Pollen Street Social

"Great food. Restaurant dining room was intimate and classy. Service was good, with a warm towel to help you settle in. Food was of a very high standard."

"I hope that they were just having an off day! It's the first time that we had been back to Pollen Street Social since Covid. I was very surprised at the loud music pumping from the speakers, making it difficult to hear the waiters and to hold a conversation. The service wasn't properly organised (or there were too few staff and too many customers). Only one of us drinks wine, so he didn't want a bottle of wine, just some glasses through the meal. He had to ask for the wine list every time, as it wasn't offered after the aperitif stage. The menus were slow to arrive (but not as slow as for the table next door who had been there for ages and had to ask for them). Another table ordered coffee, but had drunk this and left before their petit fours turned up. We decided to have the extended lunch menu; service for this was a little slow, but not pedestrian. We did not hold up service in any way and were, therefore, surprised to be told as soon as we had finished our dessert that our time was up and that we had to leave the table. The waiter then, belatedly, suggested that we could have coffee in the bar area. We were escorted to the bar area, which was quite full, and chose one of only two spare seats - it was relatively near to the door. We were then ignored for quite some time until someone brought us some petit fours with a mumbled apology and asked if we would like tea and coffee with them. We said yes, but had eaten the petit fours by the time that it turned up (I realised after the waiter had left that the tea wasn't as I had ordered it, but I had given up at that point). Whilst we were drinking our tea and coffee (and unasked) our bill was brought to us. That's the first time that this had happened to me and I was unsure what had prompted it, other than the fact that we were sitting close to the door. I was very surprised to find that we had been charged for the teas and coffees (and that the charge for the tea was incorrect) and also noted that we had been charged for only the three course lunch menu, rather than the extended lunch menu. Whilst errors in bills have happened before, this was the first time that I very seriously considered just paying the bill as it had been presented. The person who had brought the bill then came over (unasked) to obtain payment. I pointed out the concerns that I had regarding the bill and he agreed to take off the charge for the tea and coffee and also amend the charge for the meal (there were no thanks for pointing out the £50 extra charge). Whilst he was dealing with this, I went to the bar and suggested that he halve the service charge, which he did. He then brought the bill back to us (but sent someone else to collect the payment). We came away feeling rather deflated, as we had been very much looking forward to our lunch. My feelings would have been different if the food had been to its previous standard (much can be forgiven if the food is sublime). Unfortunately, whilst the food was good, no course had such unforgettable flavours that I wanted to eat it very slowly so that the flavours stay in my mouth for as long as possible and that I would talk to friends about afterwards. I used to work in St George Street and Pollen Street Social used to be my favourite local restaurant - somewhere to come to lift the spirits when I'd had a bad day at work, to bring colleagues when something had gone well and to bring friends who wanted to try fine dining for the first time. Based on our recent experience, we might come back to check if it was just a bad day, but I wouldn't be able to recommend it to my friends. "

"The restaurant cancelled our reservation just 10 hours before our booking time. They refuse to give 80£ deposit back"

"2nd visit was every bit as good as the first "

"What can I say this never ever disappoints, it’s fine dining without feeling the stuffiness you sometimes get, I was lucky enough to have Jason cooked for us at the chefs table and every course was perfect. Nothing negative to say about this place "