ham) French( cheese soufflé) and gastro-pub ( cod and mash potatoes), yes of course they have Argentinean steaks and New Zealand green leap mussel but I feel that they do not bother to research more traditional home land dishes as they should (see Gaucho grill or Kiwi kitchen). The food was bland beyond belief. After 2 courses of disappointment we decided not to bother with dessert( at 5.50-6pound each)

Overall the service was OK and the wine list had a good selection and the prices of the wines was good

I wouldn't rush back. The food this evening was a real let down
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K.D. - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Excellent. The fishcakes and steak sandwich were superb, the service was friendly and proactively helpful (not a given in today's world) and they even knew how to make coffee properly. I would definitely go again.

Obviously it is not fine dining (it does not pretend to be) but it is as good a cafe as you will get for a relaxing mid morning brunch or lunch.
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8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, March 09, 2010

"Try it, you will love it" Are you kidding? What a joke.

The food can only be described as childish. Think, of your 5 year old niece cooking you dinner and you smiling politely as you work you way through it. One dish was this poor quality steak thing with melted cheese all over the top with a manky tomato in the middle of it. At best the food was weird but most of it was just bland and uninspiring.

Think the wine was OK though. I drank enough of it just to get myself to the end of the meal.
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Drew Peacock
4 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, February 23, 2010

A brilliant little place, it is everything this sort of community restaurant should be. Stylish in an understated way, casual, endlessly friendly and with a small but excellent menu which is cooked and served very well. Nico and Kirsten should be very proud of what they have created in Lola and Simon - it is a brilliant edition to this stretch of the King Street and well worth a trip from the surrounding areas. Try it - you will love.
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10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, June 10, 2009

This is our local cafe / restaurant and we find excuses to go as often as possible! They have a small well sourced menu centred around Argentinian and New Zealand produce: my favourite main course is the mussels! And they do a great honey lemon drink which I love.

Nico and Kirsten make such an effort for the friendly atmosphere there. Go tonight: you'll love it!
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Hannah
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, May 29, 2009

Very relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Good food and reasonable prices. One of our favourite restaurants.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, May 29, 2009