Stein's Kingston — Restaurant in London

Curious and hungry for German and Viennese flavors, we ended up at Stein’s Kingston… but it felt more like Oktoberflop than Oktoberfest.

📍 Location: The setting looked promising: wooden interiors, classic Bavarian beer hall vibe, and we had booked a spot on the riverside veranda. Too bad the seating plan follows the "pack them tight" strategy: benches crammed together like a Deutsche Bahn commuter train. My backrest? The sweaty back of the stranger behind me. Not quite the comfort you expect at £30 a plate.

🍺 Drink: Paulaner Helles – £7.75 per pint Fresh, properly poured, decent. Score: 3/5 (Would’ve been 4, but the body heat proximity killed the romance.)

🍽️ Lunch – Bavarian style:

Nürnberger Würstchen mit Sauerkraut – £18.90 Tiny sausages with the flavor profile of a steamed playlist. The mashed potatoes were one compact, dense lump, resembling instant supermarket mash. Sauerkraut? Pulled straight from the jar and dumped on the plate. Presentation? Military canteen vibes. ⭐ 1 out of 5 💸 Price: way overpriced (+47% over listed menu price)

Wiener Schnitzel vom Kalb – £29.50 They could’ve called it breaded marble with vague memories of veal. Thick, tough meat—nothing like the traditional thinly pounded cut. The coating was soggy and limp, missing the signature airy crispness. Very likely pan-fried with minimal oil—or worse, oven-baked—rather than the classic deep fry in clarified butter. The result? A dish that’s neither Wiener nor Schnitzel. ⭐ 0 out of 5 💸 £29.50… daylight robbery in breadcrumbs.

Bayerischer Kartoffelsalat – £5.60 Decent potato salad. Not life-changing, but solid. ⭐ 3 out of 5

Black Forest Cake – £8.30 The surprise highlight of the lunch. Balanced, pleasant, possibly frozen and regenerated—but enjoyable nonetheless. ⭐ 5 out of 5

✅ Final thoughts: Lovely view, decent location, but the food felt more like a tourist trap from a forgotten airport terminal than a real Bavarian experience. Beer was fine, dessert a win, but the mains? Disappointing. And at these prices, the bill hits harder than a beer stein to the head. Stop by for a drink… and enjoy the river. That part won’t...

3 years ago I gave Steins 4 stars and I don't tend to give bad reviews, even less so written ones. After tonights experience I can barely give it 1. For starters avoid at all cost if you are vegetarian or vegan. The beer I will give is fantastic, however the rest was frankly awful. On arrival our waitress served me what what was a lovely beer, a "waiter" then came to take my partners order but walked off as she was speaking with him to get a waitress.. The waitress never arrived and 10 minutes later he returned and took our order. After a 20 minute wait, and seeing my partners drink on the bar we got up to ask is this our drink and it finally came. At this point the restaurant was less than half full. Our food arrived, I'd ordered a vegan schnitzel and after 1 bite offered some to my partner as I suspected it was chicken. Her response was "that's either really low quality frozen processed chicken or a mediocre supermarket meat substitute". I ate the meal as I couldn't get the attention of a server. After paying the bill the "waiter" then proceeded to grill me on why I'm vegetarian, "do you drink milk", "do you eat eggs", "what would happen if you ate meat".... That last question rang alarm bells for me... Any dietary questions should be asked before an order. Why specifically "what would happen if you ate meat" I was getting irate so got up and left as to not ruin the evening of other diners with children around us. While it won't kill me I'm fairly certain I was served cheap proccessed chicken. Not only is this insulting but if it was any other ingredient I was allergic to it could have caused serious harm. I won't be returning and again warn any...

We popped into Steins for a few pints on a lazy Sunday afternoon, but unfortunately it was the worst experience we have ever had at a bar or restaurant. As instructed, we scanned the menu from the QR code and ordered from the waiting staff. After a nice couple of hours enjoying the view with some snacks and beer, we came to pay the bill where the figure was far higher than the menu suggested. The beer listed at £3.90 with no other explanation is for a half not a pint, incredibly steep even for London! After showing the waiting staff the disparity between the bill and the menu on the ordering app, we were argued at rudely by the manager and eventually given several new bills. On the first revised bill the price was made nearly the same by inflating the price of the pretzels we ordered and only slightly altering the beer prices, on the next we were told that VAT wasnt added to the menu prices on just one type of beer (illegal under UK law). After a lengthy process where the manager was too busy to engage for 20 minutes at a time, we eventually paid more than the prices we were advertised due to the claim of having been served bottled beer rather than draught beer for some of our drinks. They need to fix their menu to be clearer, but even then the place will still be very overpriced and the management will still be...