Marksman — Restaurant in London

This place has truly gone up its own arse. There have been signs for a while. After a prescient Christmas dinner last year during which we waited nearly 3 hours between courses, were overcharged after the manager accused us of messing them around (they forgot to ask us to pre-book), a tray of drinks were dropped on my friend's back, the food being subpar (so much red cabbage and not enough meat!), their snootiness and unwelcoming behaviour has only increased. This review isn't about that (I shall write that when it becomes possible to review single members of staff for the blame of that night resides solely with the manager we dealt with who clearly dislikes customers).

We use the Marksman as our base for post-football drinks. Several of the teams in our league do, in fact the league itself uses it officially for the final day prizegiving and celebrations. It was awarded Michelin pub of the year status in 2017, a result of great food (our yuletide celebrations notwithstanding), a decent beer selection, the mix of local people contributing to a nice atmosphere and a friendly and hospitable majority amongst the staff.

As mentioned, recent signs haven't been good. If there was a management decision to make us feel less welcome and push us away then it's been received with no lack of clarity. One recent example: we asked about use of the roof terrace in order to catch the tail end of summer sun. The response was lukewarm, and then acquiescence came with a list of regulations.

First, we were not to carry our own drinks due to the risk of spilling anything on the stairs. This was insisted on ("it's not for you, it's for me"). However, in order to get the drinks in the first place, we were forced to buy a 'snack', which apparently was a choice between a bowl of olives and a packet of crisps. This ransom was enacted with a total lack of grace and a sour face ("and which snack do you want?").

Standing on the roof terrace was also outlawed. This does beg the question of how one moves to and from the door of the terrace, but we didn't have time to ask this before we were told not to move chairs, and then not to sit on the side wall. Having used the roof terrace several times in the past few years, these dictates were surprising and unwelcome.

A relaxing drink therefore became less so and as we were evicted near 5pm as they were closing the venue for a Nike sponsored private event (on a Saturday night─money does indeed talk even to the pub of the year!), it seems the plan to discourage us from returning had succeeded.

We've shifted to the Nelsons Head further down the same road. The contrast in welcome is as vivid as the acetic commandments dished out to us at the Marksman and within an hour of friendly chat with the bar staff and a much more vibrant and warm atmosphere, we surely won't...

I've never been so underwhelmed and disappointed. We excitedly waited 3 months to celebrate Father's Day with our family at the award winning Michelin Pub of the Year, it was a disaster from start to finish.

I'll try to keep this short and to the point, despite what is advertised this is not a place to take children, the kids menu was one option of roast beef, no veggie option and our request to opt for a more suitable chicken alternative was rejected by the kitchen.

There were no sugar free or diet drinks for our diabetic guest and the selection of ales and beers was embarrassing considering we are situated in a pub. We asked for a draught bitter to be told there wasn't any despite there being one on tap in the downstairs which we noticed on the way out. The service was poor and slow, our first (and only) drink arrived after we had all finished our starters which took 45 mins to arrive. We were never offered another and to be frank we didn't bother.

The food was really poor, it was really shocking how disappointing the roast dinner was, the most tasteless watery gravy, chewy unseasoned meat, raw carrots, average roast potatoes, no salt and pepper on the table, even the request for more gravy appeared troublesome for the staff that had to ask the kitchen, this made us feel very uncomfortable and awkward. Surely the chefs at this level taste the food during the cooking process, I still don't understand how it could be this bad!?

2 kids & 4 adults, £280!! Please keep in mind one child didn't anything apart from bread and butter, and this only included 3 alcoholic drinks, I've never felt so embarrassed and ripped off, unfortunately this was a Father's Day present from the wife so I couldn't complain and didn't want to upset her and our guests any further.

I still can't believe the reviews and hype this place gets, I could never recommend the Marksman to anyone. Please, please don't make the same mistake we did,...

Set in the heart of the Hackney Road in East London this is very much a traditional old pub with the downstairs looking like it's been kept in that style but the upstairs has been turned into a quirky and slightly retro dining room. You can just pop in for a drink and try one of there great local ales & lagers as we did a few weeks ago but it's mainly a food place. While we were here last we looked at the menu which is changed daily , plus in seeing some of the food being served made us want to come here for lunch and yesterday that's exactly what we did. When you book there is no guarantee where you'll be seated but on this occasion we were seated upstairs. Which was nice and a totally different atmosphere to downstairs especially yesterday as it was very busy. When you look at the menu you'll see that the dishes are certainly different to any where else , but after they were explained but one of the very friendly staff we made our choices . Firstly we started with some Olives & Black Treacle Sourdough Bread . The we had our starters which were Devilled Mussels & Monks Beard and to say the Mussels were amazing is an understatement and my Tamworth Blood Pudding & Parsley which was heavenly Then it was time for our mains of Braised Lamb , Peas & Wild Garlic (sadly no pic) but was fantastic and my fabulous Roast Hereford Rump of Beef which was simply stunning as were the Yorkshire Pudding , Roast Potatoes & Veg. These were matched with a delightful fruity Red Wine from Portugal After a little rest it was time for desserts a delightful Sheep's Yoghurt , Rhubarb & Rose and a delicious Chocolate Burnt Milk & Barley matched with a nicely chilled Banyuls a French Sweet Wine This brought an end to a truly memorable Sunday Lunch and I can honestly say it won't be to long before we return as the food was amazing and each member of staff was so warm...