Covent Garden, Burgers, Etc Restaurant Guide

This former pub in Covent Garden (part of Urban Pubs & Bars) serves “dependable tapas-style” Spanish and Italian small plates in an atmosphere that “feels both private and buzzing”. Marks have dropped off in recent years, though, and those who remember it back in the day, when it really fizzed along, feel it’s “lost its game”.

“Bloody good, succulent steaks”, with “epic cocktails and wines”, all served in “rather clubby”, “classy” surroundings is a formula that’s won fame and fortune for Huw Gott and Will Beckett’s steakhouse phenomenon. “Many happy afternoons have been lost in these places!”, which continue to be voted as London’s “best steak chain by far”, and “a go-to for business”. “Everything is top-notch: the quality and cookery of the beef; the exemplary seafood (be it Salcombe crab on toast or their lobster); even down to their excellent sides of mac ’n’ cheese, bone marrow or Caesar salad”. However, a visit “is not exactly easy on the wallet”. “It’s verrrrry expensive” (and “if you go with mates who like to chug back the wine, the bill will be massive!”). And ratings are coming under ever-more pressure due to “staff who seem unable to cope”, or meals with “too many misses at too heavy a price to be a reliable bet”. Last year, the team expanded to Manhattan and also opened a “stunning floating boat/barge” in the docks at Canary Wharf. Later in 2022, the group will also add a Liverpool branch to rival Manchester’s; and a few months later make a Dublin debut on College Green too. “Are they losing some of their je-ne-sais-quoi as they get bigger and badder? There’s a sneaking suspicion the lustre is being slightly lost.”

“Like a pair of comfy shoes that never let you down”, this nostalgic Covent Garden sibling to an NYC Theatreland brasserie of the same name is “a go-to when we’re in town” for its many fans (“I have been to many Michelin star establishments around the world but Joe Allen is my favourite restaurant”). It was moved – lock, stock and barrel – three years ago due to reconstruction on its original site: “the address has changed, but everything else is the same: thank god!”. Even its fans concede that its unambitious staple menu “might not win prizes for the food” – it’s a place for a bite post-show, not a foodie occasion (with its off-menu burger being its most celebrated culinary offering for those in-the-know).

In looks they are often “almost indistinguishable from the Byron that was replaced”, and Gordon Ramsay’s expanding chain (which has snapped up many of its rival’s former sites) does have fans who say it’s “better than expected” for “a decent burger”. On the flipside, though, there are almost an equal number of sceptics who feel “it trades on the Ramsay name with cooking that’s below par”: “we went not long after this branch had opened hoping for a reliable burger like we used to get there when it was Byron… never have we eaten one so awful”. Still, the roll-out continues with a recent addition near Farringdon station.

In looks they are often “almost indistinguishable from the Byron that was replaced”, and Gordon Ramsay’s expanding chain (which has snapped up many of its rival’s former sites) does have fans who say it’s “better than expected” for “a decent burger”. On the flipside, though, there are almost an equal number of sceptics who feel “it trades on the Ramsay name with cooking that’s below par”: “we went not long after this branch had opened hoping for a reliable burger like we used to get there when it was Byron… never have we eaten one so awful”. Still, the roll-out continues with a recent addition near Farringdon station.