Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    St. John Bread & Wine

    4.2 (152 reviews)
    Open 10:00 am - 11:00 AM, 12:00 pm - 4:00 PM, 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

    St. John Bread & Wine Photos

    Recommended Reviews - St. John Bread & Wine

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Pooline N.

    Solid 4.5 stars Uniquely inventive tasty food that is not fussy. Everything we tried was delicious. Madeleines, Welsh rarebit and Shetland beef and mash were standout. Simple buzzing atmosphere, plain tables and decor. Unfussy but comfortable. Service was hit and miss. Our waitress forgot a few things and had to be asked again which is never nice. We ordered negronis and food at the same. Drinks came out when we were already halfway done with first dish

    Pork chop
    Shawn H.

    Excellent. The rarebit is absolutely incredible, as are the smoked cod roe and the madeleines for dessert. The pig skin salad was also excellent, as was the roast saddleback. We were less crazy about the mackerel, which also felt like overkill with how much other (very heavy) food we had already eaten by that point.

    Roast Pigeon, Barley and Trotter 24.00 and a recommended side of chips fried in tallow
    Rachel H.

    Longer review to follow. Definitely lives up to their long term reputation for perfecting simple, brilliant British cuisine. Be sure to get whatever is recommended. Best chicken liver toast I ever eaten, served alongside brandied prune and cornichons.

    Pigeon, lentils and aioli

    I'm shocked to read good reviews about this restaurant because our food was extremely unpleasant. I got served the worst food I've tasted in the past 3-4 years. Wait staff is friendly but they can't make up for the atrocities committed by the kitchen. Everything is uniformly salty, no other flavour depths. My partner got beef roast he said it's mid. I got pigeon, lentils and aioli. The meat was so raw it's like catching a live flying pigeon and biting into it. So meat has no flavor, then lentil dressing was extremely salty. Even the anchovy toast is burnt and salty. Seriously they charge 7 GBP for burnt toast. We got 1 app, 2 main, 2 sides, 1 desert. Bill came to 130 pounds, but seriously all dishes we got were unappetizing.

    September 10, 2023
    JD H.

    I wanted to love this place, I really did. Eating at a St. John establishment has been on my bucket list forever since watching Bourdain do a segment with Fergus Henderson back in the day with bone marrow on toast and black pudding with eggs. I was on business with colleagues and able to score a reservation within walking distance of our billet. It was to be my last (and hopefully best) meal while abroad and I figured I saved the best for last. It is an attractive space nestled next to Spitalfields Market, quite near to some historic Jack the Ripper sights. This means that you are surrounded by a lot of people out to have a good time and spend some money. Walking in, I got the first sense that we might be in for a long night. Initially there was a nice sense of hurriedness in the kitchen and the floor staff were really hustling to get food to the tables. After a few minutes of watching this with no one coming to greet us, it got a little awkward. So we waited and eventually a server told us someone would get to us. It did not appear that there was a dedicated host and I noted about 4 waitstaff, a manager, and a expediter in chef whites all running food out to tables. In between, they often went into the kitchen to try to help put items together and even cleaning dishware at one point. It seemed like they were either people down or the kitchen was really deep in the weeds. I had a great view of the kitchen though and the dedicated cooks seemed to be keeping their cool. It was also very loud. I think it was because it was compact with maybe 50 people dining and the acoustics were terrible. As it got busier, it got so loud every time the servers would come to speak with us, we had to ask them to repeat several times because we simply could not hear them at normal speaking distances and volumes above the background din. I can overlook acoustics since some of that has to do with the old-age design charm of the building. Since it's really about the food, how was it? Good, old-school inventive (meaning it really does use some interesting cuts in a snout to tail kind of way) by dressing things up but salty. My table mates and I love salt and even we thought a few of the items crossed the line. It was great to order some things that one really can't find often such as chicken hearts and pork skin. But some of the fun was removed when the chicken hearts came out on once-crispy toast drowning in jus so it was just a soggy mess. Tasted good but was just a salty, gummy dish. We ate the hearts and left the toast. For my money, the star of the show was the lamb hearts with green sauce and mint. Perfectly seared rare, sliced thin and any gaminess was dealt with by the acidic, herbal sauce. That was a fantastic dish. Here comes the bad part: Our 4 starters and a bottle of wine came out quickly and we polished those off, and then the wait started. About 20 min in, we got 1 of the larger dishes (consider them to be more like mains) and another about 10 min later. About 60 min after that we had not received the other 2 and no one came to even check on us. Food was flying out to other tables and at one point, I did see a billow of smoke come out of an oven and wondered if it was our partridge burning and maybe in need of a do-over. We became so jet-lagged and tired of waiting that at about 75 minutes of waiting with no new food and no one checking on us, I asked them to simply cancel the rest and bring us the bill. The manager came over and told us that the partridge was already being done and would be out shortly and I got the sense that she was pleading with us to stay so we did. I felt bad and did not want them to have to waste a partridge or eat the cost. She asked me if there was anything she could do to make the situation right. I never suggest a discount under these circumstances because I feel bad doing that. I understand they are having a tough night but I wish she would have suggested it or simply just done it. Or done something, anything as a token of compensation. She knew we were not happy and she acknowledged that it was a delay on their end but she did not really make it right. After another 10-15 min, the partridge came out which was ok but forgettable and we canceled the sweetbreads since they had never shown up. They brought our check, charged us full bore, thanked us for coming in and let us leave which was disappointing because I will not make the effort to repeat. There are so many great spots to eat in London and this one seems like it used to be one of them but I'm not so sure any longer and since I don't get to London often, I'm not going to chance it. My disclaimer here is that I don't like to give harsh reviews and I have only been here once. This may have been a very off night for them and judging by most other reviews, that would seem to be the case so I hope this review is simply from the once in a million table that did not enjoy itself here on this particular evening.

    Anton E.

    The service wasn't the best on our visit but you're not getting these plates and flavours anywhere else. Such a celebration of food.

    Beef tongue
    Jen R.

    Excellent service and rustic dishes Came here as a tourist and felt like this was hip place all the locals went to! Our waiter was attentive and helped us pick dishes since we were not totally familiar with everything. I think the dishes were a little too rustic for us. There was a lot of raw cauliflower, the sardines were a little too bony and salty, and the beef tongue was a little too adventurous. Really wanted to like it!

    Smoked Mackerel , Cucumber & Dill
    Jennifer H.

    I'm wowed! We made a reservation and were seated promptly. The style of this place is to order dishes to share, and this is what we did! We got the smoked mackerel, turbot, oxtail, and eccles cake to share amongst two people. The mackerel was mindblowing! The smoked flavor was strong, and the fish was nice and salty. There were tons of small bones, so you have to be careful eating it! The turbot was so tender and flaky, and the butter made it extra tasty. The oxtail was also tender and fell off the bone. The eccles cake (pastry with fruit filling inside) was unique and interesting, especially with the cheese. Overall, I really enjoyed the dinner!

    Randy F.

    Classic British Food While most people think of fish and chips when thinking of British food, it encompasses many more dishes of both baked, cured, and oven-varieties St. John Restaurant is often recommended as representing traditional British fare and their convenient Bread and Wine location at Spitalfields Market is an easy stop after browsing all the great market goods The menu changes daily and we sampled a variety of classics from braised beef and mash to a welsh rarebit and several types of cured fish The prep here is top notch and the flavors are more diverse than the bland British food you might find at a tourist stop: worth a stop to sample real British fare Smoked Cod's Roe, Egg, and Cress £10.80 / Anchovy, Boiled Egg and Mayonnaise £11.10 / Welsh Rarebit (hot cheese sauce over toasted bread) £9 / Smoked Mackerel and Pickled Cucumber £10.10 / Braised Beef and Mash £22.90 / Greens (Cabbage with salt and oil) £5.60 / Bloody Mary £8.50 / Bread and Butter St. John Bread and Wine (London, United Kingdom) St. John accepts credit cards and is indoor dining only.

    @St. John
    Yolanda S.

    Long overdue review. This is the place that I used to come when I was staying in London. It's near Spitalfield market. I usually came for lunch and literally enjoyed all the dishes that I ordered. Very delicious menu. All the dishes were cooked in perfect timing. Give it a try then you'll know, it's just great cooking. Make sure to try the pastry, bread was on point too! Overall, I'm still glad that I made it back to this place before COVID, St. John Bread & Wine really lives up to its reputation, hands down. I recommend this place!

    Chris M.

    I had very high expectations and it lived up to them. As snack I shared an anchovy toast which was perfect to start with. Then, as entrée I had a salad of lamb's offal with chicory and anchovy which was really good and well seasoned. As main I had grilled ox heart that was perfectly cooked, it was really tender. Madeleines are perfect to finish, soft and not too sweet. Service is also good and attentive and wine is great. Given quality and quite good portions, prices are completely fair.

    Sea bass
    Kate P.

    The atmosphere and staff were pretty nice. We were 4 people and we went there for lunch. They provided some "nose to tail eating" which was nice but the taste was pretty average. The sea bass was good though. Overall I was a bit disappointed by the not-so-impressive food. I felt it was a little overpriced and overrated as well.

    Negroni
    Dallas K.

    Really great restaurant. Very friendly staff and great food. We just dropped in for drinks and dessert but plan to come back for dinner. The fresh baked madeleines were our favorite. The negronis were amazing drinks. We also really enjoyed our bread and butter pudding with clotted cream and the twice baked chocolate cake.

    Steak special

    See all

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Shawn H.
    119
    1145
    7899

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 9
    Thanks 4
    Love this 9
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jenny T.
    159
    155
    333

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of JD H.
    515
    655
    3542

    3 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 1
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Anton E.
    1
    107
    58

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 1
    Love this 6
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Randy F.
    1726
    1778
    19597

    4 years ago

    Helpful 7
    Thanks 0
    Love this 5
    Oh no 1

    5 years ago

    Helpful 14
    Thanks 0
    Love this 15
    Oh no 1
    Photo of Chris M.
    7
    1055
    859

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Kate P.
    32
    14
    62

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Dallas K.
    28
    261
    1026

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 61
    Thanks 0
    Love this 62
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Mugendd P.
    55
    212
    598

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Christina C.
    154
    61
    173

    9 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Louisa M.
    1648
    2084
    12038

    10 years ago

    Helpful 10
    Thanks 0
    Love this 5
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jonny Q.
    3527
    901
    3685

    12 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    17 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Anna B.
    28
    34
    89

    8 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    17 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    16 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 4

    St. John Bread & Wine Reviews in Other Languages

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Bakeries 3,271 times last month within 10 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Passione Vino

    Passione Vino

    5.0(3 reviews)
    0.5 miLiverpool Street / Broadgate
    ££

    Excellent wine bar. They do a very personalized service; no wine list. You sit down, tell them what…read moreyou like in flavor/what you traditionally drink/etc and they give you 2-3 to try of their recommendation based on your preferences. Very comfortable atmosphere, you could be a sommelier or only know that you like wine and feel welcome. You can also just treat it as a wine shop & pop in and grab a bottle

    Passione Vino = "passion wine"…read more And, indeed that is the case over here on Leonard Street, at this gorgeous boutique Italian wine shop. My expectation was that I'd make a quick visit (on my list for ages), leave with a few interesting bottles of wine and be very happy to drink them at home with friends over dinner. And my expectations were FAR surpassed. WHOA, this place is excellent! I had about 20 minutes so I grabbed my pup for a walk with PV as my destination. The moment I walked in the door Luca (owner) popped up from the office all smiles (and smartly dressed in a gorgeous pink jumper!), greeted me (and my dog!) warmly and asked me what he could help with. I had vague instructions from my husband for a "mineraly" white, a "floral" white and then some bottles of red. I shared this information with Luca -- and he went to work. I could almost hear the gears turning in his brain as he readied the recommendations! He asked me price point (most bottles fall in the £15-30 range), and then began selecting some the thought would be good choices. Not only did he select them, but gave me an entire backstory on each one, the process in which they were made, the region of Italy, right down to the idiosyncrasies of the winemaker. I had no idea I'd be getting such a robust education, my only regret is that I didn't have more time to be regaled with the history of each! I settled on 5 bottles to bring back, and they were carefully wrapped in paper and placed in very nice canvas totes. This smart operation also does wine tastings and small plates (by reservation only) in their secret basement. Luca gave me the full tour, and of course -- that's the next on my list for the next time I have a smallish group to entertain. I can only imagine what a treat it would be. New favorite wine shop in London. If you like Italian wines, these are your guys and it will be worth your trip. *accepts credit cards.

    Photos
    Passione Vino
    Passione Vino
    Passione Vino

    See all

    Wine Library

    Wine Library

    3.6(5 reviews)
    0.6 miTower Hill, Aldgate
    ££

    I suppose it depends what you are looking for as to whether you will like this place or not. It's…read morein the vaulted basement of a very old townhouse and accessed via a twisty staircase from the street. The Wine Library is divided into a vaulted area with some seats and stools by underlit shelves mounted on all the walls and a wine shop which is a large room filled with wine with a bookshelf at one end. The wines are all a little nicer and pricier than you'll find in most places and the bottles on display range from around £14 to around £400, with the expensive ones being a little dustier. You pick a wine from the shelf yourself and either take it away as you would in any normal shop or hand it to the person working there and it is opened and brought to where you are sitting with some glasses. If you drink your wine there, you are charged the same price as if you take it away but with a corkcage charge of £6 for full bottles and a £3 for half bottles, which is curious as the corks are the same size and so is the work involved in pulling them. They don't sell wine by glass although they have brandies and ports this way. You can also order a plate of around 7 cheeses which arrive with a basket of crackers and biscuits. The cheeses are to be honest very expensive and less than stellar. This is really an after work place, but not for long after work as they close at 8pm. The lighting is far too bright and more suited to reading, a conversation about business or a take it seriously wine tasting event than something more intimate. Think Alexanders, now imagine it with cream painted brickwork and bulkhead lights. The wines are good, what ambience there would have been was painted out. It may be what the owner intended, a place to try fine wines with little thought given to anything else, which is a shame really, because it could be so good.

    Great place for any wine lover. Whenever there's an occasion or I just want to enjoy a fine bottle…read moreof classy wine, this is the place. The last bottle I bought was a Rose from 2009 for just £17. It was good, sparkling and with excellent flavor. I recommend the place!

    Photos
    Wine Library
    Wine Library
    Wine Library

    See all

    TT Liquor - Menu as of late June, 2022.

    TT Liquor

    4.8(5 reviews)
    0.6 miHoxton

    Stunned to be only the fourth person to review this great spot. My partner and I came in for a…read moredrink on a Friday evening around 6:30pm. While the rooftop was booked out for a private party, we were able to walk in to the basement bar and enjoy a full vaulted, brick-lined side-room to ourselves. The basement ambience reminded us of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street crossed with Gordon's Wine bar at Embankment. We ordered the: - Bananaquit (Mount Gay Eclipse, vegan egg nog mix, discarded banana rum, pimento dram) £10.50 - Rufous Hummingbird (Buffalo Trace bourbon, Nixta corn liquor, Banane du Brasil, cocoa blanc, sotol, chocolate bitters) £11 Both drinks on the bird-themed menu were excellent. The Bananaquit, a cloudy drink served in a Nick and Nora goblet glass, tasted strongly of ripe bananas and creamy eggnog. It had lots of nutmeg on the nose from the fresh gratings on top. For those with a nut allergy, you're safe: the vegan eggnog is nut-free. It was a sweeter drink (my partner asked for the sweetest drink on the menu). The Rufous, served on the rocks in an old fashioned glass, was clear and lightly brown in colour. It was served topped with two fresh pansies, and carried hints of chocolate cake and sunny garden, with a stronger alcohol essence. I had not come across sotol before and learned it's a Mexican spirit distilled from herbs, similar to mezcal, though I can't say I specifically tasted it. We enjoyed the ambience of our private cellar room and after our drinks we explored up to the roof (gorgeous space!) and around the bottle shop in the front room. There were quite a few tempting specialty bottles (Ancho Reyes Verde chile poblano liqueur, anyone?) and good gift ideas (Dr. Squid squid ink gin from Cornwall). In the end we didn't make a purchase, but staff were very helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable. I would definitely come here again.

    one of the coolest looking bars i've ever been to, once you make it downstairs it's like being…read moreinside of a cave.

    Photos
    TT Liquor - Our Aviation Room, set up for a cocktail making masterclass.

    Our Aviation Room, set up for a cocktail making masterclass.

    TT Liquor - A beer tasting in one of our subterranean vaults.

    A beer tasting in one of our subterranean vaults.

    TT Liquor - Our liquor store.

    See all

    Our liquor store.

    St. John Bread & Wine - bakeries - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...