Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill London Angel and Kings Cross — Restaurant in London

As a note: this is an honest review with NO hyperbole. We ate here on August 28th at 18.20.

We were a walk-in and even though the restaurant had over a dozen tables, only 2 were filled up. You'd think it was good that during peak hours you'd get a walk in to earn some custom but the reaction from the staff was very stuck up, like we were an inconvenience.

We were asked to pick a table, the waitress came over 20 minutes later to ask if we wanted drinks. Considering there were more FOH staff than tables of people this was really bad. I wanted to order a starter and a main and my partner wanted 2 starters as she couldn't eat much. We were told this was an issue as this was a "fine dining" restaurant and we HAD to order 2 courses each. We asked why this couldn't be done and we were met with nothing but "fine dining", "fine dining" - apparently fine dining means waiting 20 minutes to ask for water and being greeted by a scowl worthy of The Grinch. There was no dress code by the way - we only came to London to watch AEW All In and this was the closest restaurant to my hotel (as it's literally in the hotel) when we needed dinner the following day. People were in hoodies and I was in a GAP T-shirt. If this was a problem we'd have happily moved on but "fine dining" only became apparent once we were ordering. Another excuse was that 4 plates would congest the table...the table that could easily fit 4 people. So be aware if you order for a table of 4, one of you might not get a meal because the starter plates they chose to buy are too big.

We were about to walk out when all of a sudden the waitress says "I'll see what I can do" and at the threat of losing £50 of custom (which is NOTHING to a "fine dining" restaurant) it was ok! We ordered calamari, French onion soup and mac and cheese starters followed by a roast chicken main. A nicer waitress, Jade, brought the wine we ordered, though when she offered to put the bottle in ice, that never came, so good job I'm ok with warm wine. After a while the 3 starters arrived. Calamari was ok. Nothing wrong with it but not a high standard. The Mac and cheese was advertised to come with breadcrumbs which didn't exist. The cheese topping was nice but the underneath was watery. A poor M&C. However...

The French Onion Soup.

This deserves it's own paragraph. I remind you - I use ZERO hyperbole in my reviews.

I'm a chef. I've been to Chef's Academy. Most people learning the culinary arts do French Onion Soup in the first week. Marco, your unnamed chef you chose to represent your brand made the WORST French Onion Soup I've seen and tasted in my life time. During the lockdown I took simple ingredients from Asda, including Knorr stockpots with Marco himself endorsed on the TV, and I made classic French Onion soup far, FAR better than what this professional chef in a professional kitchen made.

"Fine Dining"

Again, no hyperbole, Baxters French Onion Soup was better than this soup.

"Fine Dining"

The soup was bland, tasted of hot water with no onion or shallot flavour mixed in so it tasted just like onion and water. Zero seasoning, the croutons tasted of the kind of bread you'd go and feed the pigeons with, barely suitable for human consumption let alone "fine dining" and there was a distinct lack of any kind of Gruyere or any other kind of cheese on top. "Fine. Dining."

I couldn't do it. I couldn't finish the meal. I always thought the chicken & noodles I had at a pub in the lake district was the worst meal I had, but a hearty congrats for Marco finding a team that could really snatch defeat from the jaws of...well...more defeat.

I'm actually by the character limit now. So luckily for Marco I can't say much more. Briefly: they actually forgot our main course, which almost awards them a 2 star review as it ended our suffering early.

I want to add - there is a pub next door called The Castle. We went there to drown our sorrows and the staff were talkative, the beer was great and though we didn't eat, the food looked like it had more personality to it. Go there, they...

When me and my partner arrived at 20:00 hours on Saturday 5th May 2018, to have my Birthday Meal at the Famous Marco Pierre White Restraunt, we were all dressed up and so exicted. We were welcomed in a very standard way, and then shown to a table. We then waited ten minutes, for someone to take our drinks order and at that point, we had to say that we would order our starters then too. The waiter did not even introduce themsleves, however we thought they might of forget being so busy. But they were not busy at all, as there was only 4 tables of people in there and lots of staff around, so very poor service. Then 15 minutes later our first drinks and starters arrived together. The waiter spilt our drinks on our white table cloth, making the table look messy and no very appealing if we were to take pictures. The starters were the French Onion Soup and was so hot it hurt it to eat it. The soup did not come with bread and butter so we had to order that seperate. A short time later, we had finished our drinks and did not want any more of the soup. We then waited another 15 minutes for our main courses to come out, with the empty glasses and soup bowls on the table. We then had to help the waiter move things around to have our main meal put on the table. We do not have to do that in the Harvester. Also nobody asked how our main meals were whilst eating them, and nobody offerered more drinks to us, with our empty glasses on show. The main meals were the French Burgers and they were only warm and the chips were roasting hot. To be honest for the price of the mains, the food was very basic and the way it was presented was nothing special. After another 10 minutes, our table was cleared, and then we were asked if we wanted dessert, to which we just asked for the bill, which come to around £80 for 2 people, for 2 starters, 2 mains and 2 drinks. I then explained all of the above to the waiter, who said he was sorry and took some money off the bill. From the look on his face and the fact he did not reply to any of our comments, it said it all. We were also aware of 2 other tables who also complained about the service and food in front of us. I was visiting London for my Birthday with my partner and was stopping at the Hilton Hyde Park, and paid £60 in taxi fares, hoping to have a meal to remember, well I certainly did, but not for good reasons. I could of picked somewhere else in London. We also had 2 differnet staff members deal with us. I had being to the Birmingham Marco Pierre White for a Birthday of mine a few years ago and that...

We live in Lincoln and had been to Marco Pierre White’s restaurant there (The Electric). It was a nice experience, so we decided to try the one in London as a celebration. But sadly, it didn’t quite live up to what we were hoping for.

I had really high hopes for Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse, given his reputation as one of the greatest chefs of our time. The food was tasty, but nothing more than a fancy home meal. I get that he lets high-quality ingredients and simple cooking speak for themselves — and it shows, very tasty — but I was expecting something more elevated for a chef of his calibre.

The main reason I went is because I love when restaurants let quality ingredients shine. For me, simplicity and quality can make the perfect meal — nothing too elaborate, just honest food done brilliantly. Unfortunately, this place missed the mark slightly. I’m not a food critic by any means, but when you go somewhere with a name like Marco Pierre White attached, you expect something special, something elevated. And it just wasn’t there.

The service, however, was fantastic and by far the best part of the experience. The staff were attentive, professional, and made the experience feel special. In fact, the level of service was exactly what I would expect from a restaurant carrying Marco Pierre White’s name, and to be honest, it completely outshone the food.

The atmosphere was just okay. The time we visited, it was very quiet, which made things feel a little awkward rather than lively or sophisticated. Not terrible, but not memorable either — that’s not the fault of the restaurant, more my poor timing, but it’s worth considering if you enjoy a dining experience with atmosphere.

The steak itself was fine, but I’ve had much better at other steakhouses. Overall, the place feels massively overhyped. It’s “good” in the same way a nice home-cooked meal is good — enjoyable but not remarkable. For a restaurant carrying such a high-profile name, I walked away disappointed.

That being said, it wasn’t a bad restaurant or a bad experience. On the contrary, it was good. The reason I gave it 3 stars for food is because it just didn’t represent the level I would have expected from Marco Pierre White. It wasn’t bad, just overhyped. I’d still recommend this place for a nice meal — just lower your expectations to those of an average steakhouse rather than world-class...