The Riding House Cafe

43-51 Great Titchfield Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1W 7PQ - View on a map
Telephone: 020 7927 0840

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The Riding House Cafe Restaurant In London

Overall 5.2
Food 5.0
Service 4.3
Atmosphere 6.7
Value 4.7
Based on 3 reviews

what the critics say

Zoe Williams - 3/5

Sunday, December 04, 2011 - Main courses felt less timid, but I think this was because there is not much you can do to dial down the porkiness of a rack of pork, for instance. That was mine - rack of pork with lentils, smoked sausage that was very classy and tasted like cotechino, and horseradish, which was fresh and fiery. The cut was particularly gorgeous, the balance of fat and flesh just right, the bone-in cooking preventing pork's infamous dryness. R had the roast lamb rump with gratin potatoes, swiss chard and rosemary and, again, because the dish was conceptually such a classic, nobody felt abashed about ramping up its impact; the flavours were wonderful, the lamb was sweet but had depth, the chard was mustardy and in-your-face vegetal, the whole thing was lovely.

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Matthew Norman - 8/10

Tuesday, July 05, 2011 - This is one of those places that beguiles you into foolishness, in our defence; that tempts you to waste the entire day drinking and talking rot. Next up came a salt cod fritter, deep-fried to perfection and served with a red pepper aioli; plump and juicy pork belly delectably seasoned with star anise and garnished with glorious crackling; and three fat chunks of tender, pink Moorish lamb. The pick of the bunch came from the main course menu, a chorizo hash brown arriving alluringly crispy and crunchy in its bespoke pan, adorned by two poached eggs and field mushrooms.

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John Lanchester

Saturday, June 18, 2011 - The especially pleasant service carried on through the meal, a strong positive feature. Another strong positive is the price...The cooking is good, too: not flashy or risky, but sound and focused on known crowd-pleasers. Squid with paprika, chilli, chorizo and olives was the punchiest dish; veal meatballs with lentils was subtle but comforting: either would have been a very successful big plate. Pork belly had good depth of flavour and came in good-looking chunks - presentation is at a noticeably high level for the cost. A couple of dishes looked pretty but lacked impact.

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Marina O'Loughlin

Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - I love the place. I'm marinating in decent Albarino and gung-ho, let's-give-it-five-stars-and-just-move-right-in goodwill. Even when I sit down, the handsome, dreadlocked waiter says to me: 'Hello, beautiful madam.' It's all designed to induce the rosiest of glows. But the arrival of the food makes us crash like a pair of over-Smartied toddlers. The menu is a belter, roaming round the world for dishes designed to appeal to the most jaded palate, many of them 'small plates'. Not only is small something of an understatement - many are weeny - a lot of it just isn't very good.

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City AM

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - I go for a seared sea trout, with crab and leek salad and confit lemon vinaigrette. It's light, perfectly cooked and the buttery leeks are cut through by the lemon. My guest's choice is a little more ambitious: chorizo hash brown with poached eggs, which is gigantic. It's delicious, the chili gives the hash a great kick, the potatoes are crumbly and the eggs are done just so...The service is friendly and attentive but not overbearing. The food is simple but still interesting. It has also managed to be cool without feeling pretentious. Central London needs more of these.

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Lisa Markwell - 6/10

Sunday, May 15, 2011 - I'm in the restaurant bit, about to plunge a steak knife into today's special, a 6oz fillet with Bearnaise sauce, thin-cut crisps and a cursory grilled tomato - it's more than decent. Mr M, slightly sour-faced at being steered away from beef, perks up considerably on the arrival of his hash browns. A hefty white frying pan is placed in front of him, with a mound of soft potato and chunks of sausage, oozing their rust-coloured oil. A tangle of mushroom sits alongside, and also on ooze patrol, a perfect poached egg. It's a handsome dish, packed with flavour and definitely an imaginative take on a short-order classic.

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Guy Dimond - 4/5

Wednesday, May 04, 2011 - The dishes read like a progressive gastropub menu - 'small plates', steaks, Mediterranean influences...We were so impressed we returned for lunch the next day. The burger is another winner, served is a seed-studded bun, oozing juices and with fine, thin French-fry-style chips. There's either a cheese burger or the burger with foie gras, which adds to the appealing, slithery, extra layer of fattiness of the dish. Service was unfailingly enthusiastic on our two visits, though not always very coordinated. But most importantly Riding House Cafe has a lively, fun buzz to it.

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This Is London - 3/5

Thursday, April 28, 2011 - We had beetroot carpaccio, sheep's ricotta and merlot vinaigrette, and goat's curd, figs and honey, from the list of 3 pound dishes. Both were ineffably fresh and subtly sharp-sweet, if a bit samey (my fault). From the 4 pound column, cured sea trout with creme fraiche and jalapeno was so-so, but nuggets of veal and pork sausage on a bed of mustardy lentils were flavoursome and unctuous. For 5 pounds, sea bass ceviche with lime and chilli was delicately textured and zingy, studded with taste surprises of mango. A kebab of delicately chermoula-spiced poussin was beautifully tender.

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I went to the Riding House Cafe for the second time recently. Our first visit had been mixed, with the food being good, but the night being slightly ruined by the fact that my girlfriend's scarf was stolen in the restaurant and staff were totally disinterested in doing anything about it. This time we went for lunch. It started well, with the best bread and olive oil I have had for a long time. It then went swiftly downhill. The pork belly was tough with the crackling, well not crackling. The cauliflower cheese was almost tasteless, just some cauliflower with cheese burnt on the top. But the worst of all was the special burger, not cheap at £20. Not only was it not very warm, but it really didn't taste great. The onion rings were ice cold and the chips tasted like they had been cooked in old oil. By this time, all I wanted to do was get out of there, so left without even finishing the burger.

Overpriced, overrated - don't bother wasting your money here.
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NicZ - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Service was not great- seemed to be a lot of staff milling around chatting with one another. Nevertheless, the food and drinks are fine and the actual atmosphere good. The staff are just a little too chilled out and this affects the quality of service that can be patchy at times.
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7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, November 01, 2012

This is a lovely buzzy room with a great bar. It has that carefully designed look that says casually thrown together, but definitely isn't.

Food was tasty and the menu was extensive. Two of our party had the high-end £20 burger and described it strongly flavoured but probably not worth the premium. Mini cinnamon donuts with chocolate sauce were a big hit.

Where The Riding House Cafe fails is with service/front of house. The welcome was frosty and charmless, and our waitress was efficient but clearly not able to crack a smile at any point. Surely it can't be that hard to find staff who actually like people?
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6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Monday, June 11, 2012

Upon arrival the hostesses where friendly and happy to help. We were quickly taken to our seats. The waiter that was looking after us was helpful in suggesting the best way to order from the menu. The service was quite quick. The food was enjoyable. I don't feel there was much atmosphere, there wasn't a great buzz and I didn't like that the tables were so close together I felt everyone was on top of each other, it became rather uncomfortable and felt quite intrusive.
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siobhan
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, March 06, 2012

So I went here for dinner last night and had a lovely evening. Expectations were high because of reccomendations from friends and broadly speaking Riding House Cafe didn't dissapoint. The food was excellent. My partner and I shared a beetroot carpaccio, some prawns and some mussels to start with, of of which were incredibly fresh and delicious.To follow I had the pollock, done to perfection. Service was slick and the wine list was excellent. The only thing about the Cafe which didn't really feel right for me was the design and feel of the place. For me it's too 'designed', perhaps lacking a little soul. However the quality of food made up for that and I would reccomend Riding House Cafe.
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Steve Kerr - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Sunday, February 26, 2012

What should we say? We were there for brunch...and everything was perfect...The eggs hussarde were fantastic...the chorizo hashbrowns was great...and the steak tartare was better than the same dish of the Delaunay and half the price...the juice and the coffee were superior...the atmosphere is authentically cool...actually the best brunch ever had in London.
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The Italo American couple
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Sunday, January 15, 2012

I've been 5 times now (it's close to my office!)

In summary it has great atmosphere, generally the service is OK, and the wine list has some decent mid-price options.

The food is OK. It's fine. But it won't win a Michelin star and they don't aspire to that standard. Just accept it's a brasserie, and don't expect Hix quality food.

One thing that really annoys me is there's quite a few dishes that need a bread accompaniment. Yet it doesn't come with it, and they charge £2 for a measley 4-5 slices. It should be gratis.

I'll probably go again as it's close and informal.
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Matthew
7 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Thursday, November 03, 2011

Very disappointed. Will not recommend. Service is all day comedy and the food at lunch time was just a joke. Get it sorted.
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ANDY
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, November 02, 2011

What a great place!

Staff were friendly and attentive although one of the waiters was a bit slow to take our orders. Food thankfully came straight away however. We had the bread with the artichoke dip which was delicious and the chickpea cakes which were fantastic and a couple of cocktails which were fab. We sat by the bar and I loved the ambience of the place, great decor a bit 50s, with lots of character. Will definitely be back.
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Annie - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, October 10, 2011

Great place the decor is superb, amazing bar. The food was very good well cooked

The service was also very good. Unfortunately it was the most noisy place I have ever been to, the volume of noise was so loud that my table of four just had to give up speaking all evening. The restaurant needs desperately to sort out their acoustics, I don't think anyone should eat in a restaurant with that level of noise. Unfortunately it ruined the evening for us all.
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RUANA
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Friday, October 07, 2011

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what the bloggers say

Tamarind and Thyme

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - The giant hash brown was delicious, all studded with chunks of chorizo and I was really looking forward to the poached eggs on top. Unfortunately, our first eggs were sadly overcooked but when our attentive waitress checked how we were doing, I pointed them out to her and she swiftly replaced them for two perfectly cooked ones...So, Riding House Cafe - sadly, food-wise, you were quite underwhelming. If you're going, I'd stay away from the small plates and order the main meals instead. I like the space though and I could see myself rocking up to meet someone for a drink there.

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Essex Eating

Monday, August 29, 2011 - The bread selection was pretty decent and the puree bloody gorgeous. Well worth the 1.50. A bowl of veal and pork sausage, lentils, mustard and sage was pretty good, the mustard sauce was perhaps a bit over salty but I'd have happily paid more money and stuffed a bigger portion of this...The Riding House Cafe is a fantastic looking restaurant and bar, beautifully and tastefully designed. I loved the look of it. However, I didn't love the 'too cool' service we received on our visit. It was frigging abysmal and goes a long way in undoing any wish I may have to return or recommend it.

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London Eater

Tuesday, July 05, 2011 - When you do visit, please steer clear of the small plates, I didn't actually think they were particularly bad, it's just they were so tiny, and not particularly outstanding...On the other hand, the main dishes looked much better. Of course, I only had one dish, but seeing the fish and chips and burgers roll out of the kitchen, it seemed evident that the average asking price for the large portioned mains are more than justified. This is the dilemma I have with the food at RHC, the cooking was more than adequate, but you know, part of a good dish is also down to having consistent, well thought out and generally good recipes.

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The Riding House Cafe

Find special offers, earn points, see menus.

what the critics say

Zoe Williams - 3/5

Matthew Norman - 8/10

John Lanchester

Marina O'Loughlin

City AM

Lisa Markwell - 6/10

Guy Dimond - 4/5

This Is London - 3/5

your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne

what the bloggers say

Tamarind and Thyme

Essex Eating

London Eater

Bellaphon

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