Just St James

Well reading the postings I find it hard to believe that we went to the same restaurant. From the the moment we got there and were met by the hostess we had THE best time. Food was great and the wine list covering all bases.Restaurant manager has a great team working for him. All in all a great evening
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Jamie
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, October 04, 2006

I have eaten here three times and on the first two occasions had good food, good service and reviewed as such. However, standards seem to have dropped. Last night, the music from the bar was so loud that my companion and I had to lean over the table and raise our voices. I arrived early and ordered a drink, which after three discussions with the waiter still hadn’t arrived. My companion was not offered a drink at all. When my drink finally arrived it was wrong. It took 45 minutes for our order to be taken – this restaurant wants a two hour turnaround. The starter was good, but the string beans in the main course had not been strung and lasooed my teeth. I had pancakes for dessert which had the pith still on the orange zest and were therefore sour. This is an expensive place, it was dreadful value for money in terms on the ambience, the food and the service. GC 3rd August 2006
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, August 04, 2006

I have eaten and enjoyed many restaurants in London over the past four years (upmarket, mid-ranged and even the amazing kebab place down the street from my place) and I have never ever had such poor service or such a dissapointing meal (given what I was led to believe)...truly dissapointing. We went there as a group of 8 with four important clients and everyone was disappointed and shocked by the poor service and attitude of staff (waiting one hour for a piece of bread, being told that one of the specials was no longer available as everyone else's meals were being served, having to stand up to get the bottle of wine that we had ordered bc there was no staff around to bring it, waiters insisting that we had ordered a gin and tonic when we hadn't etc etc.) The quality of the food was also dissapointing and OXO Towers, Foliage, etc. all outshine this place by far. Finally, dessert was terrible and there was no point in bothering to finish. All in all, a horrible experience. PLEASE DO NOT GO.
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SD
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, July 18, 2006

On my recent visit to this bar, I was appalled by the rude staff telling a group of fun loving people that they were ruining the ambience of the venue. They were in fact very entertaining and very attractive. The food was very nice although extremely over priced. The music was good and the dancing skills on the dance floor were most commendable.
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Nick Ede
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Went here on Sat for a friend's hen night. There were 19 of us in a semi-private area. The food was delicious, and the service and atmosphere were excellent. They also have excellent disabled facilities and very helpful staff. Definitely recommended, particularly for large group dining.
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Maria
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, March 20, 2006

I went to a friends birthday dinner here on Saturday. There was 20 of us and the service was excellent. The food was delicious, not big portions but enough. A 3 course meal with lots of drinks was only £55 per person which I thought was very reasonable. I will definitely be going back.
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s o connell
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Monday, February 13, 2006

Had an early dinner here on Friday. The general ambience of the place is nice, although "welcome area" is a little odd, being a thigh-high wooden dining table (as opposed to the usual little podium that most restaurants have) with exposed racks of coats behind it and the bar behind that. It looks a very ad hoc and rather messy.

The menu is best described as "modern British". I had the scallop dish to start and my dining partner had the langoustine tails. The starter portions were a little small: I was given two small scallops accompanied by ribboned courgettes and raisins. I think pairing scallops with raisins was a mistake, as the harsh, in-your-face sweetness of the raisins detracted from the subtle sweetness of the panfried scallops. My partner's langoustine tails (four small ones) came in a frothy puddle of sauce. What is this obsession with froth?? I was not too taken by his dish - the langoustine was a little fishy. We shared a Chateaubriand of veal for main. This was a good dish. We were not asked how we wanted the veal done, so medium-rare was imposed on us. The meat was served on a bed of watercress salad, and accompanied by a bearnaise and peppercorn sauces, as well as a very generous dish of chunky chips. Despite being rarer than we would normally choose (it was much closer to rare than medium) the meat was very tender and flavoursome. The bearnaise was very good; the peppercorn sauce a little watery. The chips were excellent: lovely golden crip on the outside, melting fluffiness on the inside. The size of the main course more than made up for the paucity of the starters so we didn't have much room for dessert. We shared the ice-cream: lemon, orange and papaya&ginger. The ice-cream is homemade but a little on the heavy side.

All-in-all a good meal. The servers were very pleasant, although they could be better briefed on the menu. Very good value on the 50% off deal. Not sure I'd be happy to pay full price. I think my starter was around £11 on the menu and the chateaubriand main is £21.50 per person.
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LT - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Monday, February 13, 2006

An odd place really. Not much else in the vicinity, but the building itself is quite impressive, and the interior of the bar is well done out. However, due to the high ceilings in the bar area, it never really had much of an atmosphere, plus the staff were not especially welcoming or friendly.

We were on a 50% off deal, so I suspect this was why we were given a ropey table right by the kitchen. There is a wall of windows looking into the kitchen, but this means that the area around is flooded with flourescent light - not very atmospheric.

The service was slow, drinks took an age to arrive and the gps between courses were just that bit too long - and I am not one for rushing a meal.

The saving grace was the food - without exception, it was very tasty, well presented and good portions, but without the 50% off would have been overpriced.

Overall, great food, but the overall experience is very average. Fine if your get a deal, but I would not pay full price here.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 5
Thursday, February 09, 2006