Guard House — Restaurant in London

I recently dined at Guard House and had an experience that left me deeply disappointed, concerned, and frustrated. I ordered a dessert listed as "Brownie, vegan salted caramel ice cream, biscuit crumb" on the menu. I emphasised my dietary preference for a vegan option and received assurance from the chef that the brownie component of the dessert was also vegan.

However, after consuming the dessert, I suffered a severe allergic reaction that required urgent medical care. It's crucial to clarify that I do not have known food allergies, making this incident even more shocking.

While in the hospital, my brother and I were engaged in a back-and-forth conversation with the restaurant to verify the ingredients of the dessert and the other components of my meal. They initially sent us a copy of their allergen book, which shockingly revealed that the brownie indeed contained milk and eggs. Despite this evidence, they again stated that the brownie was vegan in their messages.

During our text message exchange over the next few days, in which we were asking for a COMPLETE ingredients list, we received unhelpful replies such as "the brownie contains gluten, soya milk, and chocolate."

My brother then visited the restaurant a few days later to speak to them face to face and clarify the exact ingredients in everything I had consumed.

While speaking to a manager in person, he was told, “Well, she didn't tell us she had any allergies.” This response raises concerns about the restaurant's approach to accommodating dietary preferences and allergies. It appears they were willing to supply a vegan with non-vegan food, seemingly without considering the potential consequences.

This entire ordeal highlights not only a severe lapse in communication but also raises questions about the accuracy of food labelling and representation at Guard House. Many people, including those with dietary restrictions or allergies, rely on clear and accurate information when dining out. Such discrepancies can have serious consequences. It's essential to prioritise the safety and trust of your customers.

My experience at Guard House was deeply disappointing and has left me concerned about the safety of others with dietary restrictions or allergies. I hope this review serves as a warning and a call for transparency, accuracy, and better communication in your...

Disappointing first and last visit to the Guardhouse.

The Guardhouse has quite a nice location, which is why we decided to go there. As we arrived I was informed that quite a few items on the menu was missing and that the ales and lagers comes out too hot. I tried to order an Aspall, but that came out of the tap like bath foam. Got soft drinks instead, as we came to eat.

We then went on to make the biggest mistake of September. We ordered the 'pie with mash and gravy' and the Philly cheese "steak". We paid just over £40.

The worst was without a doubt the Philly cheese "steak". It might be one of the worst meals I've ever had. It is almost hard to describe this dish. Between two gigantic pieces of white bread there was 6 small pieces of the toughest cartilage you can imagine. Underneath the cartilage was a flavorless layer of melted cheese and onion. They clearly forgot to season anything, or maybe they had not received their shipment of salt and pepper, but the flavour could best be described as dried glue with an aroma of onion. The pieces of cartilage was completely unedible, so I left it on the plate for the chefs to admire, it looked like the remains of Doctor Goodsir in 'The Terror'.

About 10 meters away from the pub, within view, there was a little pop up tent that sold steak & chips for 8 quid. I've tried it before and it was not great, but it would have been half the price, double the portion and 10000 x as good as this.

The pie/mash/gravy was if not acceptable, edible. It cost 20 quid and as you cut the pie, it leaked like a catheter with it's thin and flavorless content. The gravy was watery and lacked seasoning as well. I guess they forgot to tell me that the shipment of cornstarch was missing. The mash could not have been made on the day, but it did taste of potatoes. It was fairly solid and not very hot, just like mash when it's been refrigerated for a while.

+1 star for the chips and the fact I am...

We went to The Guard House, arriving about 6.40pm on Friday 21 Dec and they were not particularity busy at all (only 3 other tables occupied) I have to say this was the most appalling show customer care. I asked where we could sit and was told any where choose an empty table at the end of the bar with previous customers glasses still on The table 10 minutes after sitting down. 15 minutes nobody had has cto give us a menu let alone asked if would like a drink.after finding a menu ourselves I made eye contact with the young girl walking around and not once did she come and ask if we would like to order despite seeing us awkwardly waiting. 25 minutes later and after making eye contact with another make member of staff we had still been ignored so we just left. When trying to pay for our drinks the guy didn't know what we'd had and just ignored me when I said it's disgusting waiting 25 minutes to served. This is not the first, back in the summer the exact same service, or rather complete lack of happened so we also left even thigh we were told someone would come to take our order - 20 minutes later no one had. The staff were more interested in hanging around the food service area and dancing to the music than posting attention to customers. But I think the other thing that was highly unprofessional in the summer of this year was a member of staff behind the bar decided that when her boyfriend brought there baby in she would stop serving and start breast feeding sat at the bar looking out across diners. I have no problem with this but really, sitting on s bar still having everyone is hardly professional. We will never go here again customer service is non existent and staff just do not give s s**t, absolutely terrible place. We went to the Dial Arch after walking out of here, and got seated and served straight away, take a lead out of the Dial Arch book Guard House, they know how to...