Smithfield's Restaurants

[SBonner]

My wife and I are in London for six days next month and are in the mood for meat. We've heard alot about St. John and Smith's of Smithfields. Any comments would be appreciated.

[Clerkenwellian]

My wife and I are in London for six days next month and are in the mood for meat. We've heard alot about St. John and Smith's of Smithfields. Any comments would be appreciated.

←

The top floor at Smith's is really just an uber-upmarket steakhouse: excellent but expensive rare breed steaks, a lovely view, lots of suits, not much else. Probably nothing you can't get at home. The rest of Smith's can only be recommended if you're a 20-something trader on the pull (although the ground floor's pretty good for breakfast).

St John is much more interesting: see threads and reviews here, here, here, and here.

[CheGuevara]

you cannot miss st. john's - it's easily one of the best restaurants in the UK...for me.

-che

[magnolia]

I am a huge fan of the mid-level bit of Smithfields, it's very good value, always have trouble deciding what to have - and is very lively (sometimes deafeningly loud though), good service, good wine list (maybe even same as the upstairs). I also love having breakfast there.

Other good choices are Club Gascon if you want foie in its many guises (though I suppose that doesn't really count as meat per se).

[Janice]

I always like the food at the mid-level on Smiths but also have problems with the loudness aspect. Is good for a group but I wouldn't go there for a romantic dinner.

If you fancy a quick snack of foie gras rather than the full Club Cason experience then Cellar Gascon is good - they do other food as well including some great pates and sausages and a wide range of reasonably priced wine from the South West.

[lalala]

We often take the early Dallas to LGW flight, so we are quite happy to breakfast at SOS before hitting our favorite sights.

I haven't eaten dinner there, but I am considering trying the mid-tier floor.

If you do breakfast there, you can have a leisurely stroll and look at all the other great food shops near the market.

lalala

[Matthew Grant]

We often take the early Dallas to LGW flight, so we are quite happy to breakfast at SOS before hitting our favorite sights.

I haven't eaten dinner there, but I am considering trying the mid-tier floor.

If you do breakfast there, you can have a leisurely stroll and look at all the other great food shops near the market.

lalala

←

The mid tier is nothing special. Only reason to eat at SOS for me (apart from breakfast) is for the steaks on the top floor.

[esthergalan]

My wife and I are in London for six days next month and are in the mood for meat. We've heard alot about St. John and Smith's of Smithfields. Any comments would be appreciated.

←

If you are a true carnivore you must not miss St John. In fact, if you are here for six days I would eat in both restaurants, the one on St John Street as well as St John Bread & Wine on Commerical Street. The food is always cooked to perfection - big fat chops that are succulent, chitterlings which are rich and yet still have a delicacy about them, flavours that will have you raving to your friends. You name it they make it and it is all great. As to Smiths - it is also very good. I would plunck down the lolly and go for the top floor where you will get really tremendous steaks. The top floor dining room also has a great aspect of the roof of Smithfield market which makes the place feel very special. Have a great time while you are here!

[chrisnorth]

We are enormous fans of St John -- among our favorite restaurants in London. Great value for money, except for the wines; but then there are good inexpensive choices.

review of st john

[chrisnorth]

If you fancy a quick snack of foie gras rather than the full Club Cason experience then Cellar Gascon is good - they do other food as well including some great pates and sausages and a wide range of reasonably priced wine from the South West.

←

Hmm, our experience was very mixed at the Cellar. Good wine list as always -- one of the best I've seen for the wines of the southwest -- and one or two good dishes, but then a really bad piece of tuna ...

Full review of Cellar Gascon on The Modern Babylon

[transfattyacid]

St John is a must .

SOS ( smiths of Smithfield ) will probably not be the experience your after , i used to breakfast downstairs every now and then. which i think they do well , and its a nice spot for post St John drinks.

Maybe try the Eagle on farringdon road, legend has it that its the birth place for the modern english gastro pub, but don`t expect any finery , but a tasty/ cheapish / bear fuelled lunch none the less .

Is Club Gascon still going strong ? it was when i was last frequenting EC1.

I`m sure there`s more Maison novelli ?

Quality chop house ?

or go up to Angel and try Conrans 'Almeida' which serves straight ahead french fare. their peid de couchon pane is worth the trip alone.

while your there say hi to my old hood for us .

[Janice]

Sadly, quality at Cellar Gascon is not as consistent as it was - I also experienced some less than fresh tuna recently. I will continue to go there because I work in the area and for the wine, but I wouldn't cross town for it.

On the other hand, I had a great lunch in the bar at St John last week - Welsh Rarebit, Anchovy toast, lentils with goat's curd and an outstanding blackcurrent pavlova (shared between two of us).

Edited August 25, 2005 by Janice (log)

[Clerkenwellian]

I`m sure there`s more Maison novelli ?

←

Maison Novelli closed down some time ago and has been replaced by somewhere called "The Green", which I know nothing about (except that the building's lovely)