Unity Diner — Restaurant in London

Been to NoCatch which is the sister fish n chips in Brighton, it was amazing, finally trying out Unity Diner. Overall the food was really good, let down by the service and atmosphere.

Starter: Calamari - this was super delicious, chewy just like the normal thing. Love the touch of chill to them. Smoked salmon - it was ok, but wouldn't order again, good for nostalgia reasons, but that's it.

Mains: Lobster Mac n cheese - I took a bite and was bitterly disappointed, it was so bland. But then realised there is a sauce, I think it's meant for this dish, it was never explained nor in the menu, unsure! But much better with the sauce, better but would try a different dish next time. In fact, with the sauce it was a huge portion!

Sirloin steak - good but not cheap! Worth a try. It's on the salty side and the texture is more like pulled pork, guess it's how they 3D print it. Good regardless but probably not an exact mimicry of sirloin.

Service: Server sat us down, told us the menu is via the QR code, and told us to grab him when we're ready. Took a bit of effort to grab his attention, but fine otherwise. However, 1 table was treated so poorly that they left, I saw the whole thing, completely understand why they left. Another also looked concerned as they waited to flag down the waiter.

Atmosphere: Loud music despite being only 7pm on a Wednesday. Good if you enjoy more of a club like atmosphere. So loud my ears actually started hurting 10mins in... Too bad, so I probably won't be back unless there's outside seating.

Suggestions: seeing as the menu is via QR code anyway, just have your customers order online, without having to flag down a waiter. The serving side was completely fine, just some inefficiencies and frustrations with ordering. if this is primarily a restaurant, please tune down the music, we had to shout across the table to talk. If it's meant more like a bar, then as...

A broadly positive experience with a couple of areas to improve.

My boyfriend and I went for a midweek date because we've been wanting to go for a while. Obviously easy to get to being in London. The diner is very nicely fitted out with lots of space at each table, a diner style kitchen and a very nice bar. We started with a couple of cocktails which were fantastic and very nicely presented, paired with a portion of the calamari and the mozzarella sticks. The calamari were on point, I haven't eaten any kind of fish in years but this was a perfect texture and taste of my memory. The sticks were very nice but maybe lacked that saltiness you find in mozzarella.

Onto mains and I went for the NYC hotdog and my boyfriend for the VFC burger, we shared a portion of cheezey fries. The hot dog was great! The burger was also really nice except it seems they were using a different bun to usual as its different to pictures in other reviews (a white warburtons style burger bun instead of the brioche style listed in the menu) and it totally fell apart when trying to eat the burger. So far a great experience. On the cheezey fries however I felt let down as although they're listed as fries on the menu, its clearly chunky chips. Also the menu said it was "loaded with three melty cheezes" but as you can see in the photo, not exactly loaded of melty at all. I would've expected some sorted of cheezey sauce instead of a sprinkling. However when the waiter asked how the food was I gave him my honest opinion, he agreed and took it off the bill. A very nice and unnecessary gesture!

We love their mission statement, the atmosphere, drinks and most of the food. We'll definitely be returning to try other menu items and see if we can raise that score to a five...

As I sat down to eat at Unity Diner on Sunday, my heart sank - the menu wasn’t what I expected. They serve a Sunday Carvery on that day, not their usual menu. As a long-time fan of Ed Winters, I had visited Unity Diner when it was still in Hoxton years ago and absolutely loved it. I was genuinely sad when it closed, and thrilled to hear it was reopening, just in time for a trip I had planned to the UK.

This was meant to be the final, perfect meal of my trip - the climax after some fantastic days. Needless to say, my expectations were very high, and I’m sure that played a part in how I felt.

But being honest: I left disappointed. The food was good, but it wasn’t the Unity Diner I had been dreaming about revisiting. On top of that, I didn’t feel particularly welcomed by the waiter - maybe because it was the last seating of the day, maybe something else, I really don’t know - but it just added to the feeling that the experience was falling short.

I also think the communication around the Sunday Carvery menu could be much clearer. I saw a mention of it, but honestly thought it was an option, not the only option available. When I booked in advance, there was no warning about this, and it’s certainly not obvious when browsing the website. It’s something that should really be made much clearer to avoid future disappointment.

As I sit here writing this, a Steve Jobs quote comes to mind: “I had been rejected, but I was still in love.” That’s exactly how I feel. I’m giving it three stars out of respect for what Unity Diner stands for and what it has meant to me. If I had to match my true feeling when I walked out, it would have been closer to a -1. But despite this, I’ll remain a fan and I truly hope for a better...