St John Hotel

This was a terribly disappointing meal. The service was poor--extremely slow-- and waitress disppeared for long periods of time. Wrong dishes were brought, taken away, reheated and served overcooked. The hake was greasy, the shrimp burnt. The barley carrots starter had one tablespoon of barley, two raw over-salted carrots. A joke. House white was good, decaf coffee good, bread good. Noisy room only 2/3rd full. AVOID!
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2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, May 04, 2011

I had the pleasure of eating here on their first evening and enjoyed it so much I stayed for Breakfast. The food is typical St. John but curiously with a little more finesse, linen table cloths certainly were a surprise.

My office is a few streets away and I've visited the restaurant 4 times since opening. There have been suggestions of a few delays in service, but I must have been lucky as on every occasion I have dined here I've had no problems there. My only gripe, is with the wine list, shorter than Smithfield and not particularly good value which is a shame. If this element of the menu is sorted I would have no gripes in awarding 10 / 10.

Wine prices aside it's a fantastic restaurant, and I will be going back regularly.
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Alexander
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Sunday, April 17, 2011

Not many things that can tempt me into Soho on a Saturday night, much less Leicester Square, its bratty sibling, where dead eyes scan the tourist hordes for their money. It's a logical spot for a restaurant, high priced cash generators abound, fleecing the unwary with no care for reputation among the passing trade. Why in the hell chef's chef Fergus Henderson picked here for his latest venture I'll never understand. But pick it he did, so visiting I must come.

It's a sparse white space, below and ajoined to a new boutique hotel. Once upon a time the building was occupied by one of the grand dame's of pre-theatre dining, Manzi's. I have to be honest and say that I went a couple of times, admittedly towards the end of it's life, and never really saw the fuss, but Mr Henderson (among many) has fond memories and has resurrected the old space in his own style. One wall is taken up with a large long kitchen, another features windows ideal for people watching the slightly odd mix of humanity that throng the square at night. The kitchen is open from early, serving breakfasts to the hotel guests. This I've got to try. Their robust, gutsy take on previously unachieved bits of animal has to translate into a fine fry.

The supper menu is concise, with seven or eight starters, mains and desserts (caveat, I was here in the first week, not particularly planned, I thought they'd been open for a month). My spectacularly hungover companion came seeking veggies, possibly not the best option in an offalhound's paradise like this. On another day, with my trencherman's hat on, I'll go for the suckling pig. Previously only available pre-ordered at parent restaurant St John, here it's available on spec. A hearty sounding dish of bacon and beans is available to share, as is an intriguing sounding pike pie. My guest went for the sole vegetarian option, an excellent celeriac dauphinois with a side of rough chard mash and a peppery watercress salad hit further with a mustard and caper dressing. Creamy and soft, with a rounded edge of aniseed, I couldn't help think how well it'd have gone with the aforementioned suckling pork...

I went for two starters, crumbed skate cheeks with tartare, a frugal and filling take on scampi, comprising crisp nuggets of golden crumb that broke to reveal soft yielding fish. The second was another St John favourite, thin slices of slow cooked veal tongue were mixed in with waxy potato to more of the mustardy watercress.

There was method in my madness, compensating for the lack of a main with one of the several excellent puddings available. If the main menu can challenge at times (the eagerly anticipated focus on offal isn't to everyone's taste) the puddings won't. I'd be happy coming here for them alone. Despite being tempted by a chocolate terrine and a burnt prune custard we plumped, literally and metaphorically, for a dark ginger loaf with sweet cider caramel and an enormous apple shortbread pie with bay ice-cream. not as weird as it sounds and a perfect end to dinner.

While the menu won't be to everyone's taste, the food is worth challenging your expectations for. Well priced for what it is, it's such a relief to know that there's now a quality dining option in amongst the clip joints and tourist spots of Leicester Square. I'm not there that often, though will be back just for that suckling pig, I'm just glad that there's a chance some of the tourists might be tempted away from the dubious delights of the Angus Steakhouse and by doing so gain a proper understanding of how good British food can be.
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Grumbling Gourmet
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Not only did my wife and I have the honour and pleasure of being there at the VERY FIRST service, lunch, on the 2nd April 2011, but it also happened to be my birthday lunch too. And what a lunch. It seems I'm writing the first reader review too.

I'll keep it short, pure, concise and to the point, a bit like the food infact. Does anyone doubt that such a culinary bon vivant and god like gourmand as Fergus Henderson could dip his fingers into the world of small, perfectly formed hotels (I hate the word boutique) and not deliver triumphantly. Fergus and his St John partner in culinary good deeds, Trevor Gulliver, have delivered... and then some.

To start my wife had a salad of Toasted Barley, Carrots and Goats Curd, which was clean and spring like, but packed with textural and flavoursome clout. I had half a dozen native oysters au naturale, with nothing more than a mere drizzle of lemon. A joy.

I also could not resist the starter of Brown Shrimp, Artichoke and Egg. This was a wonderful dish that somehow delivered almost as much of a taste of the seaside as the natives.

My wife does not like too much of a challenge at mealtimes, so rather than the Hendersonian offerings of Veal Tongue, or a dish of Tripe and Onions, we decided to go for the Pike and Leek Pie, which the menu states is for 2 to share. I was worried that it might just possibly be a little muddy in flavour, but not a bit of it. This golden, puff-pastried, creamy pie of beauty was simply stunning. We chatted with Fergus whilst eating it, and he hit the nail on the head by describing Pike as a fish that strokes and soothes you.

The best pie I've eaten in years. FACT.

By now we were pretty well on the way to stuffingtonshire, but I could not let my birthday meal end without at least one sweet treat. RHUBARB TRIFLE. If they ever make a film about the world of food in the style of the classic Spinal Tap, Fergus' Rhubarb Trifle would feature in the scene were the food critic awards it 11 out of 10!

Need I say more. The St John Hotel. Do yourselves a favour and go there as soon as you can.
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Paul N Manning
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, April 03, 2011