Mr Fogg's Tavern — Restaurant in London

From the moment, you step into Mr Fogg’s it transports you back in time, as the bar is built on old English wooden panelling, and is decorated with paintings from historical events and ornaments from the past. This makes the experience much more enjoyable as the scenery itself is entertainment, and is a great tourist attraction.

For starters, I opted to try all the starters on the menu, so I could taste all the dishes they had to offer. For the first starter, Fogg’s flaked smoked haddock kedgeree was presented, I have never had kedgeree before, and so this was a new dish for me to try. The Mr Fogg’s version consisted of chunks of Haddock, wrapped in curried boiled rice with the boiled egg lying on the top.

When I read that grilled frog’s legs were on the menu, my immediate thought was ‘What the hell?’ However, I was willing to give it a go as you only live once! Nevertheless, be warned, as the Frog’s legs do look as if they are about to leap off your plate! I am amazed at how good the frog’s legs actually tasted; it has quite a rubbery texture to the tongue and tastes like exotic chicken. The banana sauce accompanying the legs does make them taste even yummier. I would recommend the Frog’s legs as it definitely breaks the norm and it is always a good idea to try something new.

Next to try were the crispy herb tempura prawns, which are accompanied by a spicy dip. This dip absolutely makes the dish, as the dish uses more savoury spices rather than sweet spices. Can you believe that all these dishes were just starters? Our main had not come yet.

Therefore, for my main, I chose the lobster and avocado salad, which is drizzled with zesty grapefruit dressing. To be honest, I did enjoy the salad, but the grapefruit dressing was too citrus for me as before the dish my palette was quite savoury, which unfortunately aided in enhancing the zest.

The desserts came; at this point, I was completely stuffed. The only disappointing factor was I could not try all the desserts because of my intolerance to certain dairy products, but I manage to try a bit.

First, to try was the trio of ice creams vanilla, chocolate, pistachio. The chocolate used is dark chocolate, is very rich, and therefore needs to be tried with other flavours as each flavour compliments each other. The pistachio is quite savoury and therefore calms the richness of dark chocolate. The vanilla ice cream is quite bland, so the dark chocolate enhances the taste.

Next to try were the glazed drunken figs, served with mascarpone cream. The initial taste was nice but annoyingly sweet, so it is best to serve as a sharing dish as the taste is quite intense and unique for one person. The figs have an acquired taste but if you have a sweet tooth, this is for you! I would recommend trying this dish first as the taste is quite complex but the more you taste the figs, you will also taste different flavours of the figs.

Lastly, the strawberry jelly parfait, which is a British traditional favourite, and immediately brought back childhood memories. My friends and I started to reminisce over childhood party memories whilst eating this dessert, which was a great way to end the brunch.

Now the question on your lips, whilst reading this review is- ‘what do the punches taste like? Well luckily, I tasted three of the punches, which seemed to be a good idea at the time, but perhaps not for the rest of the day. Of course, my favourite punch had to be rum based; Bacardi Carta Oro rum, Luxardo maraschino cherry liquor, pineapple syrup and lime juice, topped with soda water. This drink was made very strong but with just the right amount of sweetness. This punch was called the Rumpy...

As Londoners we probably should have known better and my poor review looks like it’s going to stand out like a sore thumb but it is was an ok experience which turned sour quickly. We were going to the theatre across the road so were pleased we could get a seat outside so close to the theatre. My husband went to the bar and bought a pint and an Aperol spritz. £20.40, less than 250ml without ice. I had asked for no ice so when he came back with a less than half full small glass I asked the server outside for another. His pint went faster slower than my two drinks so I decided on a straight glass of Prosecco so in total my “normal” sized Aperol cost £28.60 for a large drink but not massive drink. I was an aware of how much we’d spent and though I wasn’t over the moon I knew and willing ordered more, but, my husband had pointed out that the 2nd drink I paid for outside had had a 10/12% charge added which he had declined when at the bar getting drinks. So, I asked for mine to be removed, the waiter loudly said “Jesus!” And walked off he came back several mins later with a new amount on the screen (this detail maters later). I said I’d rather pay inside and was hoping to have a better interaction with the manager and explain that a “gratuity” is called that for a reason and it’s down to me as a customer to decide whether that is justified. I asked to speak to manager and he ignored me, then went to another customer (felt deliberate), when I spoke to him and explained the surely the customer should be asked or at least given the option, he was not at all interested in the fact that the server had been quiet rude or anything I had to say. It was very much, go away. I’m really please so many people have great experiences in Mr Fogg’s I would stick to pints but I won’t be going back (which I’m sure doesn’t bother the management) but I felt Royally ripped off and service was unnecessarily rude just because we didn’t comply. We were helpful pleasant customers because we both work in hospitality so know how to value people who are serving you, we are never rude or unpleasant. Please do...

We arrived for our booked table today and a staff member outside the front door directed us inside and said one of the other team members would get us seated. We waited in front of the bar for five minutes and no other staff member acknowledged us despite their only being three tables seated inside. We asked a passing waiter if we could check in and he did seat us. We ordered our food and drinks the pirate punch I ordered was good with lots of flavour. The chicken Sunday roast however was bad. The chicken was overcooked and their was no stuffing on the plate which was advertised on the menu. The gravy was thin and lacked taste, most of the plate was just boiled shredded cabbage and you had to pay an extra pound if you wanted a Yorkshire pudding. When your already paying £22 that seems a bit stingy even for central London. The food did however come our fast! At no point did a staff member come over to us to check how the food was which is usual at a table service venue and we didn't see one to flag down. Lastly another table came in who had booked and it turned out we had been seated at their table by mistake. The I assume manager, a lady with black hair had a discussion with another staff member on why we were on that table right next to our table.....and it's a small venue..... while the other booking stood behind them looking at us. This was very awkward as the manager assumed we were a walk in table when we had in fact booked. A younger waitress came over and asked us if we had booked. I pointed my name out on the ipad booking list and she proceeded to say oh we sat you at the wrong table by mistake, we felt like they wanted us to move tables but didn't outright say it? The other booking sat at the table opposite which was identical to ours. It was a bad experience from start to finish we were there 45 mins in total. Service charge was added to the bill which we paid mainly because we felt bad for the staff having to work in such a badly ran workplace! I sadly won't be recommending this to friends even if the...