our review
Village London - the team behind The Garrison and Village East - have opened The Riding House Cafe, an all-day bar-brasserie, in Fitzrovia. The menu includes small plates and mains like steak tartare; seared sea trout with crab and leek salad; and guinea fowl with Romesco sauce. Don't miss the quirky cocktail list which features 'drinks for two' like the Vicar's Tea Party - a blend of gin, raspberry liqueur, Earl Grey syrup, orange bitters and lemon.
April 2011
what the critics say
Zoe Williams - 3/5
Giles Coren - 5.5/10
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
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
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
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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
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
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
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
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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
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Friday, October 07, 2011
I went to riding house cafe for my birthday with my partner .. the place was full but not all table busy , anyway we was push to have a dinner on bar.. what i notice the restaurant have a lots of staff on floor but we had to open our expensive bottle of champagne.. ask for glass and when they arrive they was hot from the dishwasher.. i order a tartare for starter and i assume it was make it in front of me as is usual, but it was not... as main i order an angus steak and asked to be rare .. the steak was medium to well done , the manager back to me and say for the chef that was rare .. oh my god ...
anyway the bill was £ 187 with service including that service was rubbish...
R.I.P ....
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giupo
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Monday, September 05, 2011
A perfect addition to the neighbourhood. Great buzzy atmosphere but not too loud and when we went last night the staff were very friendly, though there were perhaps too many, at least 5 people served our table of 2.
I thought the small plates were very good and a nice alternative as a starter, the beetroot and the steak tartare in particular. We then had the chateaubriand which was very good, probably next best London steak I've had after the Hawksmoor. Unfortunately though we weren't told that it came with sides so when we ordered some we ended up with more than we could eat.
Good desserts too and a reasonably priced drinks list.
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Peter, Fitzrovia
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Thursday, August 04, 2011
It's pretty obvious that the restaurant critics here have been had - they'v been spotted in the restaurant and given the service that other customers have not. This is my local and I tried it twice to give it the benefit of the doubt. Yes, the beetroot small dish was exceptional. However, the jalapeno peppers should just not have been allowed near a lightly smoked fish. My companion found very little crab in the crab salad. Fish n' chips just tasted odd and slightly off. A gooseberry desert had texture problems and an apricot tart was a flavour free zone. A chocolate sundae was better but was far too runny, suggesting a delay between removal from fridge and delivery to the table. Service was fine the first time but the second time, there was a 50p overcharge which a waitress tried to excuse, rather than remove from the bill. This business appears to be over-trading, trying to make too much money too quickly.
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Overall rating 
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Monday, August 01, 2011
what the bloggers say
Tamarind and Thyme
Essex Eating
@foodepedia Pretty bright and sticky over here but not as wet as we thought. Enjoy the heatwave!
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