The Guardian
Grace Dent was resolutely unimpressed by a pub that failed to bridge the gap between being an “old-school boozer” and “a cool restaurant that serves food at premium prices” – a trick pulled off so well by the Devonshire near Piccadilly Circus.
The cooking at the Shaston veered between the very delicate – “creamy mash with a lightly spiced scallop and curry leaves” – and the “simply heavy-handed”: “Does a caramel tart need an overdose of salted almonds and some very bitter citrus fruit? Just because you can do these things doesn’t mean you should do them.”
Worse than the food, though, was the singular absence of hospitality: “They’ve seemingly not employed a single member of staff who is able to provide any of the standard niceties of a restaurant’s front of house, such as checking if a customer wants another drink, changing cutlery or side plates between courses, asking if everything is OK, making eye contact, explaining what the dishes are …”
Grace Dent - 2025-11-23
