Manor Arms — Restaurant in London

We arrived at 1400 for our booking was greeted and shown to our table. We put our food order in at 1415 and when we were ordering we were told we are not sure if can have the beef as we don't know how many there are. Turns out the beef was done. If you do want beef either get there earlier or make your booking and phone ahead to request beef. We did have to physically move out table 3 times because of it's placement; you couldn't get a pram past unless one of us stood up and on the other side of it people needed access to the toilet. In terms of seating plan I probably would have not had this table here.

The main reason why I am giving this review 3 stars is not because of the quality and taste of the meal it's because of the wait time. We waited over an hour for our food to come, baring in mind it was 4 roast dinner 3 chicken 1 pork. I do not know why it took so long but it gave the impression there were issues in the kitchen. It wasn't an isolated incident; another table behind us also had a lengthy wait and did end up complaining. I do also wish the front of house staff kept us updated with the wait time. Tensions could have been eased if just a little more information was passed over to the customer. The food however was absolutely delicious when it arrived it was worth waiting for. The chicken was moist and a good sized portion, the gravy was perfect and the veg was also delicious. Over all the presentation and the taste of the food was brilliant.

I would go again, I would sit on a different table and phone ahead to make sure I secured some beef but overall the food was delicious. Hopefully our experience was just a hiccup or isolated case and...

UPDATED REVIEW 2023 The Manor Arms was my local pub for three years. I used to come here a lot and had great first impressions, but I've found that the more I go, the less I like it. The pub itself is a great space and the beer garden out the back is probably the best in Streatham. The staff are, and always have been, an absolute delight.

The flaws of the Manor Arms lie in the mainstay of the pub, which is the food and drink. The beer somehow always tastes soapy or chemical, likely as a result of a flawed line cleaning process, and the food is completely hit-and-miss with no consistency. One of the first times I came to the MA, I had a burger that was out of this world, one of the best I ever had - the next time I ordered the same thing, only a couple of months later, it was overcooked, bland and disappointing. I also recall a time when my wife and I visited for a celebratory lunch and both ordered the steak sandwich - I love mustard, but the sandwich was so lathered in it that it was completely inedible (it didn't help that we mentioned to our server that we couldn't eat our food and no attempt was made to rectify it). Most of the other menu options through the years have left much to be desired - the pearl barley risotto springs to mind.

The Manor Arms is, at its heart, a great pub. However, I fear that the corporate backing from Youngs has left it without the sense of ambition that other pubs in the area have, which ultimately has led to corner-cutting in the areas that matter most. I would love to see more effort from the pub in these areas (especially rinsing their lines better!) but nonetheless I hope to visit again someday when I'm in...

Came here for the first time recently with my family for a pre-Christmas lunch. It's a lovely looking, family-friendly pub and the service was OK but it did take ages for our food to arrive, which I assume was because it was very busy. I ordered the combination roast, sticky toffee pudding, and some orange juice. The roast was very nice, but the potatoes were a bit hard in the middle, and there were only 2 of them, which I thought was a bit stingy for a meal costing £27. I suspect the huge Yorkshire pudding was meant to make up for this. The pork, beef, and chicken in the meal were very tasty, especially with the celeriac and cranberry sauces on the side. However, I felt that the portion sizes for the meat were a bit small. The carrots and cabbage accompanying the dish were also pretty tasty.

We had a really long wait from the time we ordered our desserts until the time they arrived, but I'm glad they didn't kick us off the table once our alloted slot had ended.

I would probably visit again to try other items on the menu.

Update, May 2024: Was back at the Manor Arms today and had the same meal. I think it actually tasted better this time. The beef was succulent, and the potoates perfectly cooked, although they lacked crispiness. Initially, there appeared to be too much gravy, but it ended up being the perfect amount. The only thing that would have made the meal better is...