Masons Bar Restaurant

After a gap of some five months since our last visit and a natural concern as to whether the high standards we have experienced in the past could be maintained, we visited Masons on Saturday evening hoping for the best but not sure what to expect. We need not have worried! Once again the simple set menu was a delight. Our starter was a tapenade with crostini and a small fillet of freshly cooked red mullet. Excellent! Mains was a good steak cooked by someone who actually knows how to cook steak, and served with home made chips. And for afters a home made cheesecake with a mango puree, not quite sweet enough for my own sweet tooth but still a world away from the factory version. Service was as attentive as ever and the atmosphere relaxed but buzzy. And all this was available for the princely sum of £12, an absolute steal, and certainly the equal if not better than some restaurants at double the price and beyond including some rated places in Blackheath. Restaurants do change over time, but Masons currently still has it. We still can't work out how they do it for the money.
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Leigh Parker
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, June 05, 2008

Unfortunately after being a regular visitor and fan of the Masons Bar it has now taken a nose dive. We ate there on 1 May 2008 after an absence of a few months and found it very disappointing. The veggie option main course sounded lovely - stuffed portabello mushrooms with spinach and potatoes. What arrived on the plates was overcooked mushroom stuffed with ratatouille, a very small helping of spinach and 2 slices of potato, both of which were very salty. But the piece de resistance was the meat gravy on the side of the plate - all in all pretty awful food.

Also the asparagus starter contained a small amount of asparagus stalks and the shavings of parmesan were in fact crumbs.

It's no good reducing prices if the food suffers as well.
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Kay Roberts
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, May 06, 2008

We ate here last night and were very impressed and left wishing we'd tried it sooner!

The evening set menu had a good choice of dishes and was excellent value - 2 courses for £10 and 3 courses for £12!

My husband opted for mussels in a cream sauce to start (delicious!) and I went for the aubergine, roasted pepper and goats cheese crostini (yummy!). For mains I had the veggie option (although I'm not a vegetarian!) of wild mushroom, cream cheese and fennel filo something....? Huge portion and very tasty. It came with very indulgent dauphinoise potatoes. My husband went for steak with potato rosti. He was very impressed too but the steak a bit too cooked for him (he ordered it medium-rare). We shared the side vegetables that came.

Despite being very full already we couldn't resist dessert and chose tiramisu and ginger & peach sponge pudding with custard. The tirmisu was good but I found the pudding a bit heavy / doughy and could have done with a bit more custard.

On Monday nights they have drinks promos - £2.50 for a pint of Erdinger beer and bottles of house wine for £7.50.

We'll be treating our Monday blues here again in the future for certain!
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BC
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

I have been eating at Masons regularly for the last two years or so. It was good before and now it has a new chef and set menus it is even better and even busier. The beer and wine menus are excellent and the food is outstanding value for money. A lovely local restaurant.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Went to Masons on saturday night with my wife. we had a three course meal plus two bottles of half decent wine, and it came up at less than fifty quid.Nice atmosphere and tastey food and a interesting chat with the chef after made a excellent night out.
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alan neenan
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, October 24, 2007

I live in the area and went to Mason's because of the great reviews on this page. Admittedly, I thought they were probably all from family and friends...but realised after my meal that this little diamond deserves every word of praise it gets. Marvelous place, superb food, good choice of Belgian beers...a pearl in the deep dark hole of eateries that the surrounding area has to offer.
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Kim
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, August 29, 2007

I'm also a resident in Ladywell and Masons stand out as the place to eat in Lewisham Centre. The style is relaxed, the food reliably delicious, the wine list is a pleasant surprise given it's a small restaurant and the chef will cook 'off menu' if he has the ingredients in, making for a truely personal experience.

During the day the 'cafe' crowd take up residence, dining on a lighter menu whilst in the evenings you'll find people just having drinks at the bar in addition to those eating. It's a bit of a local gem, much overlooked being in zone 3, but well worth a visit.
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Mary
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Like another of your reviewers, this is my "local", and stands out in this area as being the place to go for a feast. Good enough for a special occasion, but not so OTT that you feel weird just treating yourself for no particular reason.

I have been coming here regularly since it opened a few years ago, and it is always dependably good. The premise is a simple one: good ingredients, cooked well and served up in relaxed, pleasant surroundings by people who haven't lost the ability to smile. Its a shame that other places find this so difficult. The one gripe I used to have was that it didn't open for Sunday lunch, but I believe that has now changed...

Keep it up.
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Richard Conley
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, March 12, 2007

This is local to me and so good that I am not sure I want to let others know about it. It's nicely decorated and has a good atmosphere including live music some nights. Food is always excellent quality, while it is not cheap it is certainly not expensive and for the quality is good value. Staff are friendly, helpful and accommodating. Great selection of wines, beers and whiskys.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, June 05, 2006

I ate at Mason's restaurant recently and they have to be commended for their execellent service, as this is such a rare quality in a restaurant in London these days. Food was also very good, as was the wine list. Highly recommended.
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Monday, November 07, 2005