Metro Garden Restaurant & Bar

I went to this restaurant on Saturday night with 9 friends and we all absolultely loved it. The service was great, the everyone there agreed that the food was amazing and the wine (we had two bottles of red, white & rose) was good too. I really like the conservatory with the fairy lights, and found the whole thing very aesthetically pleasing. It came to about £35 a head, and was worth every penny. I plan to come back here with my boyfriend next weekend.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, August 18, 2008

I went here tonight with my girlfriend, brother and his girlfriend and we had 2 course and coffee with 3 bottles of wine. It was a warm evening and very popular inside the restaurant.

Starting with the good points: 1) The staff - very friendly, but during our meal they failed to bring out all four meals at a time,meaning that one or other of my party were left for around 5 minutes with nothin to eat while everyone else stood on ceremony waiting for their plate to arrive. The waiter was good but almost apologeticly friendly, and after i pulled him up on the fact that one of our mains had also arrived late, it was a bit of a cringey moment. Whether this was due to the service or the kitchen i dont know but they managed to get both courses late for someone at our table. The staff were friendly though.

2) The garden. other reviewers have said that they loved the garden and it is fair to say that this is a unique aspect of this restaurant. On a warm night it is nice to sit outside and eat al fresco with the lights and plants all around. It is well layed out and althgough the tables are quite close together it is an intimate venue rather than being cramped.

3) wine. The three wines we had were a Pinot Grigot Rose at 22 pounds another ROse at 17 pounds and a Merlot at 22 pounds, all of which were very well chosen. so the wine was a good call.

4) The starters. 3 out of 4 of us had the carpaccio which was very well received, but i went a bit experimental and had a salad with fig, cheese and rocket. Basically, i was expecting something else because what i got was a circle of pastry on top of a load of salad surrounded by balsamic with a bit of cheese on top in the very centre. Bizarre and not all that good to be honest.

Now the bad points: 1) The music - when im eating, i dont want to hear the shaft theme tune.

2) The mains. Erm, wtf basically. I had chicken in parma ham with carrot and suede mash with pomegranite, while everyone else went for the lamb shoulder and mash. The lamb was a large, well cooked piece of meat but almost totaly flavourless and the mash was pretty stodgy and too much of it. And whats with the circles? Everything was on top of a circular island of something - so presentation needs a review, cmon! Yet again id gone for something that sounded interesting on the menu but ended up being just plain wierd. Pomegranites hsould be banned from savoury food, because the seeds are too big and they're just not right in mashed suede and carrot. Its like the chef just thought "bung a few pomegranite bits in there for some je ne sais quoi" well je ne sais quoi is exactly it mon petite choufleur. That dish does not work. The chicken was ok but not enough parma ham to make it tasty.

3) The bill was ok £170 for four with 3 bottles, although considering the quality of the food i had, i resented it quite badly as i would have rather got ribs from the place down the road, but service charge is a jip and i think should be allowed to make a decision about whether i pay it. In my opinion, i shouldnt have to pay extra to have my food brought to me, its allpart of the experience. Take it off and i'll go and pick it up myself.

4) A table should be served all at the same time guys, cos if one person has to re-request their plate 5 minutes after everyone else got theirs, then something has gone wrong. Busy night or no, it should all be there together, its just a standard.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Sunday, July 27, 2008

Whoever says this place is overpriced is either ignorant about London restaurant prices, or quite simply a cheapskate! I went last night with a friend and we both had three courses, two beers and a coffee and it came to £40 each, which for a good restaurant in London is something of a bargain. This place is fantastic. The staff are very friendly and helpful (so I didn't mind the 12.5% gratuity that is added). The menu is very good, you won't see burgers and chips here which is a nice change for Clapham, I had the steamed seabass which was lovely. The desert menu is probably the best I've ever seen in London.

The best thing about the Metro Garden though is the garden itself. I wasn't impressed with the inside of the restaurant but the garden is really nice, and when it gets darker, they turn on the lights that cover the decor to create a very nice atmosphere (and don't worry about bing cold outside, they have plenty of large outdoor heaters).

I wouldn't say it's the best place to have a family meal (the menu isn't really child friendly), but the ideal place to go for dinner in the evening with family/friends, or a date. Also conveniently located right next to clapham common station!
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David
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

I went to this restaurant with my girlfriend. Staff were friendly. HOWEVER the food is a complete rip-off ! Starters where something out of a supermarket shelve. The mains were slighly better but still not very good quality at all. We paid 75 pounds and left hungry.

I love eating out and eat out a lot -

This place is NOT RECCOMENDED.

Advise to owners: Sort out your menu, improve the food quality if you want to charge those prices. Give a better selection of food not just a handful of dishes - - offer better portions and don't rip people off by charging 7 pounds for a slice of cold chicken !
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gabriele
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I went there last night with my boyfriend Craig and the food was superb. Craig ordered a bottle of wine which went down great with the food offer. Overall ten on ten.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, April 02, 2008

The Metro Garden is a beautiful restaurant, I'll give it that. And, when it finally arrives, so is the food. However, I don't expect to book a day in advance for a table at 8.30pm and expect to leave the restaurant three hours later, simply because we had to wait an hour for each course!

The service is lovely and the waitress apologetic, but to be honest, I think this was down to practised apologies rather than real concern for our wait. The price of one starteer was taken off the bill, but a 12 percent service charge added(!).

I do feel sorry for the staff, who were obviously run off their feet, but I didn't see any over demanding customers and as it was bookings only, they should have been able to manage.

Having looked at some of the other reviews for this restaurant I'm sorry to say I hear similar tales. Which is such a shame as the venue and food are great. But for the price, there is a lot of choice in the area, so I hope the owners refocus their attention to these failings and prove to disappointed customers it's worth another visit.

I hope mine is the last review if its type for this restaurant!
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Emma
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 2
Monday, January 28, 2008

I visited this restaurant on a Saturday night with my boyfriend. It was very busy (which we expected) however we had to wait for about 15 minutes to even be given a menu. This then only offered 5 main courses - all of which my boyfriend didn't like. There was no safe option such as beef, lamb or chicken. We were relieved when we saw fillet steak on the specials board, however when we ordered this was unavailable but they had thankfully substituted this for a rack of lamb - which he opted for instead. We were then given a piece of bread but there were no side plates to put it on! The starters arrived after 20 minutes, after we'd finished we had to wait another 20 minutes again for the main course. The knife my boyfriend had been given was absolutely filthy so we had to ask for another one. The food was ok but certainly not worth the £80 the bill came to - we had starters, main, 2 glasses of wine and 2 bottles of beer.

On a plus note our waitress was very attentive, extremely pleasant and a credit to the restaurant. It may have been a case of going on the wrong night as my friends have recommended Metro. However we won't be returning again as we were very disappointed. It's a shame as the venue is lovely.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Sunday, December 02, 2007

My friends and I shared a lovely meal at the metro restaurant on Friday night. The food was lovely and the service was attentive. Unfortunately the evening was spoilt when the previously attentive waitress was extremely rude and abrupt when I took her aside to ask her to split the bill away from the table so that we could surprise one of our friends whom we did not want to pay. Anything out of the box is obviously just too much trouble. Fortunately another waiter covered for her but I have not experienced something so unprofessional in a supposedly quality London restaurant in a long time and I left with the taste of sour grapes!
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Hannah Worters
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Monday, November 19, 2007

I visited Metro with my girlfriend last Friday evening and took a table out in the garden at the rear of the venue. Now, I'm pretty particular when it comes to lighting in restaurants. I hate anywhere that's too bright that gives off that air of school canteen, stark brightness. So, for me, the lighting in the enclosed garden area was perfect. Abundant in twinkling fairy lights, casually draped over branches, with subtle glows emanating from the foliage, this garden area set the romantic mood right from the point we sat down.

With the ambiance in check, we proceeded to order the drinks and food. The staff were very friendly and helpful and lead us through the specials chalk board (mostly because we couldn't read the writing). I opted for the steak, which was beautifully cooked and seasoned, with the most more-ish dauphinois potatoes and succulent jus. My girlfriend chose the scallops with king prawns which was equally as delicious, although she did keep telling me, through mouthfuls of my own handouts, she'd wished she'd ordered the steak!

This was all accompanied by a lovely bottle of French red wine for £15.

We ended the meal sharing the selection of sorbets (very refreshing) and the lemon tart, which we both thought was a tad rubbery.

Overall, our experience at Metro was very enjoyable. No feeling of being rushed or overlooked. Very helpful and good humoured staff. Excellent food (compliments the chef) and lovely selection of wines. And to top it off, the best setting for a romantic meal I've ever encountered.

We will definitely come again.

Although next time maybe we won't have that second bottle of wine, after merrily swaying out of the restaurant blowing kisses and cheering goodbye to the staff who then seemed like our new best friends.
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James Locke-Hart
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Monday, August 06, 2007

This is our favourite restaurant in Clapham and South London. It is contemporary, stylish and very atmospheric. The food is the very good, on a par with Bluebird and other high class-ish establishment. The garden is great even in the winter with the Marque up, the fairy lights and heaters mean your not cold amongst the foliage.

Lets face it, if you have a bad eating experience then you write it up on a sight like this. If you have a great time you tell your friends and that's about it. After reading some of the other posts I felt complied share our experience eating here over the past 3 years - we've been around 5 times and taken even taken the parents. The bottom line is its great - food, wine, service, specials and especially the atmosphere

So overall tthe main complaint seems to be service which has never been a problem with us - maybe we're a bit more laid back?
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, July 26, 2007