The Eagle

Having been a fan of the Eagle for a long time, today's visit was extremely disappointing: Slow service, disinterested staff and a manager who tried to pass off a maggot on one plate as a fly that could have come from anywhere are not things I'd have expected here.

The food was nice, but not great, and certainly didn't represent value for money. £6.50 for a cheese plate consisting of toast, one type of hard cheese and an apple was steep.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Friday, October 12, 2007

When I go out for a meal, I often struggle to find something I want to eat, even at the best establishments. Having sampled the menu on more occasions than I would care to admit (yes, I do work in the vicinity), The Eagle presents exactly the reverse problem because I want to eat everything on the menu! This is not just a gastro pub, it is the home of the most satisfying food I have ever eaten, especially when you are hungry. An eclectic menu that changes completely every day, unbelievably fresh ingedients (the fish are almost twitching as they land on the grill), huge portions, brilliant blending of flavours and spices, and a sense you've just eaten something special no matter how many times you've been there. .And now for the "no"................I don't have an "interest" in the place!
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Gerard Baines
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, October 07, 2007

A fabulous place to eat, drink beer and generally chill out. Though don't all go there please, it's busy enough. The food is awesome, rustic, clearly homemade and generally fabulous.
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Emma
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The eagle is a nice pub in a great location. Allot of thought obviously goes into the selection of food and drink, and the room is welcoming and stylish, albeit a bit rickety. The wine list is extensive and pretty reasonable, and the food is fresh, and unpretentious.

...Unfortunately I'm not the only one with this opinion, so the place tends to be packed. I work in the area, and no matter how early I seem to clock off, I can NEVER get a table here.

The place is also poorly ventilated, which makes it very smokey, which is a bit nasty when you are trying to eat. A shame, considering the effort they are putting into the food...

I have been for an early lunch on the weekend, and the food and service were excellent. I had a grilled swordfish steak with some lovely spinach, successfully cooked (No mean feat in a full pub!) and served by smiley friendly staff.

The weekday evening experience was not so nice though. We had to share a table with three people who chain smoked throughout our meal, and we could barely hear each other it was so loud. The food also suffered.

I would recommend this place wholeheartedly, but you definitely have to pick your moment to go. If you just want a quiet drink, there are other places just as good in the area without all the chaos.
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Claire
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Monday, April 23, 2007

Went here last Sunday to meet up with friends in a different part of town and have a nice realxed lunch, sit back and read the papers. For that the eagle is perfect. Its a no nonesense layout with mixed match tables and chairs. We arrived at 1pm and got the last table! It isnt fine dining and its not supposed to be its healthy portions of good pub food with a twist. I had the oxtail stew which was great although some pieces could have used a little longer, the mash and sauce fantastic mash. My girlfriend had grilled swordfish which was a little pink in the middle but very tasty and my friend had the veggie linguenie which he said were very good. The wine list is adequate and tasty. The service isnt right up there and I can see why people made some of the comments but if youre in no hurry wheres the problem. We ordered coffe and were told they were out, which was a little odd. So went up again a little later and had to plead a little as they make the coffee in a stove expresso maker and were complaining it took too long!!

The other bummer was no desserts which I thought let down the experience a little as would have been great to finish off with a crumble and custard. All in all a afternoon in the pub reading papers with good food all for £20 a head.

Overall I would go back again less for the service but more for the ambience and food.
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Charlie
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, January 29, 2007

With an attitude like the last reviewer's I am not surprised she did not like the Eagle. I should be so lucky to have the opportunity of trying out 3 chairs in the Eagle before settling on one! For the past 15 years they have been serving good food, well priced with friendly staff.

Well done.
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BK
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 08, 2006

The Eagle is a well known and was one of the first gastro pubs in London. So I was looking forward to tasting what was on offer. The menu was small but had a number of appealing dishes. Comprising of Poached Haddock and Lentils with a salsa Verde, Lamb Stew with mint and cous-cous, Pigeon Breasts and Marsh Potato and Roasted red onion and several other dishes, Nice hearty fare.

The surroundings are modest, they obviously picked most of there furniture up from second hand shops but I must say that some chairs where past there sell by date, as I tried 3 before I settled on one because the rest felt like they would fall apart during the meal.

We ordered our meal at the bar and waited a reasonable time of 25 minutes for my dad's dish to arrive, the only problem was that my dish did not arrive. They had not taken my order down properly and 20 minutes after my dad started to eat his meal the wrong dish arrived for me. When I explained I had ordered something different. I was told by the waiter that this meal was £2 more expensive than the one I had ordered and would I not be happy with what I was being given. I told them in no uncertain terms that no this was not alright and asked to speak to the manager.

10 minutes later the right dish arrived but still no manager. Half way through my dinner the manager came to the table and explained in a rude manner that we had ordered wrongly at the bar and inferred that it was our fault and I will quote "you have your food now so what's the problem? you should be happy" I found his manner very rude and arrogant!!

The Eagle is obviously living on its reputation and standing as a gastro pub and does not seem to think it needs to provide a decent service to it's customers. I will admit that once the food arrived it was nice, but I will not be eating there again and would not recommend there service to anyone else. Is that not a major part of a dinning experience?

When quizzed, the manager reported that this is not a restaurant and you can not expect restaurant service, but with the food costing an average of £11 a dish I at least expect if not efficient service, friendly service and food served at a reasonable time to the other person that I have gone for lunch with!

I was very disappointed!!
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vicky
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Thursday, November 30, 2006

Rather over-rated gastropub. The food is OK but, let's be honest, nothing to write home about. Worst of all there's all that to-ing and fro-ing to the bar, and some of the seating is not designed to be eaten at. But it's good value. All right I suppose.
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mike
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Lunch in The Eagle for the first time a week ago. It was great. Not too busy at 1 pm and we got a table immediately. The staff were friendly and helpful. The food was great. Steak was succulent and cooked just as asked as was the cod topped with tapande. We finsihed off with a plate of great Manchego with figs and a Custard Tart. Brilliant. Faultless cooking. Wine was great by the glass but the Cava was a liitle expensive! I would go again tomorrow. Good food, great atmosphere. We left at 2.30 wishing we could have stayed for the rest of the day!
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Sunday, June 04, 2006

I love the Eagle. It's what a gastro pub should be - a bit shabby but with great tasting honest food.

The menu changes daily (sometimes hourly if one dish sells out very quickly), but they have some staples - Bife Ana (marinated steak sandwich), always a pasta dish, always a veggie dish. It's impossible to go hungry, the food is simple and hearty. To those negative comments below, I'd say that the people who wrote them are more used to the ghastly "restuarants with a pub attached" that have proliferated in the wake of the Eagle's success.

They have a good wine list, serve excellent beer (Charles Wells and Belgian beers on tap), and best of all, their own "Rock Shandy". It's a refreshing concoction of freh lemon, angosturas, lemonade and soda. Really lovely if you need to keep a clear head in the afternoon.

The staff are always friendly and helpful (despite the fact they seem to change quite often). They play an eclectic and always interesting mix of music, but seemingly only when the noise level of conversation makes it almost impossible to hear!

If you want fine dining go elsewhere. If you want good honest food in a wonderful informal atmosphere it's worth the journey. The only fault I can find is that there is no beer garden - if you want to sit outside you're on the Farringdon Road...
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hans
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, February 10, 2006