St John's Tavern

Had the best burger I've eaten in London in 14 years of living here. And I'm from New York. Delicious.
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maureen cronin
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Saturday, July 02, 2011

Just visited St Johns for sunday lunch, the 15 pound price tag for a main of roast lamb seemed very overpriced considering the toughness of the lamb and the luke warm service. A complaint to the manager was met with indifferrence. We were looking forward to a higher end lunch but to be honest have enjoyed better at our local wetherspoons( for half the price). We will not be eating here again as the staff seem to feel that they are above serving the locals!
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Sue - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Sunday, March 20, 2011

Stunning. Love the architecture and open space complimented by top notch food. So refreshing to see an alternative menu to the standard identikit that you see in so many so called 'gastro' pubs e.g. the burger, the salmon, the mezze platter. Great to see a bit of offal as well. One of the joys of London is finding places like this to indulge my gastro passion and this is firmly in the top ten gastro pubs.
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Tom Sargent
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, March 14, 2011

This place has been my local pub for years and the atmosphere is very good. Have eaten there many times too and the food is always excellent, the menu changes regularly and the staff is always very attentive, nice and professional. can't fault anything about the place
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Maria
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, January 16, 2011

Beautiful pub - Expensive - Horrible restaurant service

On Monday 1 November 2010 I went with a group of friends to St John’s Tavern for a birthday dinner. This is an excellently decorated pub with a big dining room, high ceilings and gorgeous fresh flowers. The menu is varied, although the range of vegetarian meals could be easily widened –there was just one vegetarian main course in the menu.

The food they served was well prepared but our evening was darkened by the service we received from the management personnel. Forget about politeness, kindness or any smile. They are very slow at cooking and serving you, not letting you know in advance how long it takes for certain things, such as desserts, to be prepared.

They brought our coffee orders before pudding was ready and when some friends asked if they could have some cocoa powder on their cappuccinos they rudely and arrogantly replied that they did not serve them that way, not offering any other option and not even apologising for not doing so. Some people had already finished their coffees and our desserts hadn’t still arrived so we approached the manager and asked her if she knew how long would it take for our orders to be ready and explained that our coffee had already been served. She bluntly replied that sometimes it took up to 20 minutes to prepare some puddings and gave no further explanation. A little bit later she came back to our table with our desserts and she told us that she had already reprehended the waitress that took our orders for the coffee incident and that we didn’t have to pay the service charge if we weren’t satisfied with the service. All this happened without any kind of cordiality, kindness, apology or even a smile.

We did pay our service charge, since this was for our waitress, who didn’t have anything to do with these incidents, and all understood that the problem this place has is its horrible management, who don’t have any clue of how to deal with customer service.
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Thursday, November 04, 2010

I haven't been to the St John for ages, since moving to Brixton almost ten years ago. It used to be my favourite pub for a Sunday lunch when I lived in Archway and part of me was very excited to be going back again for a friend's birthday.

However, the years have advanced and, rather than just my lazy group of hungover friends, we now descend with all our kids in tow. The cynical part of me started to imagine the disappointment as I assumed I would be popping a beautiful bubble in my memory, while fighting off withering looks from snooty staff.

I can't believe I doubted such a brilliant pub.

The service was exceptional (especially since we seemed to break every simple order into at least three parts), the staff were beyond charming and the food was delicious. You know when you see a four year old tucking into a rabbit and snail pie, picking out the snails because "they are my favourites" and then devouring the rest as he asks for more, that the cooking is exceptional.

Thank you for another wonderful meal and restoring my faith that good eating/gastropubs can maintain such high standards.

I'm coming back soon.
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Mark Griffiths
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, October 25, 2010

we visited the restaurant recently after a gap of a few years and were a bit disappointed .

we had always thought of it as " restaurant quality " food in a pub atmosphere but seems as if it has gone back to corner cutting " gastro pub "

one starter was excellent but the other , of 6 sprats , seemed pretty mean for the price , and after ordering " salisbury steak " and expecting to get a steak we were somewhat deflated to get a ground beef , well , expensive burger .

i now realise that this is what a salisbury steak is but it might have been nice if we had been alerted to this either on the board or by the staff .

otherwise no complaints about the food quality or service
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6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Went to St. John's last weekend and had a fabulous meal with a female companion.

Normally a Roast Beef 'n' Yorkshire pudding type of bloke, I was stunned when the improbable utterance 'I'll have the Seafood Paella' tumbled from my lips. However, so plump were the prawns and succulent the sea bass, that I knew I had made a good choice when it arrived in a dizzy-scented melee of fishy freshness.

My companion had the Lamb/Sweet Potato Puree which I was assured to be tender and delicious.

Snails and Pancetta in Garlic Butter was a balls-out, rustic triumph of a starter, whilst my companion's Mozzarella/Basil/Tomato was a study in simplicity, allowing the fine ingredients in this classic combo to speak for themselves.

Washed down with a lovely little 1999 Medoc, this was a splendid meal.

The bill came to £90 for two including starters, mains, cheese, a £28 bottle of Red and a couple of beers. Hardly cheap but certainly good value for the quality of ingredients and level of service.

St John's remains my favourite lazy Sunday lunch place in North London and is highly recommended.
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quentinhapsburg - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Booked a table in advance for a birthday Sunday lunch recently with friends and enjoyed the excellent food, busy family atmosphere and friendly and helpful staff..not just our waitress either, others I spoke to were polite and friendly. I'll definitely be going again. I loved the traditonal, hearty but ambitious and a little bit quirky menu.It is more expensive than most gastro pubs but all the food we ate was excellent and there was a no skimping on the quantity - just right. I think St John's is doing a good job and offering a quality food service.
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Blue Room - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Friday, January 22, 2010

There seems to be a running theme with many of the reviews here - poor service - and unfortunately I am going to have to concur.

Having read great things about St Johns - Anthony Bourdain said that it is one of his favourite restaurants in the world - and aware that it has a Michelin star, we booked a pre Christmas meal with high hopes that it would be a gastronomic experience to remember. It was certainly memorable, alas not for the food.

As soon as we sat down it seemed that the staff chose to forget that we were there. It took an age to order drinks, longer to order food, and even longer wait to actually be served. There was a general dismissive arrogance that was consistent across all of the waiters who served us (maybe the person who does the staff training wasn't hugged enough as a child). Even in Wagamamas the staff will ask if you are happy with your meal. Not at St Johns evidently.

It really is a shame because the food is very good. It is not technically brilliant like other Michelin starred restaurants are; it is more like really great home cooking, with the very best ingredients.

Unfortunately, when forking out close to £100 for two people, good food is not enough. You need to be made to feel valued, the ambience needs to be right, and you should leave feeling it was worth trudging through the snow to get there. On those points, not close, and certainly no cigar.
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Father Ted
5 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, December 22, 2009