Gillray's Steakhouse & Bar — Restaurant in London

Where to begin with my experience at Gillrays?!

We arrived 15 minutes late, however the lovely lady at the front of house was very accommodating and took us to a table over looking the river, which had a nice view.

We were a party of 4 and out for a birthday dinner and theatre trip for my mum. 3 of us were quite dressed up, however the fourth member was down for a visit for the week so only had limited clothes, and as this was a last minute booking, was dressed down compared to the rest of us.

When we sat down, I immediately felt as though we were being judged by the staff due to the way we spoke, and the way we looked. The first waiter came over and gave us our menus and placed water on the table, with hardly any communication at all. He then returned to the ordering station, where other waiters gathered and all seemed to be looking in our direction and making comments. When we were ready to order, the same waiter kept on making comments regarding the way we wanted our steak and kept on trying to, what seemed like educate us, on the fact the steak is old aged and therefore comes out more cooked then normal steak. My mum was still adamant she would like her sirloin well done with no blood, and he kept repeating that it is old aged and doesn't need to be so cooked. Again, she insisted on having it well done and he made a sarcastic remark about it taking 35 minutes minimum to get it well done. We were all happy to wait. The 3 of us all then ordered steak, 2 rare and 1 medium. I asked for the creamy spinach as a side, but was told by the waiter that it wasn't very nice and he recommends I have the salad. Being a slightly bigger boy, I wasnt sure whether this was a genuine recommendation, or an insult, however ordered the salad. We also ordered a house red, chips, and some bread for starters.

Our waiter then brought us our knives to choose from. The lady in the pink jumper on our table picked the pink knife, and again a sarcastic comment was made regarding it matching her jumper. It was as if the waiter was trying to be facetious but had no reason to be. We all then had our steaks brought over to the table, which were ok, however my medium steak, and the rare steak, were cooked exactly the same. Considering it took 35 minutes to come out, you would expect the steak would be cooked to perfection?

Next came the bill! This is where I would URGE YOU to be vigilant and check every item on your bill. If I am honest, I rarely check a bill, ESPECIALLY at a restaurant like Gillrays, as I expect everything to be perfect from start to finish considering the look of the place, the prices and the 5* service they seem to pride themselves on! The bill came to £380. The waiter took the card, tapped it on the terminal, took the receipt, and walked off. We thought nothing of it and left as we had a theatre reservation.

Fast forward to the next day and I could not help but think something was off about the bill so called up to ask for a receipt to be emailed to me for expense purposes. What comes next is very odd! The front of house lady explains she will speak to my waiter and will obtain the receipt and email it to me. Instead I receive a call back about 2 minutes later from the same lady, explaining that there is an overcharge on my bill (even though I never called up with this as an issue) and that she will need to speak to her manager on Monday in order to get them to send me the bill and fix any issue on the bill!

As it stands, I am still waiting for a manager to call me back. I can understand a £10/£20 over charge, but according to my calculation we were overcharged by about £130/£140 and have still not had any call back. I would think this would be a top priority for the manager to call me back, however as it is not I have no choice but to leave this review, and will be writing to Marriot hotels to explain what...

I rarely write reviews, but my recent meal at Gillray’s was so disappointing that I feel compelled to share my experience and formally raise a complaint.

Before visiting, I noticed Gillray’s only had a 4-star rating, which I thought was perhaps unduly harsh. Now, I can say that the low rating is entirely justified.

Service Issues

My friend and I arrived at around 6:30pm, only to be told the restaurant was fully booked, even though there were plenty of empty tables.

As we were about to leave, I checked online and found that many tables were available for booking at 15-minute intervals. I immediately booked a table and we returned.

The receptionist claimed there was no booking under my name until I showed proof of my reservation. He was visibly reluctant to seat us and insisted we could not have a window table—even though several window tables remained empty throughout our visit.

This left us feeling unwelcome and confused as to why the staff would act in this way.

Food Quality

The main reason I chose Gillray’s was for the pork ribs and because I was in the area. As a regular customer, I expected better.

Citrus Grilled Tiger Prawns (£20): The prawns arrived soggy and burnt (very black), with the heads appearing an unappetising colour, suggesting they were not fresh. When I sent the dish back, the replacement was just as poor. I was surprised this dish was served at all, both times.

Garlic Fried Squid (£17) and Steak Tartare (£23): Both were merely average, with nothing to justify the price.

Bread: I was served plain white bread, while every other table appeared to receive round brown bread (which I later learned was Yorkshire pudding). In my experience, quality restaurants do not serve plain white bread as a starter. The Yorkshire pudding we ordered separately (£5 for 2) was also of disappointing quality—cheap-tasting and uninspiring.

The Longhorn (£98): The steak was extremely dry, poorly cut and did not look or taste like the 800g prime steak advertised. I had to point out the problem to the manager, who initially did not see the issue. Only after I insisted did he apologise and remake the steak. The second attempt was excellent—which only raises the question: why wasn’t it served properly the first time?

Pan Fried Dover Sole (£65)(see photo): This was recommended by the manager as his favourite dish, in my experience in other restaurant, it meant to be a tender, fresh fish dish. Instead, it arrived dry, greasy and clearly deep-fried rather than pan-fried. I could not eat more than half, as it was far too oily and tasted unfresh. It was salty even though I told the manger less salty in my dish.

Grilled Asparagus (£10): The asparagus was not fresh and actually tasted spoiled. The dish was redone twice, but each time the quality remained unacceptable. It appears the kitchen cannot distinguish fresh from spoiled produce.

Management Response

Throughout our meal, the manager’s only real contribution was to say “sorry” each time something was wrong, without offering any meaningful solution or proactive service. While it’s important to apologise, simply repeating “sorry” without actually addressing the underlying problems does nothing to improve the experience or restore customer confidence. I expect genuine management to take responsibility, ensure quality and demonstrate an ability to resolve issues—not just apologise.

This was a thoroughly disappointing and unpleasant dining experience. The seafood in particular was not fresh and the attitude of the staff was unwelcoming and unprofessional. For the prices charged, I expect far higher standards in both food quality and service.

The sourcing of ingredients, kitchen practices and the hospitality of your staff were really under performance. I am truly sorry and really...

Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar is located within the Mariott County Hall hotel, right on the south bank, with touristy but actually nice views of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament across the Thames. At times, they close the shutters and eliminate the view, but if you are lucky and the sun eventually goes down, they will open the shutters so you can enjoy these iconic landmarks. So, the location is good. Let’s move on.

I started my dinner on this nice and warm day as usual with a fresh white wine. When I spotted a Riesling on the menu the decision was made. I had once a terrible Riesling experience with a Californian wine, but this one was a well-balanced and dry Riesling, just as it should be. A very good wine, indeed. Surprisingly, they do not provide bread and butter. Instead, they try to grab your attention with a Yorkshire pudding with cheese and a horseradish dip. It is not the worst idea for the sake of being different. For me, the Yorkshire pudding could do with more cheese, but I was pretty happy with this bread replacement.

Being at a steak house, of course I ordered a steak as my main. To begin with the side, the triple cooked chips were really nice. The fillet steak came medium rare and tasted good. However, the good flavour was compromised by a few surprisingly fatty bits, something I do not expect from a £30 fillet steak.

The ice cream I and for dessert was fine, so overall, the food is quite ok, possibly slightly overpriced. For the same money, I can get a better steak in London, just not with the same view.

The waitresses and waiters were lovely and very friendly; in summary the service was good, only sometimes I waited a little bit too long for my liking. A waiter at my neighbours’ table provided an unintended entertainment stunt with a little champagne fountain.

Because I really liked the service staff, the waiting time would not have a negative impact on my overall rating. But one detail certainly did annoy me. When I asked for the bill, they wanted me to sign my bill. And as with every “contract”, what else could this be, I asked for a copy. What I got was a reprint without my signature, and as such not very useful as a proper document, from my point of view. I asked the waiter why I should sign the receipt that usually I would take home at all, and he said that the new food and beverage manager set up this rule. I have been eating out quite a few times in recent years, and I was never asked to sign my receipt just to sign the receipt. I think this rule is misguided and I feel sorry for the service and kitchen staff, but I will not come back soon. I will rather go to MASH, Goodman, Hawksmoor, CUT 45, 34 or Flat Iron, just to name a few, for my next steak. They all provide better quality and have no weird rules about signatures, at least not to...