The Drift — Restaurant in London

“A Hunger-Driven Hallelujah at The Drift”

Picture the scene: it’s cold, it’s raining, and it’s 2pm. You haven’t eaten in six hours, which for a middle-aged man like me is roughly equivalent to scaling Kilimanjaro without oxygen. Your sense of humour packed up and left around 11:30, your stomach is a growling black hole, and you’re one snippy comment away from your wife giving you that look. You know the one. And just as your inner toddler is gearing up to throw a tantrum that could clear a room, there it is: The Drift. A beacon of warmth and salvation in a storm of hangry despair.

Inside, it’s everything you need in the moment. It’s warm. There’s music. There’s the promise of alcohol. Most importantly, there’s a kind face at the host stand asking, “Would you like a table for food?” Yes, dear kind stranger, I would. You may have just saved my marriage.

Now, The Drift isn’t reinventing the wheel with its design—a sleek, industrial-chic sort of vibe that screams “corporate Christmas drinks.” It’s not small or intimate, but frankly, I’m so hungry I couldn’t care less if it were decked out like a mid-tier airport lounge. I’m laser-focused on calories, not décor.

Steak sandwich for me, turkey burger for my wife-slash-caregiver. My mood hangs in the balance as I await the food. And then—miracle of miracles—it arrives quickly. My faith in humanity, and possibly a higher power, is instantly restored. The steak sandwich? A meaty, succulent lifesaver between two toasted lifeboats of bread. My wife’s turkey burger? It’s good. At least, I assume it is, because I’m too busy inhaling my own plate.

Forty-five seconds later, I’m done. Now, I have to sit quietly and watch my wife eat while I wait for her to leave a scrap—a fry, maybe a lettuce leaf—so I can pounce. How she puts up with me, I’ll never know.

The Drift is not revolutionary. It’s not a culinary wonderland. But it’s warm, welcoming, efficient, and hits the spot when you need it most. For that, it deserves a slow clap. And maybe a thank-you note...

Booked a bottomless brunch here on Saturday and was disappointed with the service. We initially ordered brunch food completely unaware that all our dishes came with chips so ordered a trio of chips (extra £15) for the table and it was not mentioned that we would all receive chips with our food anyway. Considering the brunch was “bottomless”, we actually found ourselves with empty glasses at multiple points and had to ask for a refill for both Prosecco and the water. No one came to check on us during the meal to check everything was ok. The bill was given to us after our time was up but again, it was convenient a couple of us had had empty Prosecco glasses for over 10 minutes. When the bill came, it was roughly £70 each we paid but after taking a moment, we did realise that this amount for avocado on toast, chips and 3 glasses of Prosecco each was slightly ridiculous. We decided to mention it to the bar man/manager to which we got responses such as “it was your fault” and “it’s up to you to manage your time”. Well actually, no. We paid for bottomless which it was not, we had empty glasses multiple times, and we also paid a service charge (12.5%) so it was not our responsibility to otherwise what was this charge for?? We were out celebrating 2 birthdays we did not clock watch. We did get given an extra refill each but of course, it was quite awkward at this point so we drank up and left. The poor customer service at the end left a much poorer impression than we already had. FYI: we were not rude, rowdy or drunk… just a little shocked at their attitude at the end. (Oh some of us did have an extra cocktail too but still didn’t justify...

Bit of a strange experience at The Drift and therefore 3 stars. Fantastic venue, really clean, great COVID-19 measures and very friendly front-of-house staff but sadly that's where it ended for us.

We were seated in a corner table with two couches (hidden away from most of the venue) despite the venue being only 40-50% full (upstairs included). Not a great table and far away from the action taking place upstairs (live music and more vibey surroundings). Are the upstairs tables reserved for bottomless brunches maybe?

We had a staff member take our order and then basically disappear for 30-35 minutes. I went up to one of the bartenders to ask what was going on and he said "oh sorry mate, the ticket machine stopped working 30 minutes ago". After expressing our displeasure, service all of a suddent started flying to our table. Now, bear in mind that while this is all happening, a table full of patrons in front of us is receiving regular service despite spilling three shots and breaking a glass. They ordered 3-4 times in that 30 minute period but there were no issues relating to their tickets arriving at the bar? Strange?

Honestly, we just finished our wine and our food, paid the bill and moved on with our lives. Not sure if we had done something to tick them off but appaling service (seemingly only directed...