Clerkenwell & Social — Restaurant in London

Myself and 5 others popped into the restaurant for a lunchtime meal at midday, we should have probably thought about why we were the only customers before ordering food.

When a member of staff finally came over (We seated ourselves) They were "not sure" if they had a drinks menu and preferred to read out what they had on draught instead.

After ordering our drinks we had a few questions about the lunch menu (What is the soup of the day?) to which they also "didn't know yet". After guessing that it smelled like french onion they confirmed that it was actually butternut squash.

The soup was at best tepid and had chunks of solid butternut squash in it, not enough that it was intentional, just some solid chunks that had not been blended fully. It was served with a burnt flat bread that only half of which was edible.

The arancini and beetroot salad were passable but happened to be served at completely different times (about 5 minutes between the two orders of arancini)

A few of our group ordered the flat iron steak for a main and I specifically asked if it came with sides, we were all informed that it came with salad and potatoes. When it arrived it was overcooked and had a small garnish of green leaves.

As a point, I had ordered the steak blue and it was just pink in the middle, It was maybe just a little less than medium rare. The steaks were however handily already pre cut up as though the table were unable to properly wield the steak knives provided.

When we asked about the lack of potatoes, the waitress asked the chap behind the bar who said the steak did not come with them - to which she simply said "my bad" When we asked how long it would take for potatoes or fries she estimated 10 minutes by which time the food would be cold or finished (the steak was as small as you can imagine for £14)

Others on the table had slightly better experiences with a margherita pizza and the roast chicken which were remarked to be "OK"

When we asked for the bill, nothing was mentioned about the obvious mix up with the order, something none of us would bring up out of politeness, but should have been perhaps recognised by any of the staff.

All in all, for almost £20, I was left disappointed and frankly hungry. The service was poor and food was only a little better. Clerkenwell & Social is best left as a bar not as a lunch venue, even with the deceptive "lunch deal" for £12 (not including...

Went here quite late for a drink and a bite to eat on a bit of a whim...

Let's start with the positives; The pizza was absolutely delicious here - nice thin crust, and good taste to the cheese, tomato and salami. Didn't have the olives advertised on Google Maps, but didn't mind too much. Serving staff were friendly (seen reviews on here saying otherwise, but they were friendly and polite).

Negatives; The sharing 'social board' option which is about £15 is so bad! The scamorza croquettes are a salty non-distinct flavoured mush on the inside, the arancini again had a softer than expected mushy texture and flavours were not good, and there's about 1.5 slices of salami provided. Strongly recommend swerving this option! The bar staff said we'd have ten more minutes outside when ordering drinks, but immediately after paying and carrying, the security man refused to let us take them outside, instead insisting that we move all our existing drinks and little food inside. The real kicker was seeing a server take a drink to another table outside. We complied without kicking a fuss, but this contradiction felt like discrimination. Regretfully, will not return to this place for...

Good place to drink and the snack food and pizzas are super tasty, genuinely great, but the seating... Something's gotta be done about the seating. There is only one comfortable place to sit in the bar, otherwise it's all high chairs, awkward to get on and off, or outside there are thick legged tables and thick heavy benches along them. Careful if you are in a group, the benches can only accommodate two or three people semi comfortably even though there is space for more but the table legs cush extra peeps knees. The only spare chairs are high chairs so you end up with people excluded from conversation because they tower above the other people at the table and cant reach food and drink. Daft. They only have a small outdoor space and it's seating could be so much more accomodating and fit more people in comfortably. If you go, book a table and only a group max of four for...