The River Café — Restaurant in London

I have lived in London 11 years so of course I had heard of the River Café. Many of my favourite chefs trained here. So to say I was excited to finally have dinner here was an understatement. And sadly, to say it was a great disappointment would also be an understatement.

First of all – the prices! It’s extortionate. There wasn’t a main course under £40. Of course, if the food is amazing, it's worth every penny….but we’ll get to that.

Secondly – the menu the evening we went was very meat heavy which really surprised me, considering it was the height of summer. I had expected a lot more vegetable dishes. So we weren’t that inspired by what was on offer. In fact, when I saw the menu, I considered bailing. And I wish I had.

Thirdly – the food we ordered (we shared a starter, and got a primi each – I got pasta, my companion got risotto) was not that flavoursome or inspiring. I am a good cook, so it’s really disappointing when you go somewhere, pay through the nose for it, and could have done a better job yourself at home. My pasta dish was quite bland, adding salt and pepper did little to lift the flavour. I only ate it because I was hungry – I had barely eaten all day, as I’d been in such anticipation of a River Café feast! But I wasn’t given a spoon (it was spaghetti) so by the time a server had brought me one (the service was a bit erratic that evening), the dish was nearly cold.

My companion’s risotto was a disaster. Presentation wise, it was hideous – a big scoop of cold porridge is how I’d describe it (see photo!). I’m all for simplicity and letting the dish speak for itself, but come on….a garnish of rocket or basil would have at least looked like they were trying to make it attractive. And when we tasted it, it wasn’t cooked! The rice was still quite chalky. Again, only eaten because we were hungry.

One never wants to complain but we felt we had to let them know. And to the staff’s credit, when they asked how the meal was and we were honest with them, they were very apologetic and embarrassed, and took the time to listen to our concerns. They ended up not charging us for the pasta or risotto, which was most appreciated. They offered us dessert on the house, coffee, etc. which again was a nice gesture, but to be honest, by then we just wanted to get out of there.

So in the end we were just charged for our drinks and the starter. We’d had a bellini each, a carafe of the cheapest white wine they had, and a starter to share. Plus service, that came to just over £85. Which frankly I think is bordering on daylight robbery.

While the location by the river is absolutely lovely, it’s the food and atmosphere that I go to a restaurant for, and sadly the River Café did not deliver on either. And reading some of the other reviews, it would appear others have had similar experiences, which is a real shame. The place has such a great reputation but it appears to be doing little to protect it. Perhaps the number of celebrities who regularly dine there are keeping it going and they don’t have to worry about what the little people think. But reputation counts for nothing if the experience doesn’t match it. When you’re paying those sorts of prices, you expect things to be pretty much faultless and for it to be one of the greatest meals of your life. Or at the very least, to not be leaving hungry and disappointed.

Will I give the place a second chance? Despite the staff’s effort to make it up to us, sadly the answer is no.

If you want a five-star Italian food experience, where the service and food are impeccable and you will still be talking about the meal you had there six years later, short of going to Italy itself, I would highly recommend going to Theo Randall’s instead (and he is a former head chef of the River Café! So how’s...

I really wanted to like this place, but there were a few aspects that brought my rating downwards.

Food wise, the quality was on par with most London restaurants, but the price was quite high. For a plate of pasta, it was between £30-40. We decided to go with scallops and veal instead. Both were delicious, but the scallop starter only had 2 scallops. We were expecting more. Nonetheless, the quality was pretty good and we didn't leave hungry. The chocolate cake was absolutely divine with the clotted cream on the side.

Service was generally quite average. For Google to mark this as a fine dining restaurant, I think it's a bit of an overstatement. It is a nice restaurant, but not fine dining. The service on the way in/out was great, though. The hostess was very friendly, and they were very open and apologetic towards the issues of the atmosphere (described below). My only issue with the service was when we called to inform the restaurant we would be 10-15 minutes late (and acknowledged we needed to return the table), they couldn't find our reservation for a very long time. When they finally found it, they said we needed to return the table by 1:40. Our booking for 2 people was at 12, and our confirmation email said we had the table reserved until 2pm. I was quite disappointed by the miscommunication here. Although this was again overshadowed by the very friendly hostess.

The atmosphere earlier in the day (on a Sunday for lunch) was calm, but towards 1-2pm, it got very crowded. The tables are very close to one another. When a new group came in behind us, they started shoving their chairs and pushing me into my table. Not giving me any heads up or asking if I could move over. I actually saw them come in and pushed my chair in a few inches so they could get in. They seemed to be an older group, and I wanted to be polite in providing them room to get to their seats. Instead of politely moving around me, they pushed my chair more into my table and set their chairs up against mine. For the last 15 minutes of our meal, they kept pushing my chair. When I tried getting out to leave, I couldn't move my chair at all (they had inched their way such that I had no room to get out), so I fell backwards, causing my chair to almost lift the lady in the chair behind me. The behaviour of other customers is not the fault of the restaurant at all, but this restaurant attracts an older crowd who didn't seem to have any interest in being polite to other customers. I flagged this with the hostess, and she was very apologetic. I appreciate her sympathy, but I hope the restaurant will improve by spacing out their tables more as they had several empty tables and enough room to give at least a few inches between chairs.

Overall, I sadly didn't have the best experience between the food portion to price ratio, and specifically...

I’ve eaten here a number of times over the last 20 years. I was eagerly looking forward to going back. It has always been amazing in the past but on this latest visit - 15 Aug 23 - I am very, very sad to say that I was very disappointed. I’ve never before come away without thinking it was a 5 star experience.

Ok so the menu hasn’t changed much in decades and most things can be found in the eponymous 1995 cookbook. The blue one. Innovative cooking hasn’t been the reason to go there for decades or the expectation that the menu will noticeably change.

It’s also a beautiful space in a wonderful location. No complaints there.

However, the quality of the cooking is not to the exacting standards that it has always previously managed. We had pizzetta to start, topped with courgette and pecorino. I’ve had far better pizzas at Franco Manca and at £31 for this starter it was incredibly expensive.

My risotto main course was well cooked, but a very small portion. That cost £45. My wife’s Dover sole was lovely. Chocolate nemesis was as good as ever, but the summer pudding was arranged on the plate school canteen style and was way too sharp to the taste.

Rather like the food you don’t go to The River Cafe expecting that the wine will be cheap. Or any other restaurant for that matter. The wine list is extensive, interesting and very expensive. But when you discover that a £52 bottle of wine is £10 retail you wonder if they’re having a laugh. But worse than that was the indifference of the ‘sommelier’ in what I’d chosen. Having explained we were having fish I asked if my choice was good, “yeah ok” was the surprising reply.

And that leads me to the real disappointment - it just doesn’t seem very special any more. What used to be very attentive and thoughtful service, mostly by European nationals, has been replaced by people (Brits) who would be more suited to a lesser venue. Nobody poured our wine, asked if our food or wine was good or otherwise and we had a rotating cast of about 6 different waiters. I didn’t get the feeling any of them particularly cared either.

The essence of the restaurant was always simple food cooked really well with amazing service. Last night at least it seemed that the old high standards have been forgotten. I don’t know if Ruth Rogers reads these reviews but if so you need to get things sorted out quickly. Dining out on a - well deserved - legacy reputation is not sustainable unless you strive for the best customer experience, especially when you are charging a substantial premium. Things need shaking up and improving.

Will I return? I hope so, but based on other Google reviews here not before things are...