Roast

We went here for a romantic meal for 2 for my birthday. I don;t usually write reviews but felt I should pass on my comments for others. To start with the positives - amazing space, we could see St Pauls at sunset through the rafters of the train lines - very cool. The menu looked very nice, though outrageously overpriced. When the food came, it was very disappointing. The food was pretty averagely cooked, and rough pieces of meat, with no particular interesting flavours. Then everything was covered with salt. Throughout the meal our waiter was quite obtrusive and came to remove our plates whilst we were still eating and whilst we were in a middle of intimate conversation. He continued to stay when we made it clear it was an awkward moment (we have small children, so its not often we get to talk intimately) , then proceeded to move everything around on our table, and top up our wine in a rude manner. This happened a few times in the meal. Well, it killed the moment for us, which was such a shame, and we decided to have dessert somewhere else. As I was leaving there were a couple of people complaining about the service one way or another.

I actually felt sorry for the staff as they are clearly on low wages and untrained. Someone, it seems is profitting hugely from this below average restaurant, without having a passion for food and service. We won't be coming here again.
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3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Monday, May 23, 2011

ROAST in Borough Market is a splendid "hidden gem" of London's Borough Market.

Situated in the former Floral Hall on stilts above the hustle and bustle below of the costermongers and cheese purveyors it is a great little hideaway for drinks,a business lunch or just a lunch or dinner with friends.

A very sleek but well stocked bar provides a vared and wide selection of beers,wine,cocktails and spirits. Daily Specials feature on the menu,together with a la carte.

For the wines we were directed by a most helpful somellier tothe Barolo Patres 2006 Sansilvestro Doc for the red.Myself being more a white win kind of chap opted for the South African Chenin Blanc 2009 Mulderbosch.The red was full bodied but mature with a pleasant fruit aftertaste.The white a none-too-dry white with quite a pleasant soft fruits tone and just slightly sweet aftertaste.

In choosing the set menu at a very reasonable £28 for 3 courses,my friend and I

chose the Haggis as the starter. Having not had Haggis for quite a while this was superb,not too dry not too moist just nicely compact but crumbly with delicious creamy mash.

For the main a Elwy Valley Lamb Steak,together with seasonal vegetables was most enjoyable. The Lamb was tender and delicious,without one piece of gristle and was lean and a joy to consume.

It is most pleasing that ROAST do offer a wide and varied menu with a huge amount of British,Scottish and local fayre being sourced to support the British food Industry.

For our veg choice -Curly Kale with Sunflower seeds.

For our desserts we chose from a list of about 8 choices,eventually plumping for a delicious Rhubarb Crumble,again UK sourced Rhubarb (no doubt from the West Yorkshire area-of what is known as the "Rhubarb Triangle") for those not familiar this is the area of the County within which the Rhubarb farms are Leeds,Morley and Rothwell which forms a triangle on a map!

Staff at ROAST were attentive,thorough,pleasant and and helpful.Welcoming and politeness was the order of the day and it was superb to enjoy a fantastic lunch here.

I can also highly recommend the ROAST Lavender cocktail -It was entered into the London Cocktail Week awards last year (2010) and although I didn't sample it on the day we had lunch.It is a very pleasant and relaxing drink with Beefeater Gin as a base-alcohol to the mix!

5/5 I can certainly BOAST that ROAST offers the MOST! Raise a glass and raise a TOAST for ROAST! Superb service,friendly staff.
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Terence Jolley
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, March 25, 2011

Having eaten here before on numerous occasions for breakfast and lunch I decided to try dinner on Saturday for myself and two other couples.

What a mistake,on ordering we were told the special of beef wellington had finished only to see it being served an hour later before our mains had arrived.

Three rib-eye steaks were ordered all medium rare, two were very rare with mine having the added bonus of being burnt on the outside. The roast partridge was too tough to cut into and the sprouts were so raw as to be inedible.

My observations were passed on to the manager. At these prices this is just not acceptable.

My advice stick to breakfast or lunch Monday to Friday.
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Martin Bell
4 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Saturday, December 18, 2010

Lovely setting; food average and wildly over-priced. Service is a big issue: rather than being ignored, we find the waiters incredibly intrusive, constantly interrupting conversations and not coordinating their service - on our first visit we had three waiters assigned to our table, interrupting us at 30 second intervals. On return visits they were busier, so not so attentive (!) but equally irritating in their ability to disrupt the flow of conversation for trivial questions. Additionally, if you visit on a Sunday there is huge pressure to turn tables and their constant reminders that "you only have 2 hours" are somewhat unwelcoming.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Sunday, November 21, 2010

The breakfast is great, better than Wolseley but the regular restaurant menu is just poor value for food which is not consistently good.
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John
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Sunday, October 03, 2010

After almost 2 years of wanting to try out this restaurant (mainly because of the great pork sandwiches I have had from Roast to go) I finally found the right occasion for Sunday lunch.

5 of us arrived at 2pm and after a slightly long wait at the reception we were shown to our table. The room was pretty full and the place had a nice buzz about it, that got even better when the live music struck up in the corner.

We followed everyone else and opted for the 3 course Sunday lunch menu for £30. Starters went down well with the potted salt beef and the pea soup getting thumbs up, however my scotch egg with piccalilli was not great. And because we got our starters very quickly after ordering (less than 5 minutes and quicker than our wine which was ordered at the same time) I doubt it was cooked to order. Mains were very good all round with the roast chicken, beef and pork being top notch cuts of meat and all served with good roast potatoes, courgettes and cabbage. Slight issue with the spuds, all the tables of 2 around us got a bowl to share but we only got 2 between 5. On asking for some more we got them but no mention that we would be charged another £4.50 for them. Desserts were okay but seemed a bit lackluster, the cheese however was pretty good and served at the right temperature.

The wine list was very good with a broad range of wines, prices were as usual for London on the high side but I have seen a lot worse. We had a couple bottles of Chapel down Bacchus reserve @ about £35 a bottle and then a great Pinot noir from Oregon for about £50.

Service was okay but they seemed to me to be under staffed as it was hard to get their attention a couple of times and they in general seemed rushed.

Overall not bad, for 3 courses for 5 people and 3 bottles of wine and 5 or 6 six other drinks the bill was about £70 each. And that was after they amended the bill after overcharging us about £15.

Would go back but will not rush.
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Chris - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, September 20, 2010

Had breakfast here with friends on a Saturday morning...second time I've been and we made use for the 2 for 1 offer.

Really good experience - great setting, and the breakfasts were very good - we had a blend of English breakfast, Vegetarian breakfast and Eggs Benedict - no complaints from any at all and most definitely better than other classic institutions such as Simpsons.
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Simmo - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Well my husband, I and our little baby had an early dinner on Saturday.

I was a bit concerned as it was a last minute thing to come out with the baby, but the staff were brilliant.

The staff were fantastic, very child friendly, faultless service. The food was fantastic too - I had a scallop starter on green peas and we have yummy roasts, followed by delectable desserts. My very well behaved baby could eat off the kid's menu.

We just loved it and will be sure to return.
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Snoozer
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, August 30, 2010

I had a business lunch booked for 12pm. The food was delicious but the service was so haphazard! We were the first to arrive and the restaurant wasn't open yet so we had a drink at the bar. The restaurant was open but no one called us over. Hmmm... we reminded them and then ten minutes later we were led to a table.

We ordered two main meals - both fish - both very good. We were then asked every ten minutes if we wanted wine... No thank you... asked ten mins later, were we okay, ten minutes later, did we want wine. You get the gist.

It then took an age to get the bill! It finally arrived 20 mins after we requested it! How bizarre.

The restaurant was packed and had a good atmosphere.

It's not cheap at all and I don't think I would pay these prices for the food, although the food was nice.

Conclusion: It was okay but I don't think i'd return
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D - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Friday, August 20, 2010

the people who have given poor reviews seem to have had breakfast rather than lunch or dinner. while i cannot comment on the quality of breakfast at roast i do feel that this doesn't necesserily reflect on the restaurant as a whole. i had the set menu 3 course lunch and found my experience entirely positive. i had not booked and was directed to the bar for a short wait where i had a lovely basil scented martini (aqua dolce). i had tomato soup which was nice if rather unremarkable, followed by pork belly which if rather a large portion but was truely delicious and was accompanied by seasame broccoli which unlike most of the broccoli served in restaurants, had not been boiled to near mush. for dessert i had blackberry and apple crumble which was buttery and yummy and just the right size portion. coffee came with a tiny piece of delicious shortbread. overall i had a great meal and fab view over the market.
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readharts - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, August 19, 2010