The Bull

I have been to the Bull on many ocassions and loved the food and service every time.

The Staff are always very friendly and very helpful.I have tried many dishes but i highly recommend the Aberdeen Angus,it takes quite a while to cook but its well worth the wait!,it just melts in your mouth!. They have a great selection of wines to go with any meal that you choose.

I highly recommend The Bull and will be eating there again very soon!.
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Chris
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Had a fantastic meal last week when I took my friend visiting from Australia, to The Bull. This wasn't my first visit and it will by no means be my last. As usual, the food, atmosohere and service were all impeccable. I started with diver scallops with cauliflower fritters, sultanas and almonds, followed by the pot au feu of lamb, a dish which was so tender (I learnt from our very friendly and knowledgeable waitress, due to it being poached in lamb stock). My friend had the sea bass with porcini mashed potatoes. All the ingredients used were obviously top quality and cooked to perfection. I thoroughly recommend this restaurant to anyone who loves food!!
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Patricia
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, March 05, 2007

Wow, I had a FAB dinner last night at the Bull. Food was excellent and service was was very efficent and charming.

I had the Rib of Beef, 45 min wait - says on the menu - and it's so worth waiting for while you try one of the fantastic wines they have on the list. Talking about the wine list this is no PUB selection, They even have a Petrus on their list!!!

IF you want good food and friendly service, go to the BULL.
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- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Saturday, March 03, 2007

Firstly, what a great site and a great opportunity for restaurateurs to read what we poor punters think and feel but are too strangulated or British to say so at the time. L'esprit d'escalier lives!

Four of us went to The Bull on Saturday 10th February. They allowed us to book at table for 7:30 providing we were out by 9:30. My wife had some dull tapas to begin with — a bowl of cubed cheese was a bit of a cop-out — and I had tomato and basil soup, excellent value at £1.99 but this cost over £6. Our friends shared a large and expensive joint of beef which may have been a Chateaubriand (they had to wait a long time for it, but they were warned about this) which they thought was really, really ordinary. I had duck, which was insipid and overpriced. My wife's pork was the only item that didn't attract a strongly negative comment.

The trouble was we had just returned from a long weekend in Lille, where we had three dinners on three successive nights where the food was three times better and at least half the price. And ze Frenchies seemed positively delighted to see us, compared to the surly off-hand service we endured at the Bull.

Pretentious, overpriced rip-off cr*p, basically. We should be rioting in the streets. Or going on the Eurostar back to Lille, 'cos you could probably include the train fare and get a better meal.

You don't get the impression these people are the little guys struggling to do their very best to feed a hyper-critical and ungrateful clientele. It's more a cynical exploitation of a gullible public. "They wanna pay those prices? Fine, we'll charge them."

I could mention the fact we were served by at least five different waiters, none of whom knew who had ordered what. And I could mention the squeaky floorboard that bounced my chair up and down every time a staff member ambled past. But I won't. Because I won't get fooled again. Not by this co*k and Bull, anyway.
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Gwyn Headley - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Thursday, March 01, 2007

My girlfriend and I went to The Bull last Friday and had a great meal .I was initially wary after the the phone booking and talking to a rather non-enthusiastic member of staff ,I suspect a lack of English to sadly be the cause. However given that this is the sister establishment to the excellent "The House" in Islington I was none to worried. On arrival we were shown to our table near to the "pass" and this afforded us a wonderful view of the kitchen. The staff were friendly and helpful although whilst we enjoyed the selection of breads brought to us I feel a small side plate should be provided rather the having to place it on our napkins.

For starters i had the Civet of Hare which was good but i found a little lacking. My girlfriend had the scallops which served with roasted almonds and sultanas were excellent and very moorish.

For mains my girlfriend had the Roast Duck with parsnip mash and i the Venison with a side dish of mash potato. Both were very good. Finally to the deserts. These were again very god ,my partner having the Sticky Toffee Pudding and i enjoying the Pantone Bread And Butter pudding with a very good and fresh Creme Anglaise.

We both left very sated and enjoyed the friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

One note of minor criticism was the occasionally erratic service with regards to some small and minor requests but otherwise it was at all times very friendly and helpful
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Martin Schlote
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, February 25, 2007

After much anticipation, we went for dinner last night at The Bull. We live locally but hadn't been there for more than a quick drink until now, mainly in view of the rather high prices for what is effectively a gastopub. We had a good night and the atmosphere and service were fine, but unfortunately our fears vis a vis value for money did prove be founded. The starters weren't great - a pretty tasteless duck terrine for 8 quid and a tiny bit of crab on toast (including bits of shell) for £9. For the main we shared the rib of aberdeen angus and whilst the flavour of this (and the accompanying potatoes and beans) was very good (which it should be at £45 for 2), the meat itself lacked the melt-in-the-mouth tenderness one expects. The wine list is reasonably extensive, although perhaps unsurprisingly some of the mark-ups are on the high side. In summary, the Bull isn't terrible but the eating experience does appear to suffer from the fact that it bascially has no real competition (Highgate village being the chain restaurant hell that it is). Put it this way, the bill was comparable to that which you would pay at Chez Bruce or somewhere but you aren't getting the outstanding cooking, impeccable service, knowledgable somillier, etc. Finally, I note that the Bull is another establishment that has a "national rate" 10p a minute telephone number - the cheeky b*****ds!
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RM
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 3
Sunday, January 28, 2007

Just been to the Bull and very happy to know they are the BEST restaurant in North London.

Food is excellent an service is very efficent with a smile.

It's a bit pricey but well worth it. They must serve the best Rib of Beef in London.

And btw the music was very low and suitable for a dinnig room.
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George Thompson
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, October 04, 2006

FANTASTIC!!!!

We were there for dinner and I can't wait to go back. Atmosphere, service, drinks were excellent and the FOOD was extremely good.

Try the Crab Pasta is so delicious, I wanna have it over and over again. Our waiter was very charming and recomended a very nice italian wine.

When I think of good food and service from now on I will think of The Bull.
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John Taylor
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, September 25, 2006

I spent an exceptionally happy afternoon at The Bull. That was because I was with an old friend who is witty and delightful. It wasn’t because The Bull is a good pub, or restaurant, or whatever it is trying to be, because it isn’t.

The beer is drinkable (I drank Timothy Taylor’s). The food is more than edible, but so is a great deal of food nowadays, for a far more reasonable price. Mozzarella, tomato and basil salad consisted of delicious, peeled tomatoes aplenty, an exiguous quantity of mozzarella and a couple of basil fragments (the damage was something over seven quid). Kedgeree (£14) was fine, but served in a portion the size of a baby’s fist and accompanied (for a further charge) by what the menu described as “buttered broccoli”. When I asked what had become of the butter, I was told that it had “melted”. No doubt it had, but it couldn’t have done so anywhere near the broccoli.

The worst thing, though, was the piped music. It was drumming and intrusive. Most people were eating outside, and I hardly think that there would have been a mass exodus from the dining room had the music been turned off. But they refused to turn it off.

"It is", explained the guv’nor (as I assumed him to be) "part of the ambience."

Well, that was incontrovertible. So were nitrogen and oxygen and, no doubt, various trace elements, and we had no choice about those either.

If you like intrusive piped music and don’t mind having your wishes ignored while simultaneously being charged a huge amount, get yourself over to The Bull. But if you think a pub should be a pub and a restaurant should be a restaurant, and that those who aren’t sure which their gaff is haven’t got a winner on their hands, don’t bother.

And remember: Le Caprice – no music. Rules – no music. J. Sheekey – no music. No music; long waiting lists. Get the message?
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Emily Morris
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Friday, September 08, 2006

I spent an exceptionally happy afternoon at The Bull. That was because I was with an old friend who is witty and delightful. It wasn’t because The Bull is a good pub, or restaurant, or whatever it is trying to be, because it isn’t.

The beer is drinkable (I drank Timothy Taylor’s). The food is more than edible, but so is a great deal of food nowadays, for a far more reasonable price. Mozzarella, tomato and basil salad consisted of delicious, peeled tomatoes aplenty, an exiguous quantity of mozzarella and a couple of basil fragments (the damage was something over seven quid). Kedgeree (£14) was fine, but served in a portion the size of a baby’s fist and accompanied (for a further charge) by what the menu described as “buttered broccoli”. When I asked what had become of the butter, I was told that it had “melted”. No doubt it had, but it couldn’t have done so anywhere near the broccoli.

The worst thing, though, was the piped music. It was drumming and intrusive. Most people were eating outside, and I hardly think that there would have been a mass exodus from the dining room had the music been turned off. But they refused to turn it off.

"It is", explained the guv’nor (as I assumed him to be) "part of the ambience."

Well, that was incontrovertible. So were nitrogen and oxygen and, no doubt, various trace elements, and we had no choice about those either.

If you like intrusive piped music and don’t mind having your wishes ignored while simultaneously being charged a huge amount, get yourself over to The Bull. If you think a pub should be a pub and a restaurant should be a restaurant, and that those who aren’t sure which their gaff is haven’t got a winner on their hands, don’t bother.

And remember: Le Caprice – no music. Rules – no music. J. Sheekey – no music. No music; long waiting lists. Get the message?
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Emily Morris
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Saturday, August 19, 2006