The Grey Horse - Smok'd — Restaurant in London

A Deeply Disappointing Evening – A Review of Grey Horse Smokd

To the Management of Grey Horse Smokd,

I am writing to detail a profoundly disappointing experience my party and I endured at your establishment on (Today) 06th of September with reservation at 17:30 . What was intended to be a special birthday dinner for my future father-in-law fell drastically short of expectation on every level.

From the moment we arrived, the service was lacking in both warmth and professionalism. There was no acknowledgment of our reservation, and we were met with an indifferent attitude from a blond gentleman not in the standard uniform. For a celebration, the complete absence of any gesture—be it a reserved sign or a simple birthday recognition—was notably absent.

The operational issues continued with our order. We were informed that the steak, a centrepiece still advertised on your website, was unavailable. As a vegan, I had specifically chosen your restaurant hoping for a considered plant-based option. The "Vegan Classic Burger" priced at £14 was a grave let-down. It was a rudimentary patty devoid of the advertised ingredients, strikingly similar to a fast-food product, and arrived without any accompanying side.

When my fiancée queried this with the same blond waiter (who sported a moustache), his response was unprofessional and dismissive. His sceptical tone and the act of scrutinising the menu in front of us, as if doubting her word, was unacceptable. His eventual solution—to simply remove the charge without any apology or acknowledgement of the error—was delivered with a defiant attitude that compounded the offence.

The culinary disappointments extended beyond my meal. The ribs were dry and possessed the unmistakable texture of having been reheated, a substandard offering for a venue that purports to specialise in barbecue.

A restaurant of your purported calibre is judged on its consistency, its service, and its ability to honour its marketing promises. On this occasion, you failed on all counts. It is a real shame, as we had hoped to find a new favourite. Needless to say, based on this comprehensive failure, we will not be returning.

I trust this feedback will be used to address these significant shortcomings.

Yours...

This is a review I would rather not be writing as I previously regarded this pub quite highly, however after our experience at the weekly quiz last week I shan't be returning nor recommending this place anymore, well at least not their quiz.

We have played the quiz on off for a year, not so much over summer, but reasonably regularly over the autumn, winter and spring period.

The quiz states no phones during the quiz, a rule we complied with, however being quite a long quiz, between 2.5-3 hrs there are a couple of breaks during the quiz. What wasn't made clear is that the no phone rule extends to the full duration of the quiz including breaks, my friend checked his whatsapp during the break and we were shouted at by the (drunk) quiz master and essentially kicked out and banned without any opportunity to show we were not cheating, we were more than happy to show our browsing histories and group chats as we were not cheating and had nothing to hide. Quiz master was having none of it, purely taking the side of one of the regulars who ran inside to accuse us of cheating the moment she saw my friend on his phone during a smoking break, a bit sad really and quite frankly I would rather play a pub quiz with people that don't take it quite so serious! We have never won out of about 6 maybe 7 quizzes we have attended, nor have we ever cared about winning we merely went for a laugh and as an excuse to meet up every now and then.

When being effectively kicked out we were called out on the mic by the quiz master and accused as cheats and we were shouted at by the quiz master "make sure you pay your tab!" Highly unprofessional and quite frankly ridiculous treatment all because one of the regulars decided to wrongly accuse us of cheating! It is a shame as the pub food itself is very good and the selection of beers is pretty spot on too. Oh well, it isn't exactly like Kingston is short of other pubs just as good and in many...

First time attending this place. Nice set up with a modern pub restaurant feel yet retaining some historic aspects with the design.

Staff were polite, accommodating and service could not be faulted.

Wife ordered classic burger for £12. I was concerned how big the roast would be and was considering a burger but after asking the staff member how big the portions were for the beef brisket S-Moast, I was assured that it would feel me up and more. I therefore went with their opinion and ordered this for £20.

My wife tried the burger and gave me a bit to try and it was cooked very well with great flavours and encased in a nice brioche bun. My meal was unfortunately underwhelming and I instantly regretted ordering it. It mainly came with two slim cuts of the brisket with two half potatoes, a piece of cauliflower, some gravy, a horse radish type sauce with some mixed vegetables and a Yorkshire pudding placed in the middle. There were also a few other bits. It was a nice put together dish with nice complementing flavours but for what is effectively a £22.50 roast (with service charge), an extra potato wouldn't have gone amiss along with much thicker pieces of beef brisket.

Would recommend a Singapore Sling Cocktail. Was really nice and well made.

Rather unusually went home and had stomach cramps. My partner had the same. She even went on to vomit a few times. This food didn't seem to agree with us, but I'll give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt. I think one issue is that your given water in little whiskey glasses and the food is really salty and due to how it's cooked dehydrate very quickly.

For those that are interested, they don't offer emergency services/blue light discount.

I'm also not a fan of the auto adding of service charge to the bill but I didn't mind paying it as service was good and at least this place says that staff...