Simon G
Good but not great. The menu is often very strong, but there's always something disappointing in the cooking. Today, the mushroom ragu was oily, and lacked the inky richness I was expecting. I'm sure they can do better. I'm not so sure why they don't.
T. Hsu
As a tourist this place is a great!
Food representative of England which otherwise is quite hard to define!
Delicious food that's just a tad too salty although nothing a pint doesn't fix :)
Decent restaurant setting that's not too posh despite the name.
Prices also reflect this nicely
Doesn't seem too busy on a weeknight. Cheerful staff!
Chicken pot pie is a must!
No Harm In Trying
Decent gastropub with jolly staff. Feels more European than British but this is a reflection of the variety on the menu inspired by dishes from the continent.
Being vegetarian, about 1 in 10 items were suitable which is why it loses a star; this would be a difficult place for a vegan to enjoy as there's usually cheese or cream as a key ingredient in the starters and mains.
This place is well suited if you're seeking animal-oriented dishes but more of a difficult sell for a vegetarian or beyond.
sam fowler
Lovely place. Was much quieter when I visited may 31st. Versus the other few times. The quality of food and presentation were lovely. We sat in the window, so could watch the world go by. An adult women at another table started eating a shop bought yoghurt at a table whilst she waited for her friend. Very strange but certainly a bit of a highlight to add to the food. I need to get out more
Emmeline
One of my favourite restaurants in London, great British food with amazing service. It is part from other two restaurants in London, the hope and anchor near Waterloo and the camberwell arms in camberwell. The best rabbit pie I have ever had, unfortunately they didn't have the last time we visited. Good place to take people visiting the UK for them to try something else beside fish and chips.
Y N
One of the best dishes I had during this UK biz trip. It definitely suits Japanese taste as well.
Adam Baylis-West
Potted shrimp, Beef Wellington, buttered greens, Tarte Tatin — these are dishes to soothe and reassure. Menus that offer them seem to say to the diner, "Try not to worry. Things will probably be all right." Few places have ever said that with more conviction than Great Queen Street.
D J
Delicious food!! Lovely staff! Scallops were particularly amazing! And OMG the Apple Tart with Calvados ice cream!!
Anna Wilders
We love this place. It's a great restaurant to try something new as you know whatever it is will be done well. Service is always great, knowledgeable and friendly. You need to book
Sherwin Sacki
Lovely selection of food in a great part of London. The beef shin was tremendous
Chung Liu
Fantastic lamb, well crafted selection of wines by the glass and friendly service. The espresso is great too!
Sam Harris
Delicious food with extremely friendly and knowledgeable service. There were only a couple of vegetarian options but these were appealing and far from the normal bog standard choices - my pasta was light and summery and absolutely moreish. My friend raved about the oysters and the scallops (and everything else!) and even the simple bread and butter was unbelievably tasty. Staff were all aware we were heading to the theatre and while we didn't feel at all rushed they definitely kept an eye on the time for us. Highly recommended!
Eric Shinkle
The whole family really enjoyed this restaurant.
The downstairs bar/lounge was a pleasant place to wait for the table upstairs. The Moscow Mules were very spicy with ginger.
The dinning room had a great buzz, with rustic/hip decor and romantic lighting.
The manager/wine steward was very helpful in assisting me with what to expect from different selections from their list.
The place was packed but service was extremely attentive, filling water and bread quickly.
The presentation of their suckling pig shoulder is a sight to behold. The taste was rich and delicious, with nicely textured cracklings and creamy butter beans on the tender long cooked shoulder.
Go family style with one of their entrees that is for more than one and the price is extremely reasonable for London.
Michael Barnes
For a British pub-feel restaurant in a non-foodie area of London, the food blew me away and was better than I expected. You can tell the chef puts a lot into his dishes and they were all fantastic. The lunch menu is well curated and offers a great sample of their beat dishes.
Fiona Herring
An amazing homemade chicken pie with a perfect suet crust (for two) was the highlight of our table's meal. Good food and more unusual dishes, such as fresh venison for four. The food was very good, but we found the strict adherence to the menu a bit uncomfortable. For example, meat would only be cooked as the chef recommended (which I'm sure is the best way, but made people not order what they'd have liked) and cream couldn't be served with a dessert. The atmosphere in the restaurant was great - there was a good buzz and it was quite loud. But the bar downstairs didn't look particularly special.
Rob Reck
We were visiting my son in London and he took us to Great Queen Street for our last night out. It is indeed British Food, rather like food that is dressed up and told to behave for guests.
How ever this magic works, , it is works very well.
I would describe the the decor as comfortable. It is friendly, not fancy. It is completely congruent with the total experience.
The wait staff seemed to be there when needed without hovering. The one time I needed something I looked around to see the sever keeping an eye out. I just smiled and nodded and she came right over.
There were five. We ordered two dinners for two and one had a piece of fish. One dinner for two included tender, delicious roast beef with ham hock and a very well prepared risotto. The second dinner for two, which i did not order, was a chicken pot pie. That and the fish offering received similar reviews all around. It was all very English, but with an updated flair that was quite pleasing. If you live in London it is a great place to take visitors. Or just take those in your own circle.
Fine work by all at Great Queen Street.
Matthew Gantz
Fantastic, cozy restaurant with a unique and upscale menu that features excellent Sunday Roast options (including some plates you need to order in advance if desired). The restaurant is large enough, so bigger reservations are not too difficult even at the last minute. The people are friendly and the food is wonderful. I recommend ordering plates for the table and eating as a group - very fun and friendly experience!
Pleasefeedmeimadoge
Great Queen Street is a cozy, casual eatery located in the heart of Covent Garden. It is very reminiscent of a standard pub that has tables. <br/><br/>Old spot pork and game terrine (5/10) - Average terrine at best. My points against this dish are that I think it's underseasoned, there is not much textural variation in the terrine itself, and I think the lean to fat ratio was off (not enough fat.)<br/><br/>Warm oak smoked eel and Alsace bacon salad (3/10) - This dish suffered from the opposite problem of the terrine. The salad itself seemed sloppily tossed together as the amounts of bacon and eel seemed inconsistent which made splitting this up a chore. The flavors were ok and they would have worked had this not been overly greasy.<br/><br/>Suet crusted steak and ale pie for two (7/10) - I quite enjoyed this pie. The crust was well cooked, the meat tender and well seasoned. Certainly the highlight of the meal for me.<br/><br/>I think that with the overflowing amount of notable restaurants in Covent Garden that I would not find a reason to revisit Great Queen Street. There are places which do a better take on traditional British cuisine that are certainly better and at a competitive price point.
Amy @ My Dining Journey
Recommended as one of the best places to eat at Covent Garden, the Great Queen Street is known for seasonal and hearty British cuisine where reservations is a must due to its perennial popularity. With a non-pretentious menu that relies heavily on fresh produce, it changes daily so you can expect something new every day.<br/><br/>Coming in to a full dining room with a 6:30PM reservation, it's popularity amongst the Londoners are evident. Taking a small table in the middle, we ordered the two dishes that was recommended by our friendly waitress. The roasted hake served with new season's borlotti beans with a hot anchovy dressing was scrumptious and I happily soaked up the sauce with the complimentary bread. My sister's baked lemon sole served with a cream prawn bisque was just as nice and we both cleared our plates with ease!<br/><br/>We were more than impressed with the food and service from Great Queen Street. The dishes allowed the ingredients to shine and it's a no-frills sorta menu where edible blooms, unnecessary foam and bite size mains are nowhere to be found. The knowledgable staff can recommend the perfect beverage pairing and despite being swamped with work, they were friendly, attentive and very efficient. The perfect way to end our trip in London!
Blue_coffee
Don't go there. Much better options nearby. Worse service in London.. We certainly would not recommend anyone to come to this restaurant at all - don't waste your time here. There are easily much better restaurants nearby. The service was one of the worst we have ever experienced in London. Ambience was aweful, we all lost half of our appetite the second we walked in. We have already told them we needed to leave the restaurant by a a certain time for theatre in advance when we booked the table. Yet they kept hassling us about when we were going to return the table to them 15 minutes after we sat down. Unfriendly, terribly rude, unhelpful service, never felt so dissatisfied and offended after a meal. Told us we couldn't have a wine glass to drinks wine because We ordered 'cheap wine not expensive wine' (the waitress' exact words, who certainly doesn't look anything like a diamond herself, and btw the wine wasn't too bad, ordered as recently recommended by the Decanter magazine). This is a gastropub, we were hoping to have a relaxed, enjoyable experience, most certainly no need to be pretentious. Food was average at best (at least better than their service), but the Menu was incredibly dull and boring. Some of the very saddest and greasiest potatoes ever came out of a professional kitchen.
Foodie Ninjya
9.5/10 for service on counter and 7.5/10 for food. It's very busy restaurant, so highly recommend to book a table. We didn't have any reservation and just walked in last night. There are only have counter seats. It turned out we get best service ever!! Super good and fast service from staff at the bar. Highly recommend! <br/><br/>Down side was the quality and portion of food. My dish:whole Plaice was way too big for one person and runny sauce. My husband dish :crab gratin was quite small for main. Taste of food was just OK. Kind of simple.<br/>Next time I'll order more meat dish.<br/><br/>If you are around ,Try here!
H-Man
Tasty modern British Cuisine. A casual restaurant in Covent Garden with great value for money modern British cuisine. I recommend you make a reservation since it can get pretty busy during lunch and or dinner times. Like the atmosphere of the place and the great value for money.
Jeff
The rabbit pie is great! Its filling tastes like really good chicken soup. Not a bad deal at 30. 1 pie serves 2. Waiter was friendly & helpful.
Hungrydave
A bookable Anchor and Hope. The foods great, properly cooked. Simple faire done well.<br/><br/>The only thing that I've had thats disappointed is the Rabbit Pie - Full of little bones. This is the same people that run the Anchor and Hope, so you know the food is good - and the the concept of service usually lacking, you really get the sense these people are resting on their laurels. <br/><br/>The wines were a little average, but I think I know why. There is an arragance about a place that only gives you a wineglass if you order over a certain price.<br/><br/>The smell is all important when tasting wine, and a good glass is half the battle, the tumbler you get with any bottle under £20 is cheeky in my book. <br/><br/>So either they don't know their wines or they're arrogant, maybe both, give it a go see what you think...
Conor Gallagher
Excellent. It's all about the Pie! I've been back here since my last review and still think it's excellent. I find it hard to stray from the pie. Easily the best in London, if not the UK!
Margolismm
Excellent. Always love going here. They have the best pie ever. Every time I go I struggle to order anything else but the pie because it is so good! However on the occasions I have ventured beyond the pie , its always been great. I recommend Crab starter + Pie to share.
Rachel
The main dish was tasty, cooked well, lying on top of the beans and tomato sauce. It was also a fun dish to eat – the finger bowl provided giving permission to pick up the bits to get the last remnants of the meat off the bones.
Sonya Chan
the worst part of this meal was the wait. the food was good, decent, and we would<br/>have been fine with the same dishes if we hadn’t waited nearly half an hour for our<br/>mains, detracting from our enjoyment of the starter. service was good though; I<br/>suggest coming here if you want drinks and some good tasty food to go alongside<br/>but not so much when you’re catching a meal.
Samphire And Salsify
Great Queen Street, named after the street on which it resides, is a restaurant inside a former pub which is owned by the same people behind the Anchor and Hope and the recently opened Camberwell Arms. The long and narrow-ish dining room was extremely lively and buzzy; the air was filled, rather loudly, with the noisy chitter chatter of fellow diners. We were seated at a tiny table for two that we could barely get our legs under, right by the door (which was irritatingly breezy as the door didn’t shut properly) but none of it seemed to really matter; there was an infectiously lovely energy about the place. As we were feeling ravenous, and not all the starters took our fancy, we decided to start by sharing a main and starter. The duck giblets (which included the heart, liver and kidneys) with bacon and new season garlic on toast (£8) sounded offaly tasty – see what I did there?! Sadly however, the heart and kidneys were so overcooked they were like chunks of leather. The soft, spreadabl
Doughnuts Swine
The ham was delicious and was dressed with some mustard. The sauerkraut was tasty and the apple subtle not at all overpowering. I used the bread brought to the table to mop up the soup type gravy. The bread at the table was also very nice.
The Picky Glutton
The food at Great Queen Street can be great, especially if slow cooked meats are involved, but it can also be merely average which happened with surprising regularity during my three visits.
Boy Meets Girl Meets Food
Hmmm, where to start with Great Queen Street? My cousin chose it for his birthday dinner, and when we arrived, the place was packed. Luckily they had some spots downstairs at the bar, so we ordered drinks and some starters down there. I would have honestly preferred to have the entire meal downstairs at the bar- everything was very cushy and dimly lit. After taking a look at the menu, we decided to split a cheese plate, starter and main between the two of us. The cheese plate was wonderful- there was a fantastic stinky blue cheese that had a triple cream-esque consistency, a nice mellow sheep's cheese and a goat that was firm and had undertones of mushrooms…a bizarre but delicious cheese that I'd love to revisit. They came with a house-made chutney that was a little too bitter for my taste, although my cousin enjoyed it. For the starter we had Jerusalem artichokes with parsnip and fennel- it was presented as a salad, which I wasn't expecting. The salad came with purple cabbage, and h
NC
Great Queen Street has a great vibe, its casual, dark and kind of loud. I love when you can see the kitchen in a restaurant and even hear it a little, you get this with Great Queen Street, its dramatic and I just love that.
Richard Elliot
The restaurant had a good atmosphere and the staff were friendly and attentive (although were harder to get hold of as the restaurant got busier).
Wingz
It's a Dirty Dancing evening. Great Queen Street was an obvious choice, given I had contemplated the idea, but never had the motivation. Admittedly, I missed out completely on the gastropub hype. Despite the joint earning enthusiastic reaction on serving great British food with a twist in style, it never clicked. Well, they say better late than never. The pub was mostly empty when we entered. Serving staff was being briefed on the day's menu so intensely to the extent that we were unnoticed. We were seated at an unreserved table, but were asked to evacuate in 90 mins with a smile. No probs. The interior indeed looked no different to a pub, with a long bar and small wooden tables, just stripped of excessive wall hangings and curtains. Basket of bread. Kicked start with half a bottle of Fleurie, Beaujolais. Wine in tumblers, like Brindisa, shouts: Take it easy. Already I am apologising for the dark photos, they dimmed the lights as soon as it strikes 6 on the clock. The menu was printed
Theskinnybib
The meat soaked up the sweet-and-salty broth of plump and springy snails, bacon and melt-in-yer-mouth shallots very nicely. Simple combinations but brilliantly executed.
Thea
Going back to Great Queen Street made me wonder why I'd neglected it for so long. Maybe it is because I have been enjoying the dangerous charms of the Anchor and Hope, where the food is equally excellent but the no-bookings policy and a well-stocked bar to wait in always leave me merrily drunk by the time dinner is done. Great Queen Street is a little more civilised, leaving one free to focus on the food. Hea
Andy Hayler
With such simple food there is nowhere to hide if things go wrong, but it is clear that ingredients are generally good here. The bill for two with some wine was £62 a head for lunch, and for me this was the main issue. The food element of my meal cost £31, which is more than the price of a set lunch at several Michelin-starred London restaurants. In the evening these prices would not seem too bad, and the wine list has fair mark-ups, but it is hard to see this as a bargain for lunch.
LondonRob
This logically named restaurant is one of my "Winter places" because the food is really hearty and the place is all gastro-pub cosy (although having said that they need to work on their heating as it was freezing in there today!). If you don't like the st
Sasha Happiness Project LDN
Sometimes, the body just craves iron . Well, that's what I tell myself anyway. There are some nights when only a big juicy steak will do - so below are my ultimate meat feast restos in London. My other guilty pleasure is the perfect burger - I have to hav
Magnus Hultberg
No nonsense, no frills, what you see on the tin. Like the name, stripped down to the bare essence of great produce and British cooking and I love it.
Mzungu
There is something about the Great Queen Street Restaurant that gives me this feeling that I should only eat there in the colder months. To me it doesn’t come across as a summer or spring eatery. It’s more suited to those darker winter cold months.
Greedy Diva
Finally, I can sleep again at night. No longer do I need to lie awake at grim hours, tossing and turning, racking my brains, for a worthy place to meet friends for a pub lunch in the realms of Soho. Soho is great for coffee, wine bars, restaurants and, ob
Laissez Fare
The little sister of some British gourmets’ favourite (and I cringe as I write the word) ‘gastropub’, GQS has no real name, no website, and no gimmicks. It is all simple wood and dim lighting inside, with informal but fairly knowledgeable staff. Like so m
Tehbus
Sometimes the urge to eat beef just takes you. This week, I had one of those moments, where the caveman instact to consume unhealthy amounts of red meat consumes you, I had to find me a steak. I didn't want to go anywhere I had already been so Gaucho, Sop
Craig
After establishing we both work fairly close to each other we settled on Great Queen Street, Holborn, the sister restaurant to gastro-pub favourite the Anchor & Hope. Now this is the first time I’ve ever met up with someone I’ve chatted too online and the
Pig Pig's Corner
A revolution in British cooking happened in 1991 with the first gastropub in London and ever since then, more and more pubs have closed up shop temporarily for a few months only to reopen, rebranded as a gastropub. No wonder too, as they’re making money h
Gastro1
This is the sister restaurant to one of my favourite tables in London - The Anchor and Hope. Everything is the same in terms of great bourgeois cooking and well chosen and resonably priced wines and beers. Last night which was pretty cold I had a very lig
Agirlhastoeat
Admittedly I found the meat dishes more satisfying than the veggie options – they just had more flavour. But it was really good pub grub nonetheless, comforting, satisfying, well-cooked and unpretentious. Best of all the food at Great Queen Street was really reasonable priced. Given its location in Central London, it’s great value for money and a really good go-to option amongst the plethora of otherwise touristy options in Covent Garden.<br/>- See more at: http://agirlhastoeat.com/great-queen-street-gastropub-review/#sthash.GlxjAM5I.dpuf
Ben Maritz
Fresh of the plane from a great holiday back home in the States, I was filled to the brim wit h the tasty ethnic food of New York. The previous day, I'd had bagels and lox for breakfast, italian for lunch, and a fiery Sichuan dinner from the popular Spicy
Luke Honey
Yesterday evening we had dinner at 32, Great Queen Street , a newish restaurant in London's Covent Garden, directly opposite the Freemason's Hall. It's a welcome return to the idea of the old-fashioned dining room. Formerly a pub, it's now just a large ro
Kang L.
We have a shortage of good , great British restaurants. There has been so much press lately about how crap British food really is, but you know I wonder, is it really that bad? Everybody has heard about a certain Jamie ran
Kristainlondon
K has been traveling like crazy lately and I have been running around (literally) a lot lately, so it's been too long. I'm also lucky in that smoking is now illegal in London, which means K&A are more likely to be tempted out. (They do not, most obviously
Cheese And Biscuits
Like a celebrity wearing sunglasses indoors, 32 Great Queen Street likes to think it's something special, from the conspicuously nameless frontage and dark wood panelling. Inside however it's business as usual in the standard gastropub style - bare wood t
Adi K
This is a hidden charm in the Bloomsbury area that very few people talk about, but the place is always packed. I'm sure amongst gastro pub lovers it has a high repeat customer base. They do a simple seasonal menu, the ingredients are always very fresh and distinctly British. The food is good and the place is charming, particularly when there are very few similar restaurants in the area...Go a few hundred yards down the road and you'll hit chain central in covent garden. They also have a sister pub in Waterloo, which is even better in my opinion - more lively atmosphere.
ZaraB
I came here about two weeks ago - nice to see something that's independent and a little more interesting. It was packed so we sat at the bar. So the food was great but the service prety bad. There was a chicory salad on the menu that was delicious. I then had the mackerel which, although good, was not at all a desirable option in a very dimly lit restaurant - BONES GALORE. I asked the barman to see if the kitchen might be able to use a large knife and take most of the bones out and he was incredibly rude and just barked 'no' at me. Doubt I'll be coming here again.
Jamie Peter Hall
Another great find in Covent Garden. Don't be put off by the cue. Simply slide downstairs for some modern and interesting cocktails. The Scottish bar man knows his stuff. After you've warmed up, before you know it you'll be in the restaurant, sharing a shoulder of lamb blown away by the quality of the food. Lovely to see a tight small menu by the chefs. Go in a group and club together for the sharing plates! You will not regret it.
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