Belair House — Restaurant in London

This is a mixed review.

Summary: Generally, the location and the place are very good, but interacting with the people (new management) who run this place was painful at times and felt unprofessional.

The positives: We really liked the location of the place: in the middle of a public park but very close to a train station. It's very easy to get to from London Victoria or Brixton. Really great location. The venue itself is quite nice because it has many rooms of different characteristics. Just before our event, the venue had undergone a major refurbishment, and most of this really looked great. There were still a few minor things that could have been better (e.g., small cracks in the ceiling not covered), but overall very good. The venue was clean. The service on the day was very good, and people were helpful. The food in the end was very good, especially the lamb chops.

The negatives: Communication with the venue was sometimes very slow (days/weeks before getting a response) The cost of food is not transparent, and the venue did not make any attempts to make it transparent. The quality of the drinks they have at the venue is not high (especially beer). Getting drinks from outside is a nightmare although the venue offered to do so: a) The corkage fee is outrageous, b) They can't even get wine that you can directly order from Majestic (and they initially claimed it would be no problem). We brought some beer from outside because their beer selection is just awful. We had a bar outside, and the venue promised to move the kegs to the inside when the outside bar closes. On the day this did not happen, and some great beer was wasted. Poor. Although the food was very good in the end, we basically needed to tell the kitchen how to cook/marinate things (this holds for stuff they have not made before). Very poor planning in terms of how much food is needed. We had 110 guests, and we were left with 50 loaves of bread and 20kg of cheese (ignoring everything else that was left). A venue with a history of running big events should be able to do much better estimates.

Would I go again for this venue? Probably not. Although the venue is great and the food was good, dealing with the management and getting things right was painful. The pricing is not transparent, the food estimates are poor, and they exploit their position to squeeze the most out of your pocket. Although we had a great event, after a few weeks I still feel unhappy about how things...

The best place to have your wedding - highly recommend!

What a perfect day we had with the amazing the staff at Belair House. From the moment we went in, the venue looked absolutely stunning. Ruth (florist) did a phenomenal job with the flowers but not only that - we had so many comments from our friends and family saying how friendly Belair staff were. The welcome drinks were bang on time, the canapés were delicious (unfortunately because I was chatting I didn't have many but what I did have were delicious!), the food was absolutely divine. We had comments saying it was the best wedding food people had had at a wedding! The room was just perfect - intimate and cosy. Just what I wanted for the wedding meal. 60 people - perfection. The blush pink table cloths and candles, flowers on the table were just such a beautiful combination and as my MoH did her speech against the golden glow of the windows outside - I'll never forget it.

When evening guests arrive, it was all so seamless. The timing was spot on and I think we were even early which was great. The journey up to the top floor created an exciting new room for us to be in and the speeches on the staircase were magical. I loved doing mine! The cocktails were DELICIOUS (margaritas and espresso martinis) and again, I remember staff being so kind when I asked for my evening outfit. They knew the schedule like the back of their hand and you could tell. Your GM and assistant GM did a phenomenal job - special credit to OJ who even dressed in our colour scheme in a beautiful blush suit! I remember him being so smiley when we arrived. It made all the difference.

The evening dancing was the best. We were beyond pleased with the band - just such a good sound in that room and everything was perfect. I loved scoffing my face with some cake at 2am downstairs with my nearest and dearest - all such special memories.

Thank you Tasha, venue planner, for being so on it - she is clearly amazing at her job.

Words cannot describe how perfect the day was - and it was all down to Tasha's work behind the scenes and the friendliest staff on site on Saturday. I can't recommend Belair highly enough. It was the most perfect memorable amazing day. Thank you...

Went to a wake 24 May 2019.

Joe Public was allowed to wander into the venue with a dog and purchase a lager. A complaint had to be made that the venue had been booked and paid for as a private function. The response from the male manager was only from 3pm. Other people arrived 5 - 10mins later wanting to use the venue for food and drink and were then told by the female manager that the venue had been booked for a private function.

The male manager was told several times that a trip mat with hazard tape was required at the opening of the marque to prevent an accident. It was only after several people began tripping into the marque before he eventually took some action.

Tea and coffee only no herbal tea.

The Caribbean menu was disgusting awful. The worst West Indian meal I have ever had the displeasure to have to attempt to eat.

The starter was sweetcorn and coconut soup which was cold and very salty. Tasted like mushroom soup.

It was about an hour after the soup before we could queue up for the main course.

The anemic rice and peas & white rice had so much water in when "cooked" they had to be cut not shared out.

The roast chicken was inedible.

The steamed fish as well as all the other food had no seasoning not even salt.

Fried plantain in batter which once it's cold is inedible.

Everything was bland including the mac and cheese that had mushrooms. Never heard of that before.

The main course was in chafing dishes but the food was cold.

No coleslaw, no potato salad just mixed lettuce salad leaves with cut cherry tomatoes and cucumber.

The cakes were cut and put in napkins not on plates. 2 tables had cake then they ran out and had to cut the main cake.

The independent jerk chicken and jerk fish was the only edible food.

Was not impressed with the service from Belair House they could not cope with the numbers etc. They should have allowed an outside authentic Caribbean Catering company in that would have made the occasion much more memorable.

So much food was wasted as it...