GAIL's Bakery Bloomsbury — Restaurant in London

Some of the best food I've had in ages - Gail's is fantastic. The space is beautifully designed, from warm copper light fittings to cosy leather banquettes and white wire 50's style seats. Every table was full, so we took the "chef's table" - really, a breakfast bar but overlooking the tiny kitchen where the charming sous-chef kept explaining the food to us and letting us smell the Rum Babas (which marinate overnight - yum!). I went with two friends and we'd intended to get a quick snack, but the menu, which divides into snacks and sharing plates with equal options for veggies and meat-eaters, was so good that we were quickly seduced into 4 sharing plates (apparently, 5 is the norm to order but, although portions aren't big, the food can be rich so 4 worked for us). The roast beetroot flatbread with lentils and creme fraiche was beautifully balanced, and paired really well with our polenta chips served with a grueyere sauce. The steak and Comte sandwich was huge and delicious - rare grilled steak, fresh horseradish, excellent sourdough and the Comte, yum. For our fourth, we picked Raclette which suffered a bit in comparison to the other dishes due to being a little tiny. We also weren't intending to drink but the cocktail menu (and the helpful, charming waiter) meant we tried the Berry Crush (a fresh, fizzy mix of Sipsmith sloe gin and prosecco) and a very fiery Bloody Mary. For pudding, we couldn't help but pick cookies and milk - an adorable tiny bottle of milk with a candy striped straw paired with freshly baked cookies (we could smell them!) - as there were three of us, they made three cookies. From beginning to end, all the staff were incredibly charming and knowledgeable, all the food (everything we watched going out) looked delicious, and, for £22 each, it wasn't cheap but very reasonable given the quality of food and the atmosphere. Can't wait to go back. My only tiny quibble is that the space is part of Central Working's reception rather than a closed off restaurant, but you soon forget about that once...

edited to reply to business reply: yes I went to your allergen page and your regular website to see what your vegan options are prior. Nothing on the allergen page lists anything that’s vegan, it gives you a matrix of red dots to try and to figure it out which was impossible. However because you replied to another comment about having Vega options 2 weeks ago I went. When I went to the bakery, the avocado toast (which was the really only substantial breakfast item available for vegans) was unavailable. I did not want a pre made salad for breakfast, so I got the sourdough bread with almond butter and jam which was disappointing. While you don’t need to have any vegan options (it’s your business) don’t reply to reviews that you DO have vegan options when this isn’t the case. And if you keep sending the allergen page make a new green dot that clearly marks what’s vegan. I’m even more disappointed in the response from the bakery than my initial visit here.

Original review: The service person was really nice and the coffee was tasty, but if you’re vegan or plant based don’t come here. I decided to give it a shot because I read some reviews of the business acknowledging they had vegan options (despite nothing really on the available online menu when I checked) and I wanted something from a bakery before going to the British museum nearby.

I arrived approx 11:15am on a Saturday morning and the only real substantial option on the menu for vegans was avocado toast, but they were out of avocado. The staff recommended one of the cold to go salads, but that seemed very unappetizing to me in the morning, especially at a bakery.

I got 2 pieces of sour dough with some almond butter and jam on the side. I ate it because I was hungry and didn’t have time to find another option, but was disappointed.

With London being so vegan friendly generally I was surprised that this bakery didn’t have any baked goods that were vegan.

Looked wonderful for omnivores though! Just don’t recommend it for...

I’ve visited Gail’s bakeries around London too many times to count, and generally consider it a staple of my coffee spots. During lockdown I must have visited my local branch in exmouth market nearly daily. So I hate to report that my phone was stolen today at this location within a few feet of multiple employees whose initial reaction was that they didn’t notice the two thieves who came in to run their little scam, which in hindsight was an obvious ploy. Basically the two people came in with placards scrawled with pleas for help. They set the placard down on peoples tables with the aim of swiping the phone as they walk away. They put the placard on multiple tables but I was the only lucky victim, distracted because I had been eating with the phone resting off to the side. No one working here said anything when I loudly exclaimed that my phone was stolen, and said they hadn’t seen anything in what is a relatively small space. Someone offered to look up the nearest station so I could go report the theft, and it was only after I asked directly that someone else lent me a phone so I could call the police instead. This theft happened just after I had sat down with a sandwich and coffee. No one offered to comp the meal or even a business card with contact details should I or the police need to get in touch later. The attitude was basically that they had nothing to do with this. I truly value the idea of third spaces and use them a lot. But restaurants need to recognise that people aren’t coming to them to sit vigilantly with an eye on every belonging while fetching their own coffee and sugar. If you’re going to charge eat in prices there should be some element of service, which could reasonably extend to preventing random crime while people eat indoors. I’m mostly writing this review so that others are warned as it appears this kind of crime is ubiquitous now and you really can’t let your guard down at...