The House (Islington)

Last night myself and my partner visited The House for an evening meal. We were warmly welcomed by both bar and restaurant waiting staff who gave us an attentive but un-fussy service all night. Lucky for us we had arrived on the premier of the new summer menu which was simple but imaginative. For starters we opted for the Szechwan sashimi Tuna with black bean dressing and the Feta, mozarella and tomatoe filo pie with tapenade dressing; both fantastic. The mains were equally delicious especially the monkfish and clam linguini, but for me the best was the reccomended whisky and rapberry cracken dessert, a perfect light but sweet ending to a really lovely evening. Go there if you want a relaxed atmosphere with friendly staff with good standards. The cosy sofas were a nice place to enjoy an after dinner drink too!
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Jose Miguel Aguilar
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, June 01, 2007

dont go here, rude staff, average food which is very overpriced a cold uninviting place. We were treated like dirt, these people need to remember us customers pay their wage.

too many points too mention. manager was so stressed you could see him panicing and making the staff worse.
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chriseveans
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, May 23, 2007

After checking out the reviews on this venue my partner and I thought it would be a great idea to try it out for a Sunday lunch. We didn't book a table and trotted on down there not realisng it was a match day.

Needless to say when we got there they were fully booked - the manager told us we would have to wait for 1.5 hours for a table, but the menu looked good, so we decided to book the table for 1.5 hours later and have a drink in the meantime.

After 1.5 hours of waiting patientIy I went up to the manager and asked how we were getting on with the table - to which he replied "I'm just going to get them to lay a table for you". 30mins came and went and we were still not seated, bearing in mind there were quite a few empty tables by now, none of which were prepared for us. The manager was well aware of us still waiting, but chose to ignore us - no apology for the wait, nothing. I know we chose to wait but we did so quietly and without incident. Busy they may have been, but that is no reason to ignore us.

After over 2 hours waiting - we decided to leave - the staff clearly had no interest in seating us or even acknowledging us.

The food looked good and the location was nice, but I will never go there again, for fear of being ignored yet again!!!!

To top it off - I got a parking ticket!!!
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, April 30, 2007

Fantastic. I love this place. Hadn't been for over a year and went with a new girlfriend last weekend. Was glad to see it hadn't changed. Still intimate, relaxed, food excellent (better than the top places in the west end & notting hill where you spend twice as much). She was hugely impressed. Perfect place for a perfect date.
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Gerrard, N1
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, February 26, 2007

I had heard mixed reviews about this pub, tucked away in Islington.

All I can say is disappointing and very stuck up rude staff.

I had hoped to treat my father to supper but we were put off by the arrogance of the staff – I think they forgot that a role of hospitality is to be hospitable.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Friday, December 01, 2006

I can never quite understand why this pub gets such good reviews for the food. I like eating here, and the food is quite good, but I go because it's local- I wouldn't travel out of my way for it. It gets very full in summer, and the outside space is right on a main road. The staff are usually nice but occasionally a bit snotty. Overall it's a good local gastro pub.
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Emma
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Thursday, November 30, 2006

I read the reviews on this pub and asked my partner to take me to this much sought after pub as a Saturday treat. We had often passed it on route home but for some reason we had never ventured in……I really wish we had stuck to that decision.

We entered the pub and waited at the bar for over ten minutes. Staff stood talking amongst themselves made eye contact on two occasions and still never came over. I’ll stress here we were the only people waiting!! I politely asked if we could get served and were met with a frosty reception. We hadn’t even been served when the bar staff member started to serve someone else. Obviously a regular – eventually she finished our order and rudely advised my partner they didn’t accept cards under £10.00. Lucky seeing as he was about to pay with cash.

We sat and watched the rest of the staff grumpily greet customers and then left.

I would strongly suggest avoiding this pub.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The atmosphere was the most impressive thing about The House, and the food was lovely too. We arrived at 1pm and could have quite happily stayed there all afternoon and evening!

To start with, we sat for an hour in the bar area on the lovely squidgy sofas reading the Sunday papers that were lying around, and then went through to the mroe formal tables for lunch.

The food was quite pricey but very high quuality and we all enjoyed every mouth full. The fish stew was particularly delicious, and the oysters that some people had for starters looked great too.

The only thing that I would criticise is the inclusion of cigars on the desert menu. One of our party ordered one instead of desert and it was brought to the table. After he lit it he was then asked to leave the restaurant because you couldn't smoke. As it takes 30 mins to smoke a cigar he then had to sit on his own by the bar while we finished our meals. I would recommend they put a note on the menu as its very misleading to have them on offer with deserts.

Apart from that though - highly recommended! We'll definitely go back for a long, long, long Sunday lunch!
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Claire B
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, November 03, 2006

I have been here twice, six months apart, and both times the food and service were absolutely excellent. We turned up over half an hour late on a friday night after getting lost coming from a late-running show at Sadlers Wells, and they were utterly relaxed about it and helpful when we called three times to confirm and ask for directions (ahem). Throughout the evening the service was spot-on - complete without being obtrusive – and it says a lot that most of the same faces were there each time (hi Amanda) – never trust a restaurant that has a high turnover of staff. Everything we ordered was extremely good but the lobster linguini and cabbage and bacon soup got a special thumbs up. The wine menu is wide-ranging and user-friendly. Definitely worth your time.
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Hermione
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, September 28, 2006

Wow! What an amazing place! I took my boyfriend there for his birthday and I can say without any doubt that it's the best meal I've ever had. The fish and chips were to die for and I left feeling like I'd never eat again!

This is a hidden gem and we will be going back again and again and again!!
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Corin Brett
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Friday, June 02, 2006