24 The Oval — Restaurant in London

Hmm, a confusing experience from start to finish.

Starting with the service, we experienced pleasant, convivial service but were a little confused with a few glaring misfires; when asked "Any allergies? Vegetarian?" Last time I checked vegetarian is not an allergy, made us laugh. Steak knife was forgotten for steak. Glass with ice was forgotten for drink.

The homemade sourdough was a nice touch but there was an extremely long wait between this and starters, and again between starters and mains. We were offered a complimentary side of Yorkshire puddings between courses, but the very oily gravy had been badly overmicrowaved and instantly took the skin off my mouth.

It was possible to hear the chef shouting over at the waiting staff throughout the entire meal about anything he fancied which spoiled the otherwise pleasant ambience and nice decor.

The food menu was strangely diverse in some areas and alarmingly restrictive in others. Steak is available SIX ways but not a single chicken based dish, rice based dish, pasta based dish, no salads, no substantial light options.

There was confusion over the delivery of the steak at the table and which cut it was and for the price (equivalent to somewhere like Balthazar) the quality categorically did not match. The cut was VERY poor quality and fatty.

The fries were clearly not hand cut and appeared to be the ends of a bag of greasy skin-ons out of the freezer.

Someone needs to gently inform the chef that Onion Tarte Tatin is supposed to be a savoury dish, not just a sweet apple tart with onions dropped on top, hence it being served on the Main menu and not on the desert card. This made it sickeningly sweet, far too large for one person and actually quite horrible to get through - pure sugar conflicting with garlic and onions.

Each selection from the main menu sounded lovely on paper but became evident on delivery food was extremely rich, clearly all very calorific/fatty/sweet - this is not the sort of place to go if you're looking to be anything other than rolled out the door at the end of the meal. There was a lady on a table opposite us with her partner ordering very little and choosing to pick at smaller dishes because there was nothing for her on the menu. This isn't a nice experience to see or hear and it echoed ours. It also echoed the anecdotal experience of a dear friend who also visited recently.

The menu needs a full review to cater to a range of customers tastes rather than just trying to punch above and look good on paper.

On the drinks menu, someone may wish to inform the buyer that of the three non-alcoholic lagers being offered, not one of them are actually alcohol free. This excludes a core market of people who choose to drink these products, so I daresay sales are relatively low and they'll wonder why. There are plenty of genuine 0.0 options available so this was a weird choice to stock 3 at the higher 0.5 abv.

Overall the restaurant needs a re-think on direction - it clearly has a reasonable repeat customer base but wasn't full and for its location rightfully should be on a weekend evening. It looks like they evidently get their Sunday Roast right by the other reviews but the midweek service is a bit of a fail.

There are sadly many much better restaurants who get these small details right - at this steep price point - just five minutes up the road in Central London, so why would I...

2 stars is generous...

The good: generally friendly staff, easy going cafe / restaurant with wifi and interesting layout. Easy listening music. Coffee is good and there are a few sofas to relax in too. The first time I went to the Oval Lounge I got the pancake stack which was also good, if not a little small for a greedy guts like me!

The bad: the second time I went I ordered salmon and eggs. The salmon didn't taste great but I assumed that was because the hot eggs were put on it. The third time I went I asked for the salmon and eggs to be served separate and the poor quality of the salmon (or could've been past it's best date) was obvious to taste. It was not nice by any stretch of the imagination. It also tasted partially cooked, even though I asked for it to be served separate and it hadn't touched the eggs. I order this at every cafe I go to as it's my fave. Not here. I passed on my feedback.

The ugly: the last time I visited I ordered a burger. I asked for it to be served medium-rare assuming that it would be ok as a large part of the menu is taken up with burger options. I was hoping this indicated a certain capability in the burger flipping department. When it arrived it looked great, decent sized burger and I ordered chips on the side, then I took a bite and realised it was VERY rare, with lots and lots of liquid spilling out of the burger, then I took another bite and realised it was RAW. I couldn't eat much more and felt a little sick because the mince was cold to the touch and mushy, but unfortunately the waiters didn't come around for a fair bit so I lost my appetite waiting to ask for it to be fired up again. When they eventually did pop their heads around a good ten minutes later, I flagged the raw burger and was awarded a £2 discount on a £24 bill. I told another waiter I thought that was slightly cheeky given I couldn't eat the burger so he increased the discount. No one said sorry or goodbye to us on the way out, no one passed on an apology from the chef or manager, no one asked us to come back because this was a 'one off', but I politely said goodbye anyway.

Overall: nice enough place but I've often experienced either poor quality food or cooking. I've heard the full English breakfast is ok, so I'd stick to that if you need to eat. Good for coffee and catch...

Should have been 5* all day long!

After reading the local review in the Kennington Runoff, we were excited about visiting 24 The Oval for Sunday Roast. It is a lovely bistro with a small grocery section as you walk in, it has a relaxed and warm atmosphere, with welcoming and friendly staff.

We ordered a Bloody & Vigin Mary which were good and spicy and among the best locally. They then brought us complimentary sourdough and smoked butter, followed by what I would describe as Yorkshire Pudding Doughnuts and gravy, all of which were delicious.

We ordered a lamb and chicken roast. The veg was all very well cooked and well seasoned, the roast potatoes crispy and there was plenty of everything. The roasts also come with cauliflower cheese as standard, which was very well made and once again one of the best locally (many I've tried are either undercooked, if at all or boiled to a soggy lump).

My disappointment however was with the meat. The chicken (breast & drumstick) was tasty and moist, but the skin was soggy and not crisp. The lamb came two ways, shoulder which was slow cooked and pulled (I'm guessing, didn't say on the menu) and a slice of lambs leg. The leg was a tasty cut of meat, but it was one very thin slice that was slightly dry and tough. My guess is it had been warmed up under the grill and left there for too long. Unfortunately it was rather underwhelming.

For me a roast is all about the meat, potatoes and gravy and 2 of the 3 were very good, but at £22 I would expect better.

I would definitely still recommend 24 The Oval, and am keen to see how the roast beef is served and try their midweek A...