St John Hotel

Couldn’t agree more with the negative reviews: food is lovely, but service is absolutely appalling. We ate here last Saturday on a post-theatre booking – 10.30pm. We had to wait twenty minutes to be seated (passing the time in the godforsaken ‘bar’ upstairs – a previous reviewer likening it to a youth hostel is spot on): when we did sit down there were plenty of free tables, so why the wait? Well, this was a precursor of things to come. Our mains took a good half hour to arrive, by which point the restaurant was practically empty. I’ve worked as a waitress and I feel miserly to gripe about staff winding down towards the end of their shift, but come on - do your job, serve people! There was no sense of urgency whatsoever..

We were on the fixed-price menu so felt duty bound to order desserts. Luckily we did so while our mains were - eventually - cleared, otherwise, who knows? We’d no doubt still be there now, waiting…

I’d forgive the slow service if it wasn’t for the smug arrogance of the whole crew, not bothering to check on diners in what’s a pretty small room. We also suffered from a particularly overbearing waiter. I’ve been to all three St John outposts and can safely say we wouldn’t again bother with this one, ever. Also, the air con is kept shiver-inducingly high.

(The 1 for service is for the paper bag they gave us to decant our uneaten doughnuts into.)
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whipped - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Monday, September 03, 2012

Went for the lunch menu. Good value at £22 for 3 courses, including a glass of wine. Lovely tasty sour bread plonked on our table, together with the menu, by the first of 3 people who served us through lunch. All of whom were friendly and helpful. My wife had a delightful beetroot salad (red and white) with a boiled egg, apparently cooked just right (I hate eggs), I had salt Hake and potato (described on the board as a terrine). I was slightly surprised as it arrived with a light batter surrounding it. It was however delicious and came with a lovely tartare sauce, I forgave the chopped egg in the tartare.

Mains, Staying veggie my wife had salsify and chard in a white sauce with Montgomery cheddar mixed in - chosen for the cheddar alone - We particularly enjoyed the overheard conversation between the waitress and chef as to the correct way of pronouncing 'salsify' his reply that if you come from Barkshire, it is pronounced salsifee, if you come from Berkshire it is pronounced salsify had us giggling. It was a satisfying warming meal, but not one that you would remember. I had guinea fowl with mash and gravy (sorry that should read "jus") and a few cloves of roast garlic. The gravy and mash were magnificent, the guinea fowl lovely, the garlic lovely but a total pain removing the outer skin from your mouth.

Finishing, the wife had a nice almond and prune tart (I thought the pastry looked a little burnt, she told me I was talking nonsense, I obviously agreed) and I had a very comforting honey comb ice cream.

All in all an excellent experience. For once my wife's demand to sit facing the door, backfired on her, and I had the pleasure of watching the chefs at work, it certainly added to my enjoyment. The room itself was spartan and looked to be set up with the intention of fitting in with food, straightforward, but done very well. We had some opportunities for celeb spotting, with an immaculately turned out David Dimbleby next to us. Be warned though, the tables are close together and there is little opportunity to whisper sweet nothing's in your loved ones ear without the risk of the tables on either side making a better offer. One final thing ......are all the chefs in the middle of Joe 90 appreciation week? What is it with the heavy framed glasses?
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Tim Marchant
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Thursday, March 08, 2012

Had a fantastic meal at St John Hotel with friends and family mid-week. My starter was very delicious - snails and duck gizzards. My main was even better - sweetbreads and turnips. Our waitress was great, very relaxed and attentive without being pushy. We sat and drank in the bar all evening without being hassled, waitress even brought us jug of tap water without asking (love it!). The overall ambience is true to original St John, simple unpretentious and cool. I'm glad it's not all fancy just because it's in the West End. Understandably everyone's cup of tea but I'll be back definitely!
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Me
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Saturday, February 11, 2012

Wonderful food and a very cool, spare decor.

But the waiter was an insulting, superior public schoolboy who seemed eager to insult in any possible way.

We laughed it off and had a good time but the guy kept coming back to show us how clever he was. And still managed to ignore two requests for a glass of water.

Awful.
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5 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I went to St. John in Leicester Square on the off chance they had a table for 1 on a quiet Monday night. Got a table with a good view of the kitchen and was served by a waitress who knew her stuff. I ordered the snails and bacon for starter and that was the best dish of my whole meal, a nice rich sauce with my bread to swipe the plate clean. Next I had the Rabbit saddle which could have been better presented but other wise tasty. Wasn't worth its full price however. Dessert I had an overpriced but good blackberry ripple ice-cream for £7 and 6 madelines (cooked to order) for £4.

After reading all the reviews on here, i reckon they are good on quiet nights, as was this Monday. The waitress that served me was well knowledgeable about the menu. However when I see one of the waiters breadcrumbing a table, he instantly empties his plate on the floor next to the kitchen as soon as he left the table??!!

The bill came to £55.01 for myself and i didn't mention anything, but they shortchanged me by 50p. so check your change when you leave.

It's recommended, when its not busy.
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F Regent
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, September 26, 2011

my husband took me for a birthday dinner at the St John hotel last night, as we are real fans of the Farringdon restaurant and really wanted to try it out. The food is absolutely lovely - simple, unfussy and delicious. Three courses each and a delicious bottle of wine, just couldn't stop eating! Staff very friendly, know their stuff, super attentive. Downsides - The decor is TERRIBLE!!! They seem to have gone to great lengths to make it the most unmemorable restaurant in terms of design, and it looks like it's been done seriously on the cheap (Ikea?) The bar upstairs was given as an option to have a predinner drink, but we went up to look and it's like a youth hostel bar! Totally lacking in any warmth or atmosphere, so we went straight to the table. We had a lovely corner table by the window, but next to cheap blinds, left open so that we could look out onto the building site next door - why??? They should have nice shutters, or something. Plus the lights are on full throughout the evening, so awful. They seriously need to do something about this as the food is SO GOOD and I hate it when people stop going for something so easy to fix like lighting and design. Sort it out St John!
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Lucy
7 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 7
Friday, September 23, 2011

The food is just not good enough to make up for the lackadaisical service, cramped tables and hectic ambience so we won't be going back.

We had no idea who our waiter was and after waiting for 15 minutes, we got the maitre'd to take our order. Whoever our waiter was supposed to be, we hoped it wasn't the guy who kept rubbing his hands all over his face before helping prep the food!!

Ironically, when we mentioned the poor service to the guy at the end, he said "he was going to bring us a present"(!?) so we sat there like lemons for 5 minutes before leaving. Who knows what was coming or how long it would have taken??
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Jane
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Sunday, July 31, 2011

My boyfriend and my parents visited St John restaurant, in Leicester Sq recently after hearing about the success of its sister restaurant. The restaurant has only been open since April 2011 so we were very excited to be experiencing a new top restaurant in the heart of London. However it didn't take us long to begin to feel uncomfortable about our choice. We chose to wait upstairs in the bar until my parents arrived. Immediately we were struck by the absolute lack of decor - it reminded me of my old student union bar - and I began to wonder whether we were in the right place. Within 15 minutes we had been asked FOUR times by different people what name our booking was in. Then both waiters in the bar started being rude to us, refusing to advise us on cocktails on the drinks menu. Thankfully the young staff downstairs in the restaurant were relaxed, intelligent and courteous so our evening wasn't completely ruined. The food was basic and shockingly over-priced - check out the price for bacon and beans! - and taste-wise pretty average with the exception of the various meats, which were very good but not good enough to make up for the fact that the whole the experience left us unimpressed.
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KB
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Monday, July 18, 2011

I would rather dine in an NHS waiting room than ever pass through the doors of this newly opened establishment again. The overall feeling is very cold both in terms of the welcome of the waiting staff and the actual temperature.

I think this is a case of the waiting staff really doing more damage than good as the rolling of the eyes (which I did catch) was very unprofessional.

The food...the liitle I had was fine.

Waiting staff (and this seems to happen more so in the West End) seem to think that they're more important than the paying customers...if you think you're above this and belong on the stage please spare the customers of your drama.

This is a prime spot and the West End and no doubt it will be successful but the service needs to be improved.
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- View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Sunday, June 05, 2011

I was very much looking forward to eating here.

When I turned up i was sat at the table but when my wife arrived she was taken up to the bar and it was only after 10 minutes or so that the waiter realised what he had done.

The tables were cramped and both waiters and other patrons kept bumping it our chairs.

The waiter was extremely rude to my wife when taking our order (simply because she stated she did not like eating sweetbreads).

As for the starters, i had the soup, which (although meant to be hot) was cold when it arrived. My wife had the salad, which consisted or a plate of semicooked veg. Both were disappointing.

For the main, we ordered the "pork cheek and beans", and i have to say that his reminded me very much of something that you would get at Bodeans - a mediocre dish at best.

My wife and i live in London and dine out regularly. It is rare that we come across a very bad restaurant, but in this case we did. My recommendation - go somwhere else.
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3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Friday, May 06, 2011