Fountain & Ink — Restaurant in London

I visited for a birthday meal with my boyfriend and, unfortunately, left feeling both disappointed and out of pocket. For an approximately £50 bill, I expected a better standard of food. I ordered the prawn linguine and calamari, and was unhappy with both dishes.

The prawn linguine had an overwhelmingly fishy taste and lacked the depth of flavour promised on the menu. There was no noticeable garlic or chilli heat, and the sauce was so thin it simply collected at the bottom of the bowl—leaving the pasta swimming in it. I’ve attached the photo of my dish and if you zoom in you can see the sauce pooled around the edges. It felt poorly executed and frankly, not enjoyable to eat.

The calamari, though it had potential in terms of flavour, was served tepid, therefore it turned cold quickly. It also was rubbery. I could have bought some frozen and cooked at home for a fraction of the price—and with a more generous portion, too as the calamari was so thin it lacked much texture as it was basically just batter. You can also see this attached. Altogether, I spent around £30 on food that I didn’t enjoy, which left me frustrated.

A saving grace was my partner’s halloumi wrap and fries. It was genuinely tasty and well-prepared and I’d suggest it for veggies who want meat alternatives as he was initially worried it was chicken (it wasn’t). The service was friendly, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was nice. It’s such a shame that the food let it down. London has such a diverse food scene I can’t help but feel the money would be better...

We went here for lunch during our lunch break. On arrival we were asked if we wanted lunch. We were then told to take a seat anywhere and someone will be over shortly to take thge order. After a few mins of waiting we noticed a few people at the bar with the menu in hand and were ordering. Noticing this I though I best go to the bar to order as we will have to wait for all these meals before ours.

We ordered Moretti & camden ale. Both served in standard glass rather that the Moretti one. For food we had Halloumi wrap with skin on fries, and a chicken wrap with triple cut chips. The price was £28+. After 15 mins we were told that they're running behind as there is only one chef. I pointed out that if we were told this as soon as we came in we probably would have ordered right away. We did receive an apology.

After 45 mins our food arrived. it arrived just as i went to the bar to cancel the order as our lunch break was over. We decided to stay and were offered free drinks which was nice. However we wish we did cancel the food as it was very bland. The chicken was dry and over cooked and there was little flavour in the Halloumi wrap. Both of which came with no salad garnish either. The triple cut chips were also overcooked. To top it off we didn't even receive cutlery or napkins...

Staff are polite and it looks a nice pub inside. But we would never eat here for lunch...

Further update: revisited as promised and this is a great bar! Staff with personality. Burger was as it looked - marvellous. Whisky selection was all there - I had the Asiago and picked out another obscure one. Lovely ambience. Golf clap to the team running this place 👏

Edit: Upgraded to 5 stars given the response and will go check it out to see if the Port Askaig is indeed available now. Might have one of those good looking burgers too :-)

Original:

Friendly place and the burgers looked good coming out of the kitchen but have to put in a low score because of the whisky!

Beautiful back drop to the bar area and a really interesting collection of whiskies from around the world - but they can’t sell them to you as they’re not set up on the system!

So a pleasant place to enjoy an after-work...