Compared to the magnificence of the Wren setting, this restaurant-in-the-crypt feels a little “homespun”; for a “touristy venue”, though, the British dishes can be “surprisingly good” and “interesting”.
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The undercroft of St Paul’s has recently received a major make-over. Part of the vast space is now given over to a relatively intimately-scaled but lofty two-level dining room. It turns out to be...
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Press Reviews (5)
Zoe Williams (25th August 2009)
5/10
The critic warns us that she finds it “unappetising” to dine in the “atmospheric austerity” of a church. Unfortunately, the food at the new restaurant in St Paul’s does little to sway her. Although there is the odd “almost redeemingly good” dish, she is mostly “ambivalent” about her meal, in which “there was more disappointment than awe”.
Tracey MacLeod (27th July 2009)
Food 4/5 stars, Ambience 3/5 stars, Service 2/5 stars
The critic finds the “small and pleasingly plain” new restaurant in the cathedral’s crypt “almost Scandinavian” in aesthetic, with the “high quality” accessories adding a “touch of luxury”. The “short menu is full of lovely stuff”, and the food is praised for it’s “imagination and execution”. Unfortunately, the sole, neglectful, waiter leads her to “echo the verdict of congregations down the ages, great church, shame about the service.”
Sarah Guy (24th July 2009)
4/5 stars
The critic finds the design of this “handsome space in the cathedral crypt” of St Paul’s surprisingly “sensuous and textural”. She enjoys the British cuisine, the standards of which “revealed a very deft pair of hands in the kitchen.” On her visit, service is “eager to please – and pleased we were, especially at these prices.”
David Sexton (17th July 2009)
3/5 stars
Despite his misgivings about eating in a historical building (“the ropiness of the food” often being at odds with the “splendour of the surroundings”), David Sexton has a “thoroughly enjoyable” experience at the new restaurant within the crypt of this famous cathedral, one corner of which has been “pleasingly converted” into a small dining room for the first stand-alone venture of caterering firm Harbour and Jones. An “absurdly British” and rather “mannered” menu produces some “quite gutsy stuff”, which he finds “very simply enjoyable”. The “British thing” extends to the wine list (a mistake), but not to the staff, who are “not British at all”, and so quite “charming”!
Feargus O’Sullivan (26th June 2009)
3/5
“Tucked away in the crypt” of St Pauls, the critic discovers a “simple, understated bistro”, serving up “pleasantly plain” and “affordable” English food.
Zoe Williams (25th August 2009)
Tracey MacLeod (27th July 2009)
Sarah Guy (24th July 2009)
David Sexton (17th July 2009)
Feargus O’Sullivan (26th June 2009)
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