I visited Smiths last night, with a birthday party of six. An impressive menu and at the price each of us were anticipating an impressive meal. Eat out a lot but not normally at these prices, so were expecting a lot. In football terms the meal was very much a meal of two halves. The starters did not disappoint. All the starters we had looked good, ranging from oxtail soup, sardines to Mussel and scallops, and I'm assured by they rest of the party, tasted equally good. I had the prawn and avocado salad which tasted excellent. The portions were very generous, a few of us would have settled for a starter only; that's how generous they were. To the mains: these in general did not live up to the quality of the starters. A few of us had lobster thermidore. I have had this before in Lanzarote and I was impressed, however Smiths take on this dish did not match the quality of my previous experience, for one it was not particularly well cleaned and prepared. The other dishes were fairly run of the mill, ie Rib eye steak, cooked well, cod in batter, nothing exceptional, and a chicken dish, ok.
The service was pleasant, if not particularly efficient. Several items we had ordered throughout the meal failed to arrive and we had to remind staff what we had ordered, but to give the staff their due, all these items were deducted from the bill.
One more thing: If you visit the restaurant, and you ask for a list of beers available, don't expect to understand the list which the waitress reels off to you, albeit a very short list, as they only do two ales and two lagers. I had to ask the waitress to repeat it twice and even then, I did not understand a word she said.
With reference to the Guardians food critics comments, all I can say is: he can't get out much. read more