Guildhall Tavern — Restaurant in England

I booked my husband and I in to the Guildhall Tavern for his Birthday, the booking process was quick and easy with extra confirmation requests too. I was called by Whitney a few hours before the booking and she advised that we were welcome to arrive early and enjoy a glass of bubbles in the drinks lounge upstairs before dinner, this was an unexpected touch so we made sure to finish work early for this.

Upon arrival Whitney greeted us warmly and offered to take our jackets before guiding us up to the drinks lounge, advising us of the nights specials and catch of the day before leaving us to relax.

The glass of bubbles each were lovely and we decided to order a half dozen Oysters (from Jersey) with Sauvignon vinegar and shallot dressing along with the recommended Sea Salt & Rosemary Focaccia with sun blushed tomato & olive tapenade and beetroot & caraway hummus - the oysters were large, full of flavour and shucked without leaving any pieces of shell, the focaccia was wonderfully warm and light. The ladies upstairs were all friendly and attentive, nothing was any trouble.

We then decided to order a bottle of the local Sparkling Dorset Cremant to have with dinner, it’s beautifully crisp with fine bubbles leaving a smoothness as it goes down.

We ordered our food whilst up in the drinks lounge, we were then guided downstairs to our table as the starters arrived… Grilled Scallops in the shell with Garlic & Herb Butter and Korean Fried Cod Cheeks with winter kimchi and miso BBQ sauce, both delicious were flavoursome, well portioned and with a variety of textures and flavours on the palette, a great start. For main my husband ordered the Roasted Hake Supreme with herb crushed potatoes, samphire, steamed mussels, chive and caviar beurre blanc and I decided to go for the Pan Fried Fillet of Sea Bream with fregola & prawn pasta, shellfish bisque, charred tenderstem broccoli, pickled fennel included additional sides of Creamed Leek & Barbers 1833 Vintage Cheddar Gratin and Koffman’s Skin on Fries - everything was cooked perfectly, the fish had crispy skin, fine delicate flakes of flesh, plenty of sauce, the pasta on my dish wasn’t stodgy or dense and the flavours of both complemented one another perfectly, the mains were, unexpectedly, rather large so we didn’t actually need the additional sides, we were so full already but the fries were so crisp and hot that I just kept shovelling them in to my mouth, I didn’t want them to go to waste!

Of course we had to have a dessert, no matter how full we were… Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding for me and the Dark Chocolate Delice for my husband, both truly delicious, full of rich flavour and a great way to finish off a meal. To help wash the desserts down my husband had a St Clements Martini and I had the Summertini - well mixed and balanced - fantastic.

Between dishes we were chatting with our waitress (I’m so sorry we didn’t catch your name, you are Italian I believe) as well as Whitney, sharing wedding stories and experiences of where we came from and where we were going in life re. moving, along with Whitney’s heritage, we had such a great laugh with her and the chat really made our evening and was something that you don’t get to experience in many restaurants these days.

As ‘front of house’ Whitney is absolutely spectacular, thank you for making our evening and my husband’s Birthday meal extra special, we can’t wait to return soon!

(I forgot to take pictures of...

So we went to the restaurant with some friends the other day. I dropped my partner and her friend at the entrance until I parked since there is no parking in front of the restaurant and one of them is pregnant. It took me a total of 19 minutes to park the car and het back to the restaurant during those 10 minutes the waiter went twice to ask them if they'd like something to drink and although they initially replied that they were waiting for their partners he sent the manager out the bar to ask them in a more intimidating way and so they ordered water. Highlighting that this happened in between 10 minutes. When we arrived at the restaurant, we ordered the roasted bread, which you can actually see it wasn't roasted or warm. By the time our mains arrived the table next to us was empty and remained empty for until the time we left so made me question why the staff asked my partner a few times on what they would have making it look as they were in a hurry since there was ppenty of sitting space within the restaurant. During the whole time we were in the restaurant, there were a few flies around us which you wouldn't really expect in an indoor space restaurant of this price point. The food was amazing. We had 2 of the hake fillet and the sea bream. On the other hand my friend who ordered the sea bream was expecting it this with asparagus but instead it came with another green which would be nice to know from before. I got a creme brulee for a desert, the short bread biscuit was amazing the top of the creme was crunchy but yhe inside could have used some extra taste. All in all, if the service wasn't this poor and the flies weren't present, this review could have been way...

Really wanted to love my lunch as I had heard many very good things. The service was very good, the drinks were spot on and the atmosphere was lively. We had a table in the corner window which was perfect and they let us put some balloons and table decorations out. That was all great. However the food was sadly disappointing. The starter were actually great. Cheese soufflé, same with crab and monkfish all good. However 3 of the 4 mains were very disappointing, the rare ribeye was medium, but most disappointingly was the lobster Thermidor. We ordered 2 large and both were sadly undercooked and tough but it was the sauce that was an issue, the overpowering mustard made it disgusting, as it was an occasion I didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere so I persisted not realising my wife was doing the same. She actually mentioned this to the waiter and she never complains so if she mentions something, it’s bad. I do know a good lobster from an undercooked lobster and I do know a great Thermidor from something that is nothing close. I have eating 100’s and prepped and served 1000’s so I do know what I’m talking about. There is also a better to serve it, traditionally once your lobster is split you should remove both the tail meat sections cut them in 4 and place them the other way up in the opposite shell to which it came. So the red side is up. This not only helps the sauce coat the flesh better but the red against the yellow of the sauce is a feast for the eyes. Dessert was good, My tiramisu was lovely, the brûlée was great, the ice cream lacked any presentation. I would love to think I would go back because as I said I was told good things but it’s...