The Watergate — Restaurant in London

3/5 - An all-around middling experience at this restaurant (though it definitely feels more like a cocktail bar that serves food, rather than a fully fledged restaurant). It's decent in terms of food quality, service and atmosphere - but throw in the standard London pricing and the hype surrounding it, it falls short of delivering a memorable experience.

We went for an early dinner on a Saturday. The place wasn't too busy when we arrived at 5:15, but it took over 15 mins to get our drinks (3 of our dishes hit the table by the time our drinks came - which weren't anything too complicated, their signature negroni and a glass of wine). All the food dishes were fine, but nothing really noteworthy. The oxtail was very tender, which was a plus. The baked gnocchi was basically as cheesy as mac and cheese, which had I known, I probably wouldn't have ordered it.

Service was always polite, albeit patchy at times. Every time we interacted with someone it was fine. But just got the sense that the service wasn't overly attentive (waiting for our drinks, place setting was missing a serviette, leaving without anyone acknowledging us). There was a larger group in the main room so I expect that's where the staff's attention was, but still - dropping £80 for a meal at a 'nice' place, you'd expect a certain level of service.

Ambiance was probably the nicest thing about the Watergate, it's your standard low-light, moody, hipster nirvana. But not quite enough to save the night. My partner went to the toilet but returned less than 10 seconds later, with a terrified look on his face and shaking his head. For anyone wondering, his hygiene standards are well below the norm, so if even he couldn't put himself through that experience, it must've been horrific scenes in there.

All in all, we left a little disappointed. Reviews seem great online, but to be very honest, our dinner experience felt lacking. If a friend reeeally wanted to go back for brunch, maybe I'd consider it, but I wouldn't go...

Wow what an amazing find The Watergate was us on a cold Thursday night. We went to go to Sharkbait And Swim but they were closed for their holidays. So we ventured down Deptford High Street wondering where to go as spoilt for choice. We went to go in the Vietnamese but it was BYO. So we went to get some booze from the Off Licence and saw the warm lights outside of The Watergate and thought we would go and inspect. We were greeted by a very friendly waitress who let us peruse the menu to decide if we wanted to eat there. It looked good and was a friendly welcome so we decided to give it a go.

We started off with a couple of cocktails which were faultless. I had a Ben Shalom which was exceptional and my mate had an Old Fashioned which wasn't on the menu but they were happy to accommodate. A good start.

We ordered 6 dishes between the 2 of us which was perfect. The prawn and crab croquettes were perfectly cooked and beautifully golden in colour, very tasty and fresh. The grilled artichokes were beautifully fresh and tender with a nice amount of spice. The ox cheek with mash and jus was the star dish for us, very tender and deep and could have eaten a lot more of it. The chips were great, well seasoned and cooked. Seared scallops also very tasty and not overcooked which is a rarity. The chorizo was our least favourite dish but still very tasty and we ate it all. A larger portion compared to the rest of the food but less delicate as a food.

The waitress let us try the natural wine as neither me or my friend have been previously convinced. It tasted okay so we decided to get a bottle. It was okay but I'm still not sold. Would prefer it if they had a nice few 'normal' French wines or just non-natural wines on offer as well. That said I will still be back for the food, I will just have cocktails to accompany my food instead.

Finished off with a chocolate fondant with honeycomb ice cream which was great. Perfectly cooked and tasty.

Will definitely be back although not for the...

Had a lovely brunch here. First of all, the best spicy Bloody Mary I have had in London. We tried the chicken and waffles which I must also say is one of the best we’ve had in the U.S. or the U.K. (we are chicken and waffles fans, are American and have lived in many areas in the states that make amazing chicken and waffles). The chicken was perfectly cooked and seasoned, and it came with a really delicious sriracha hollandaise and what I think was a lemon curd. Just a fabulous combination with the waffle. We also tried the cornbread french toast. As much as I love cornbread, I had never considered making it into a French toast, but this was amazing. It was a nice, moist cornbread that had herbs and corn kernels— I would have enjoyed it alone, but made into French toast and topped with syrup and bacon, it was out of this world. We also tried the rarebit croque monsier which was deliciously cheesy. And finally the baked eggs with merguez sausage. The sausage was so flavorful and the ragout was well seasoned and fully of delicious veggies— squash, chickpeas and bell peppers. Just lots of lovely touches like a germolata and Greek yogurt for a well balanced and satisfying dish. Can’t wait to return to try more options. Service was great- very welcoming staff. Cute...