The Grove Tavern — Restaurant in London

3 Course Lunch Deal - £15.95 Outdated website.

Starter : "Soup of The Day (home-made bread & butter) " The bread was maybe 3 baby finger size pieces in the soup like croutons. and the butter was a pool of oil on the soup. IMO bread should mean a slice of bread, on the side. Not already bobbing in the broth.

Main : Black Truffle Pasta  . Quite bland.

Dessert : Ordered a Baileys and something cheesecake (again website not up to date so can't give specifics) Dreadful. First of all I don't think I received what I ordered because it came drizzled in some sort of fruit sauce with 2 blackberries on top. It tasted old. The base had parts that were inedible. Whole thing was pretty flavourless and certainly no bailey's element to it.

Decor : I don't like all establishments modernising, but this place needs a like of paint. The colour scheme is as outdated as the playlist (exclusively 80's pop). On one side there are summery canvases of Lemons and Limes, and on the other side there are Black and White photos of candles or vases or something. A wild contrast.

Main Gripe : The logo is a lemon (possibly a Lime) There are 3 canvases of Lemons THE ONLY LEMONADE AVAILABLE IS STANDARD TAP LEMONADE.

This was the biggest surprise of them all. NO SAN PELLOGRINO OR FENTIMANS or equivalent. You know, a decent tasting lemonade with a higher percentage of juice.

If a restaurant has pictures of pizzas, I'm going to expect decent pizzas. if a restaurant has pictures of lemons, I'm going to expect some decent lemonade.

Staff member was...

I paid £11.25 for a white wine spritzer and a glass of pineapple juice, which is exorbitant considering the following: 500 yds away the exact same wine is £4.50 for a large glass & with a pineapple juice totals: £7.20. The wine was okay but I kind of resented that I was trying to order a basic house white with soda from a lady who clearly did not know what I was talking about. To be fair, she was very sweet and so I didn’t grump. But up the road where it was really busy … the prices were sooo much cheaper?! The woman who served me did not understand what wine was - did not know what a spritzer was and I had to virtually make my own drink. I’ve run a busy 200 seater bistro and don’t think it’s fair to customers to be served by waiting on staff who have limited English but likewise, it’s unfair on the staff. I’m from London’s Notting Hill and have been to and continue to visit, some great eateries but I chose not to eat here. The menu looked okay but I wasn’t into it. I like the outdoor seating and the blue blankets are adorable but the prices are a no-no. I’m not stingy but I know when to pay £25 for a glass of Poully Fuisse and a glass of basic house white.

You see, no matter how cool the setting is, no matter how charming ( real or no) the host is when he arrives - there’s a kind of lurch at paying good wine prices for cheap plonk which… is what I asked for, what I got but at a really...

I live locally and have been going to the Grove for years. Whilst it’s still a great location the food is terrible. Since pre COVID I have to ask to have a warm plate served as the food goes cold really quickly. I have visited twice with friends since 19th July and on each occasion the main courses were cold. Cold meat and mashed potato and risotto. The sauce for the chicken pie had coconut in it, there’s no ingredients listed on the menu and I am allergic to coconut. The gravy for the pork was vinegar, from a previous experience I asked to have it on the side as it had made the dish inedible. On my latest visit I was so glad it came separately. Even though we sent back one dish we were charged the full service charge. I decided not to send mine back as I was so embarrassed having recommended to a friend we go there. It seemed like an inconvenience to accept there could be anything wrong with the food. It wasn’t busy, there was at least 3 staff in the kitchen. So disappointing that you have lost a local family and friends. Post COVID, it’s not really surprising that The Grove is not busy which is really sad as it hasn’t a lot of it’s style of restaurant competition in...