Flesh & Buns Covent Garden — Restaurant in London

Been here 4-5 times and food, atmosphere and service has always been wonderful. The buns are delicious and so is the sushi and sashimi. The place has a cozy but cool atmosphere and every experience has been great.

I’m leaving a review specifically for my last visit. I got seated at the bar with my partner for their birthday as we were a walk-in on a busy saturday evening, which was a new experience for me. We got sake, and usual starters which were great. For the main I went to order the donburi rice bowl which was a previous favourite of mine, that they have now changed to a trendy volcanic hot stone rice bowl.

The chicken teriyaki hot-stone bowl was terrible. It just tasted like plain rice no salt or seasoning. Not sure if I just had a bad one but it seemed like the change to the hot stone just dries up any sauce or seasoning the bowl once has. It leaves the rice dry and too hot to eat. It was honestly shocking to how bad it is compared to how good it was before. I’ve never returned food at a restaurant before, i’m quite anxious and I’d feel guilty for doing so but the bowl was just comically flavourless and I had to say something.

Thankfully our server who was the bartender Brandon, was welcoming, charming and funny. It was entertaining watching him make drinks right infront of us and be able to chat to him throughout the night. He was very approachable and I raised my issue to him and he was understanding and rectified the issue immediately. I was given and small free cocktail for the inconvenience and I ended up ordering the duck leg buns instead.

We ordered another set of drinks while we waited, and we certainly did wait- almost an hour had passed before I got my replacement food due to the food not getting put through after sending it back. In any other night out this would have been a night ruiner- but it was made up entirely by Brandon and his hospitality.

We weren’t bored at all- We were entertained by the spectacle of his work and he was wonderful to chat to throughout the night that waiting so long wasn’t really an issue at all.

The food finally arrived, it was delicious just like everything else ive ever had from here, our additional drinks were covered, we got a complimentary small frozen margarita as well and we both left very happy.

It wasn’t my first time eating here and despite what could have been a terrible evening, the hospitality we received from Brandon made sure that it wouldn’t be our last.

(please bring the old...

Overall dining experience was good. Just thought the food didn't worth that high price.

Seating We were 3 and we were there a Monday night around 7.30pm. It wasn't packed at all but they allocated us to a table that would you would have to share seating with others (a big table that could seat around 8 to 10 people). It was a bit awkward given that there were many other tables available. I was guessing they might have a lot of people afterwards but it turned out wasn't. The seating would have been done better.

Food We had a £40 (per person)tasting menu that they said would cover most of their popular dishes. Overall, I would pay £30 at most for this tasting menu. £40 is overpriced I guess for their "trendiess" and "fashion Asian /japanese/ chinese" meal idea. The food was quite good and mostly were strong in flavour and with pleasant presentation. The tuna was intriguing as I found the sauce gave really unique taste. All the other food was normal from my view. The pork belly was quite well made meat,soft and crispy skin. The duck was too dry. I didn't like the sauces that went together with both, didn't match from my point of view. Chicken wings were the Korean style one, strong flavour, mild spiciness. The desert was some fun gimmick as they gave you fire to grill the marshmallow yourself. The taste of the marshmallow however was special, lemon like taste. Their buns were ok. Hot and fresh, proper texture. But a lack of the sweetness that was supposed to be there for Asian white buns, which was a bit disappointing. The juice were fresh and nicely made

Takeaway We couldn't finish the food so we would like to pack them away. Sadly they had a policy / restriction that their premises weren't allowed to let people take food away. You could do that in your own way though.

Service Waiters were quite attentive. The manager...

Located a short distance from Seven Dials, Flesh and Buns is tucked away down a flight of stairs into a low-ceilinged basement dining area. The interior is nicely decorated, but the tables are cramped, leaving little room for comfort.

Upon being seated, we were immediately prompted by the waiter to order drinks, despite not being provided with a drinks menu—a frustrating start.

We opted for the £30 pre-theatre menu. Unfortunately, the sushi was disappointing. Both the tuna and salmon were poorly cut, with the tuna in particular lacking in quality. The soy sauce containers on the table were empty, an oversight that should have been addressed before seating guests.

The skewers—duck and chicken—were underwhelming. The duck was overly fatty, with a gamey aftertaste that was unpleasant. While the chicken bao was enjoyable, the duck bao fell short of expectations. On a more positive note, the potato chips were excellent, as were the corn fritters, which stood out as the highlights of the meal.

As for drinks, the Umeshu Negroni was well-crafted and enjoyable.

Sadly, the service was inattentive and rushed, likely due to how busy the restaurant was. The menu seemed simple for the price- would not have it again as below average to average items other then the extra accompaniment. This detracted further from the...