Boisdale of Belgravia — Restaurant in London

Live­ly Scot­tish restau­rant in Bel­gravia, Lon­don with cig­ar ter­race, whisky bars, pri­vate din­ing rooms and live jazz every night- serv­ing mod­ern British dish­es and the finest whiskies.

RESTAU­RANT

Set on the sec­ond floor of an Art Deco build­ing over­look­ing the foun­tains in Cabot Square with a view to the City of Lon­don sky­line, the restau­rant is one of the most majes­tic premis­es to have opened in Canary Wharf in recent years. It bears the dis­tinc­tive Bois­dale design of lac­quer red and dark green walls, rich mahogany pan­elling, with an eclec­tic col­lec­tion of clas­si­cal and mod­ern orig­i­nal artwork.

MAC­DON­ALD BAR

The most eclec­tic of Bois­dale rooms, the Mac­don­ald Bar is dec­o­rat­ed in the style of a gen­tle­man’s club but with the ambi­ence of a clas­sic ​‘40s jazz bar and restau­rant. It fea­tures a cock­tail bar, for­mal restau­rant and live jazz (Richard Pite’s Bois­dale Blue Rhythm Band per­forms here from Mon­day to Saturday). The Mac­don­ald bar is not gen­er­al­ly avail­able for pri­vate func­tions dur­ing the week but on Sat­ur­day after­noons and Sun­days it is avail­able for up to 60 guests to dine (in con­junc­tion with the Court­yard Gar­den 80) or up to 100 guests for a drinks reception.

AULD RESTAU­RANT

The Restau­rant is the old­est part of Bois­dale of Bel­gravia. It is an ele­gant and spa­cious din­ing room pro­vid­ing a qui­eter, more sedate atmos­phere than The Mac­don­ald Bar. For pri­vate par­ties, the tables can be arranged to host up to 15 guests din­ing on one table or 46 on sep­a­rate tables whilst the room lends itself to drinks recep­tions for up to 60 people.

BACK BAR

Beside the Court­yard Gar­den is The Back Bar. In the style of a tra­di­tion­al pub bar it offers both lighter bar food and a full à la carte menu. The Back Bar is suit­able for pri­vate lunch or din­ner par­ties for up to 26 guests, which can be accom­mo­dat­ed on one table, or 40 for drinks par­ties (more if tak­en with The Court­yard Gar­den). It can be hired for pri­vate func­tions on Mon­days and Tues­days sub­ject to avail­abil­i­ty.

COURT­YARD GARDEN

The Court­yard Gar­den is plant­ed with scent­ed blooms all year round and offers a per­fect loca­tion for alfres­co din­ing in the sum­mer and, being cen­tral­ly heat­ed, for can­dlelit din­ners in win­ter. It is avail­able for pri­vate lunch and din­ner par­ties and can accom­mo­date up to of 14 guests on one table or 20 guests on two tables. The Court­yard Gar­den pro­vides a degree of pri­va­cy with­out being com­plete­ly cut off from the atmos­phere of the main restau­rant and bar. It is also suit­able for drinks par­ties when hired in con­junc­tion with the Back Bar.

CIG­AR TERRACE

In keep­ing with the restau­ran­t’s tra­di­tion­al yet com­fort­able style, The Cig­ar Ter­race, locat­ed above The Mac­don­ald Bar, is clad in Bois­dale trade­mark tar­tan and fur­nished with sofas, arm­chairs, cush­ions and rugs. In win­ter months out­door heaters and an awning keep cold and rain at bay and guests vis­it­ing the ter­race are offered warm cash­mere blan­kets in Bois­dale liv­ery brought over espe­cial­ly from Scot­land. The Cig­ar Ter­race can accom­mo­date up...

My Wife and I with her Canadian family members ,finally visited Boisdales in Belgravia, after meaning to for many years! My family is Scottish with Hielan ancestry and Clan Ranald on mothers side. So I was entrigued to visit a London enclave of the Clan, after previousely enjoying the seat of the Captain of Clanranald.

On arriving we were graciously greeted with hospitality that wouldnt be out of place in Culloden house, where we also stayed on a milestone birthday to visit the battlefield. I can honestly say that Boisdales has the ingrained ethic of highland hospitality running through every stone and Tartan weave. Nothing was too much for the staff, who were happy and cheerful instead of the often surly attitude one often meets in London. There was music provided by Connor Selby a blues artist, which as a blues band leader myself I thought was an added treat. I would love to play a set there myself.

The lager offered to us upstairs in the Cigar and smoking area was amazingly good, as was the dram of Laphroaig served with the correct water to cut and savour, ice was provided for those who use blended whiskey as a staple.

The main room was beautifully lit and with gleaming glass and silver ware, whic gave it the ambiance of a major celebration of life.

The black faced haggis which people often say is offal, was in fact a complete shock to the Canadians who wolfed it down as their starter, despite being at first wary! My spouse said she would have that as a main course any day it was truly amazing.

The fillet steak was a beautiful cut of beef, my wife had Lambs liver and I had the burger which was clearly made from premium beef. The food was faultless as was its presentation.

The atmosphere was relaxed and service was perfect, no calling or hand gestures needed to attract staff, they appeared as if by magic in their kilted uniform.

My biggest surprise was the bill, as I was aware this is a premium establishment and I expected to pay accordingly given London and Belgravia pricing. I can honestly say that food and drinks for 4 persons with spirits, cocktails and beer came to less than half of what I expected !

The main point being that there are places in central London charging more for mediocre fayre, with Boisdales you get real value for your money, you can be sure that what you order is going to be the very best, and we were amazed at how good the food and drinks were. As you know, Scots are not known for throwing money away, and I can swear on the Dirk that I was never happier paying a bill in my life.

I am sure that anybody attending would also feel the same, even a Campbell from Argyle would have to agree, that if you want to be sure of a good night, and happy guests without risking disaster, there is nowhere better than BOISDALES !

I recommend this establishment...

I would not recommend this place to other tourists. I booked the Sunday brunch with live music, which was supposed to be the highlight of the day — we planned our whole day around it. However, the music turned out to be plain and average, lacking any passion from the band.

Our table was booked for 1:45 PM, and the music was advertised to run until 3:00 PM. But during that time, the band also took a break. The advertisement stated live music from 12:30 PM to 3:00 PM, so we assumed there would be multiple musicians or at least a more engaging performance — not just one tired band. Had we known the actual format, we would not have booked our table for the later part of the brunch. The advertisement failed to specify either the band or the structure of the performance.

Another disappointment was the bill. We had already paid £89 for a table for two, which was supposed to include both the food and the music. I ordered steak, which was listed among the main dishes on the menu, so I assumed it was included in the prepayment. However, there was a small note indicating a £15 surcharge — something I wasn't made aware of. I had explicitly told the waiter at the beginning that I didn’t want to order anything beyond what was included, but when I ordered the steak, he failed to inform me about the extra charge.

Additionally, the service was poor. For example, the beer I ordered was first placed on an empty table next to us and only brought over around 10 minutes later.

Despite the subpar service, the waiter added an £18 service charge to the bill. This extra charge was also not mentioned in the advertisement. In my opinion, when you prepay for a brunch with music, tipping should be left to the customer’s discretion — not added...