Guinea Grill — Restaurant in London

The reservation was made to celebrate my partners birthday. He had been looking forward to an evening of good food & wine in a friendly atmosphere. The reality was completely different.

I arrived first, I noticed the table was located not too far from the disabled toilet. You could smell a chemical smell in the air. On this evening it had been raining heavily- I don’t know if it caused an effect to the drainage outside but I knew I did not want to be seated there so asked to be moved to another table. Once my partner arrived and was seated. Before asking for his drink order or engaging with us. The waiter proceeded to alert us of when the table would be needed for the next reservation at 20:30 and we should order our mains as quickly as possible. Bearing in mind we were not late, we were 30 mins early. I have never experienced that kind of bluntness from any restaurant before. “How do you think you can get away with applying pressure to eat and go?” I chose to overlook this behaviour as I knew my partner was looking forward to eating there so this was not addressed.

His main was a Ribeye Steak for £46 with no sides. You would get a better cut out of a supermarket. The steak was very fatty and partly inedible. The garlic butter which was supposed to melt over the steak was almost frozen and would not melt. The chips resembled McCain’s triple cut chips. My main which was the Beef mixed grill wasn’t great either, this tasted reheated instead of freshly prepared. Shortly after the main course the waiter proceeded to spill my partners glass of red wine on him. Instead of clearing the table and did not apologise for his clumsy error.

When making the reservation I had informed the staff member that it was my partners birthday. I enquired if a ‘birthday plate’ could be arranged. I was assured that this could happen. When the dessert arrived like other establishments I’ve taken him to, you will see a decorated plate with ‘Happy Birthday’ wording, a candle or the birthday song being sung. This was not the case at the Guinea Grill. He received the dessert he had ordered then handed a postcard with the waiter stating “it’s your birthday right?” It felt like it was an after thought to the waiter, completely meaningless. Very disappointing.

The bill was presented with the service charge added on of nearly £35. I have no issues paying for this at other establishments but after all I had witnessed and experienced - I asked for the service charge to be removed. The waiter could not grasp the concept that how he had acted from when my partner arrived had contributed to the outcome at the end of the evening.

The bill was paid followed by a prompt exit - with both of us vowing never to go back again. Disengaged staff will cost this...

We came for the steak having read that this restaurant had recent lot been voted into the top 100 steak restaurants on the world. We weren’t disappointed . There are others in London on this top 100 but we wanted a relaxed and casual atmosphere. The pub was buzzing with a lot of people drinking outside when we got there, but we were warmly greeted and ushered to a lovely corner table with a view of the whole room which was on the ground floor . Our drinks order was immediately taken by the quietly efficient and friendly waiter and bread was brought, accompanied by the waiters recommendation of Guinness butter … delicious! The restaurant was very busy on a Wednesday evening. We were here for the steak so skipped the starters to focus on the main event. He chose 16 oz sirloin with mashed potato and she chose filet with dripping chips. We shared a creamed spinach and a piquant bearnaise sauce. It certainly did not disappoint . The steaks were cooked and rested to perfection and were well seasoned to our tastes. The filet melted in the mouth and was juicy, he said the sirloin was delicious and a good thickness. The side dishes complimented well. The chips were big and chunky , crispy outside and perfect fluffy insides. The mash was light and creamy. The spinach also creamy and earthy. We were pretty full after that and we’re not going to have desert but the waiter recommended we share the signature bread and butter pudding, so we succumbed. This was the best bread and butter pudding we have had, very light and fruity with a crisp topping of sugar which really crowned it. The accompanying crème anglais sauce was delicious ( just needed more of that!). The waiter told us afterwards when we complimented it that it is made from brioche hence its lightness. It really was a superb meal and service that we could not fault. If you want really good steak in a relaxed friendly atmosphere, this is the...

This was good. But it’s definitely slipped overall. I know there’s a renovation on the horizon which is needed as the dining room is gone tired. Our starters were outstanding - Cornish yarg dumplings and stunning oysters. Odd that the manager said the dumplings were sitting in truffle mash. It was actually cauliflower purée. Our pie was also excellent. Really good. Our bone in sirloin was a let down. It was cooked perfectly although it hadn’t been rested at all / long enough - but the steak itself was definitely ( very ) light for 458g ( by a good bit ) and it had quite a bit of tendon / connective hoo ha that I struggled to cut even with the steak knife. My Gruyère creamed spinnach was just ok. Felt like it had been under a heat lamp for the morning…..Bernaise and Dijon mustard were excellent. I had two pints of Guinness. In old style tulips. Amazing. The first pint was perhaps the best pint I’ve had in London. The second pint arrived spilled. With an apology. And then dripped All over the table. So I cleaned the spillage and the glass up with my napkin. And then had a manky Guinness napkin for the rest of the dinner. The pint shouldn’t have been served. We had a Couple of glasses of champagne - these on a French scale were coupettes. Quite stingy. Nice champagne though. We also had a G&t which arrived as a double without us being asked for a size preference. Overall the lack of detail around the service surprised me. Our bill for a quick Saturday lunch was 250£. At 130pm the restaurant was empty bar two tables. ( there was a big protest on and it was...