Mount St. Restaurant — Restaurant in London

A really exceptional experience my first at this restaurant for lunch not long after opening. I came here following a review from the critic for the Evening Standard and wasn't disappointed.

Some restaurants can be a tricky when newly opened as they settle in to find their niche, but it's clear that the fine details have been taken care of here across both food, decor and service.

The menu is a mix of British classics with inspiration from traditional French menus but manages to combine fine dining with a genuine kind of 'homeliness' to the food and carries off both contrasting elements well. The luxury ingredients are complemented by generous portion sizes for a restaurant in this local. Generosity is abundant elsewhere in the menu e.g. including a truly delicious chicken parfait with caramelised shallots alongside the usual fare of bread and salted butter.

The Arnold Bennett omelette was as good as any I've had elsewhere in London. While the pigeons in pimlico main was itself a stand out, the addition of bubble and squeak as a side was a true elevation about the usual chips or purée potatoes.

The attention to detail that has been paid to the art on the walls (including originals by Lucian Freude and Matisse among others) is clearly more than just a gimic as the wider decor makes for a very comfortable relaxed dining experience but with the care attention that has gone into the design running throughout and always clear. If I was to nitpick the tiniest of details the only downside was sharing the rest rooms with The Audley Pub below in the basement meant breaking the ambience environment when going there as they were clearly styled to match The Audley more than the restaurant.

This restaurant is clearly carving out a niche in the upper end of the market (but distinct from your usual Michelin type places) and with that comes a cost but although pricey my opinion was that for the quality of food, service, ambience and above all location the menu was good value for money.

Above all I was extremely impressed by the service. Ondrej is a real credit to the restaurant and based on his knowledge and enthusiasm for the entire area, I'd also add to the hospitality industry as a whole. The enthusiasm from all staff was clear and they seemed genuinely delighted to be working there which isn't always the case even when it appears to be.

A testament to how much I rated my first experience despite the restaurant having only been open for a few weeks I have already booked my second visit and can see this becoming a...

I believe that where the menu is largely overpriced and the food isn’t exceptionally good, at least the service should be professional and welcoming. And this is not what I had from the Mount St Restaurant!! I arrived before my friend did and wasn’t aware that she had a reservation, so I asked for a table. Was told they were fully booked - fair enough, I turned away. Then my friend messaged me to say she actually made a reservation under the name Axxxx. So I got back to the reception to tell them of it. “So now you DO have a reservation?” The lady at reception said, unnecessarily rude. “Yes, under the name Axxxx.” “Axxxx K?” “Yea I think it would be Axxxx K”. “Are you sure the last name is K?” “Well how many bookings under this name Axxxx do you have?” “One” “Then it’s got to be it, isn’t it?” Finally the lady let me in… The experience wasn’t nice. Poor attention to detail, food served without introduction (by default they serve chicken liver pâté with bread, without mentioning what it is. So be careful if you’re allergic or anything). Towards the end of the meal, we ordered a desert to share. And at that moment, for the very first time, a seemingly senior staff came and said to us that we had overstayed our assigned timeslot and would need to take it somewhere else in the building if we wanted to have desert. SHOCKED! I said “No I don’t want to “waste” any more time of yours and it’s definitely not worth going up two floors just for the desert. We’ll just finish the wine and leave.” He looked upset (face literally turned red) and left. We then quickly downed the wine and got the bill. Some of the oysters we had were obviously poor quality. But that was the least of our problems with that meal. Spend your money somewhere else if you want better service (especially if you’re ETHNIC MINORITIES because there’s genuinely a difference in the way they treat...

You can see from my profile that I never leave bad reviews — this is my first. The restaurant itself is beautiful, but the service was so, so strange.

There were a couple of small things that added up to a very uncomfortable experience: We were a table of 3 girlfriends and when it came time to pay, our server ran the whole table’s bill on one card without asking - apparently because I had asked for the bill and hadn’t said we wanted to split it, even though all three of us had our wallets out. He reluctantly refunded the difference, after being dramatically baffled by why we were confused.

The second thing is that I have a gluten allergy (I’m very chill about it because I know it’s annoying for kitchens — I always call ahead and don’t expect them to go totally above and beyond). They had gluten free bread for me which was lovely but the waiter made several comments about me “trying” non-GF food and asking “what would happen” if I did and that I should just try it. It was so, so uncomfortable, and I found myself having to justify a medical condition. I promise I would not eat GF if i didn’t have to.

The menu according to him only had one or two dishes that I could eat (I saw many which seemed like they could be easily made GF by just removing crumb or something small). So I had no real options as a main. He also suggested the pasta at one point which really speaks to the lack of understanding and care around a very common allergy.

It’s a gorgeous restaurant, but between the strange chaotic attitude and lack of care, I don’t know if I’ll...