York & Albany

My husband I came for breakfast at the York and Albany and found it to be quite a stressful occasion. The service was very very slow, the coffee cold and the eggs and the toast arrived at very different times. We highlighted this to our waiter who got the manager for us. She was a very abrupt English women and made us feel bad for mentioning it. We then saw her go over to the waiter and upset the poor little French girl, which made us feel worse. Not worth the money by a long shot.
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Sandra Worthing
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Saturday, May 01, 2010

I went for dinner on Saturday night with a few friends. The place is lovely, the food is ok, service is sloppy, wine is expensive for what you get. My scallops starter was over cooked, my fish main was over cooked and under seasoned and squid accompaniment really chewy, my friends carpaccio was also under seasoned and hake over cooked. No one poured our wine all night, the room was really hot. The steamed pudding was lovely, but probably better suited to a gastro pub. The staff were a little over friendly and overall not the sophistication you'd expect.

Basically this place is OK, but for the £200 + (3 courses, wine, and 1 cocktail each) for the three of us it was massively over priced and really not what one would expect from a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. I'm sure Gordon would have been disappointed with our meal and the lack of focus by the chefs, but he probably hasn't been to the kitchens there for some time.

What would be better is to have some of the pizzas or sandwiches on the menu at the bar upstairs, they looked great and much better value. I guess there's no suprise the York and Albany was one of the few restaurants I could get a booking at on short notice!
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Daniel
3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Monday, April 19, 2010

Last Tuesday night i went to York & Albany with my partner to celebrate our anniversary and had a cocktail to start with. The barman was charming and created a drink which wasn't on the list according to our taste in spirits. In the restaurant we were served by a lovely young blond lady. Her food knowledge was impaccable and very passionate. We had a great night and walked home reving about the amazing food that we had, we could have had more dishes but we want to keep fit!

Definitely will go back. This is an every day kind of place especially with those very affordable prices!
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Melanie ''75
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Portions are still tiny, I had the pollock which I don't recommend, rather tasteless and dry. Lovely treacle dessert. Waitresses were pleasant, heating turned up after a while so it did get hot. Atmosphere was fine but could think of nicer places to eat for £95 with better food.
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James
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Monday, December 07, 2009

Four of us went to York and Albany for dinner on Saturday. We were seated in the back of the cheaply refurbished and badly lit basement, which was overheated to an uncomfortable degree.

Our starters and mains were interesting and well flavoured though the portions were minuscule, as others have noted. Service, initially attentive, flagged half-way through. Only one of us ordered a dessert and the rest of us, offered coffee at the same time, asked for it to be served a few minutes later. This proved a mistake as when we did order it nothing happened for at least a quarter of an hour, then the waiter we grabbed said there had been a "logistical problem" and a further 15 minutes later we called another waiter over to cancel the coffee order and bring the bill instead. This eventually prompted the arrival of the coffee which we declined as by now we were melting in the heat.

After paying we left without any word of apology or goodbye from the staff.
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5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

My last two visits to the York & Albany were thoroughly enjoyable. The maître d' was very welcoming and friendly on both occasions and she made us feel totally at ease. The waitress (short blonde hair and glasses) is the best I've come across in terms of efficiency, helpfulness and general attitude. Such a delight after the cold snooty French waiters you normally get in the Ramsay restaurants.

The food was very good and the Sunday lunch and early supper menus are fantastic value.

Last time we sat downstairs in front of the kitchen which was great - very comfortable and entertaining. I would definitely recommend the York & Albany and am very happy to have such a good local restaurant.

The bar needs better lighting and better staff though and the bar snacks should be free considering the price of the drinks.
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londongal - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, November 14, 2009

I had lunch here in the basement restaurant last Friday with four others and really enjoyed it. We had the three course set menu for £20. The food was wonderful - I really can't say anything bad about it. Portions were quite small, but add in bread, wine and coffee, and I was pleasantly full at the end of it. The service was very good and not at all slow. The only issue was, when we arrived, they tried to seat us on a table with backless sofas and very narrow seats - when we asked to be moved, even though there were only two other tables in use in the basement, they made a big production of checking with the manager. We were permitted to move and the restaurant remained almost empty for the next couple of hours, so I'm not sure why this was a problem. Apart from this bad start, it was a very enjoyable lunch.
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8 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 15, 2009

Lunch at the Y&A (July 31, 2009) was a disappointment compared to the sensational one had at Maze Grill the day before. York & Albany’s small main floor dining room is cramped and noisy. A more comfortable option would be to eat in the bar as it has fantastic windows facing onto Regent Park. The downside of the meal was a chocolate soufflé presented as a hot, chewy pancake, perhaps it was lost in translation. Lukewarm coffee topped off the meal. Service was slow.
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LWS, Toronto
5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Sunday, August 09, 2009

Visited Thursday lunch time and had a most wonderful lunch, extremely relaxed and enjoyed the whole experience. Food was lovely - I had the Roasted Devon Plaice with sweetcorn and girolle risotto, buttered runner beans - was divine and I was sorely tempted to pick up my plate to lick clean! For desert I had the Elderflower jelly, gooseberry compote, pink Champagne granité, almond macaroon which was light and refreshing given the hot sticky weather outside. All four of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and will be returning.
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Crack - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, July 10, 2009