The Admiral Codrington

Having spent the past month based in South Kensington, I frequented the Admiral Codrington and I must say; it knows what its doing and does it well. I saw the place both amazingly busy and amazingly quiet, and found the food extremely good and the quality was the same either at Monday lunch or Friday nite. The bar though is where the fun is at. I found the barstaff to be extremely attentive and knowledgeable. Although there is no formal cocktail list the staff will work wonders with whatever ingredients they have. This is a great pub for people that just want to meet up, have a few drinks and head off to a niteclub in town. The Admiral Codrington beats Walton Street hands down for pre drinks because it has character (check out the chilled barman with the mint hair!) and none of the stuffiness. An overall winner any time or day.
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James Beattie
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 5
Monday, April 14, 2008

On the basis of my recent experience, the food here is simply not good enough to retain its gastro-pub reputation amongst stiff competition. It was frankly second-rate, and distinctly over-priced for the quality. (Particularly when vegetables have to be ordered as a side, at extra expense - an extremely irritating scam). Nice place inside, and the staff were friendly - if a little over-zealous on the refilling of glasses front. But the kitchen needs to get its act together. Unless we caught them on an off-night I am frankly baffled by the reviewers here who were impressed by the food.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Thursday, December 13, 2007

I have eaten here a number of years and in general like the food an environment. However, the service has really declined and it's unfortunate. I ate there last night with a friend. The food was very nice, as usual. However, when I made a reservation for 19:00 I was told they needed the table at 21:00, which I said that was fine. As soon as I sat down at 19:01, I was told they need the table at 20:50. Then at 20:05 after finishing both our starter and mains, we were told, "sorry to rush you, but i must take your desert/coffee orders". I mean at this point, it was just rude service, we were being thrown out practically. Did he really think we'd take 55 minutes to eat a apple tart and have a coffee??? Honestly, they do serve nice food, but the service was so rude we'll both never go back again.
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Jeff Camp
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, November 30, 2007

Gordon Ramsey should eat here it was better than the meal I had at the Boxwood the night before.

Great food and service, highly recommend the Scallops starter and the Salmon main course. Fantastic food.
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Mike (Houston, Texas)
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, November 13, 2006

I recently took my girlfriend to 'The Cod' and had a wonderful evening. The service was excellent even when it became very busy the service remained professional and friendly. The food was exceptional, especially my steak. I've never had beef that good. My girlfriend had a beautiful fish of the day and our side of mash was superb!

Wines were expertly adviced for our meal and complimented it marvelously.

The only quibble was over the 12.5% service charge. I don't mind paying that for such a good meal but I hope it went to the staff, they deserved it.
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Daniel Smith
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Saturday, September 30, 2006

I met 3 friends at The Admiral Codrington for drinks and dinner on Thursday and, though I don't normally post reviews on websites, we had such a great time I just had to make a note in this case. We had drinks outside on their patio for about an hour and then moved in for a dinner in the restaurant. It was amazing. The service was fantastic, very gracious and the food was OUTSTANDING. The staff took great care of us - the guys loved the meat dishes, we (the girls) loved the fish and pasta and the wines were great too. I'm really happy with the choice - and I look forward to returning.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, August 08, 2006

I went to the Admiral 'Cod' for supper with some girlfriends last night. Walking into the dining room was quite a step away from the traditional pub infront of it and I was excited about our meal. Sadly the look of the dining room didn't live up to expectations. We were offered some bread and butter was put on our table. The bread was however pretty stale and had obviously been hanging around for a while. No big deal until the bill arrived and they had charged us £1 per head for our pieces of stale bread. Although the food was very good, especially the soft shell crap tempura, one dish arrived cold and was sent back to the microwave and the rest of us could hardly see what we were eating. I ordered the fishcakes, at least I assumed there would be more than one. At over £10 for the dish I expected a little more than one modist fishcake and two baby gem lettuce leaves. The service was adequate although when we asked for the cold dish to be warmed up she said that it was supposed to be served at room temparature. It was actually as though it had been in the fridge.. From then on she was pretty bossy and wasn't impressed when we asked for more side dishes once we realised how little food we were served. Once the bill arrived we asked to pay without the 12.5% service charge included. The waitress returned having charged us anyway. I don't think I will be returning to eat in a hurry!
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Sophie
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 1
Friday, July 28, 2006

I've not been to this pub for ages and was not disappointed. The food was excellent (the squid in particular) although not cheap but it was really the service in the restaurant that made it. Not only in line with general duties but when my jacket was damaged accidentially, the general manager went out of her way to get it fixed and it was returned to me as good as new. It's when things like this happen, that you recognise a really good restaurant and one that deserves to charge at this level (unlike so many others!)
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Debbie
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Monday, May 22, 2006

Oh dear! What a disappointment. We arrived early and had a bottle of wine in the pub, taking our (still full) glasses through through to the restaurant. The waitress immediately removed our clean glasses. When we asked for them back, she said she thought we would be having the same wine again so didn't need clean glassed. The glasses were very grudgingly put back on our table. The service was incredibly slow, but eventually our wine arrived as did the bread (no butter was offered, although other tables had it). We ordered our food and side dishes, only to find that the cod came with mashed potato, making the portion of chips ordered obsolete. Surely either the menu or the waitress could have told us? The cod was overdone and dry, as was my slow roast pork - the chicken was underdone and very pink in the middle.

To be fair to the manageress, when we commented on the chicken, she did give us our puddings "with the compliments of the chef". We couldn't really be bothered to mention all the other bits that ruined our night out. All in all, a very second rate meal. We won't be going back again.
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Sarah Oliver
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Monday, April 10, 2006

We went to the Admiral Codrington for lunch. My wife and my own food was good, though the kids minute steaks were overdone. The sunlit atmosphere at the back was nice. What spoiled the experience was that we had asked if they had a children's menu and were told we could order off the bar menu. I ordered the Caesar Salad off the bar menu. When the bill arrived they had added £2 to each item ordered off the bar menu because we ate in the back restaurant. To add insult to injury, when we gave our credit card to pay, they automatically added a 12.5% tip, without giving us the opportunity to specify what the tip should be. Maybe its only tourists that they rip-off rather than local clientale, but its a shame they spoiled what would have been a nice meal by unnecessary gouging.
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Joel Myerson - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, January 03, 2006