The Grafton Arms Pub & Rooms — Restaurant in London

Yesterday, I had an unforgettable experience at The Grafton Arms with my colleagues. We spent time on the terrace, enjoying a pleasant ambiance and a relaxing atmosphere. We were all impressed by the appearance of the pub and the delicious quality of the food.

But what truly caught our attention was Paola, the blonde girl who came to take our order. We were a group of 8 people, and each of us ordered drinks, appetizers, and main courses. However, Paola didn't write anything down, which was a bit surprising at first. We watched her taking orders from other tables without jotting anything down, without a notepad or a tablet. We already wondered if she would come back to ask us again what we had ordered.

Nevertheless, it was amazing to see that when she brought our drinks and then the food, everything was perfect. None of us received the wrong order, and Paola wished us a pleasant dinner. As if she had a photographic memory, she served us exactly what we had ordered without mixing up anything or asking whose dish was whose.

Curious, one of my colleagues went down to the bar and was surprised to see Paola preparing cocktails. After we finished eating, we asked her how she manages to remember all the orders. Her answer was modest: "I don't know, it doesn't seem complicated to me; it's actually quite easy." During the conversation, we found out that she had graduated in engineering and was currently pursuing a second degree.

We asked her why she works in a pub, and her answer with a charming accent was: "In life, to reach the top, you have to start from the bottom; that's the only way you can appreciate success." We were all impressed by her wisdom and humility.

Congratulations and thank you to The Grafton Arms team for having such remarkable employees. It's amazing to see that this pub is not ordinary; it's a place filled with art and beautifully decorated, with a pleasant atmosphere and a top-notch staff. I wholeheartedly recommend this location, and I'm grateful for having had such a...

We arrived to the Grafton Arms very easily by train from London Heathrow. We were greeted by two friendly staff members who checked us in and carried our bags up the stairs (no lift). Our room was beautiful, well appointed with full amenities (water, cookies, chocolate, coffee/tea, shampoo, etc)||We hadn't eaten all day and quickly turned about and went downstairs to the restaurant. We saw a member of the kitchen staff who looked a little hesitant when we crossed paths and quickly realized that this was their break hour. They spoke with the bar manager immediately and offered to stay and make us food. We ordered without hesitation and gratitude. My husband's order was incorrect and mine was a little overdone however we couldn't have cared less. He doesn't eat beef but was too hungry and humbled to send it back because they stayed to feed us! The happy hour drinks certainly helped with that as does the 10% discount for staying at the Arms! Recommend the Pornstar martini and the ginger beer.||Great area in general, it felt safe, and very walkable. We had one incident crossing the road a few blocks away and were very nearly hit as a car whipped around the corner and quickly hit 100 km/hr in a residential. Within seconds he smashed into a black top taxi sending a wheel flying and hit a tree. This was our first night and we were heading to one of the local pubs for a different adventure. After the ambulance and police arrived we ventured back home to shake it off. We missed last call but the awesome bartender must've seen that we looked a bit distressed? lol! We ordered a couple of pints - he's a saint!||I had been trying for months to book a room to no avail and tried again on a whim and managed to snag one last minute. I was drawn to the dogs ;) I'm so glad I kept checking!||Overall an excellent stay and you won't find better staff anywhere...bonus points that they seem to genuinely like each other. Thanks so much for making this a memorable end...

Really bizarre Thai food which took an inordinate amount of time to arrive, given most punters were just drinking, and we were one of the first to order food that evening. Chilli squid was okay but on the overly chewy side, possibly had been in the deep fat fryer for too long, and certainly was not light and crispy. This turned out to be the highlight. (To confirm, it did not look anything like the squid photo on Google here uploaded by the Grafton Arms 10 months ago - this squid was dark brown in colour.)

The Thai green curry with prawns might as well have come out of a jar of Sharwoods - it was a really thick, gelatinous Thai sauce in an unusually bright green colour, with a few pieces of courgette. It wasn’t fresh, had a strange synthetic aftertaste, and lacked vegetables or fresh herbs on top. Really disappointing, as I’d literally joked to my partner right before ordering that it was impossible to screw up a Thai green curry. But here we are. The consistency was like melted white chocolate or PVA glue - I wasn’t given a spoon but was able to eat it with a fork it was so gloopy and thick. It should have been fresh, fragrant and light but it was so far removed from that.

The prawn Pad Thai was marginally better in terms of ingredient variety, but even that was claggy to a point where my partner wondered if they’d used a thickener (in the noodles) and some ingredient in there (perhaps the peanuts) had a really strong aftertaste of having sat at the back of a cupboard for too long.

Both were incredibly disappointing - if you’re after Thai food, Rosa’s Thai is 30 seconds down the road (plus other excellent and authentic Asian restaurants in the area).

Two stars on the basis that the staff were friendly and the...