How convenient?! Just steps away from St. Paul's. We may not have been business lunching, but we were trying to get a quick lunch before our next tours.
When we arrived there were still a number of tables left, both inside and outside, but seeing as how the sun was out and it was a lovely day, we opted for outside. The wait staff always looked a bit frantic. Our waitress had trouble understanding much of what we ordered, often saying, "What???" It made me worry a little bit, and in a moment I will elaborate on why that worry was warranted.
Anyway, I ordered the Slow Roasted British Belly of Pork and the rest of the table ordered: Wild Mushroom Risotto, Ploughmans Platter, Antipasto Sandwich, and the soup of the day and the Stuffed Portobella Mushroom. The food came out fairly quickly... although my Pork and mashed potatoes were not hot. Everything except Work BFF's Stuffed Portobella Mushroom arrived. We decided to go ahead and start, thinking it would come along in a minute. As we dug in, a waitress with another Wild Mushroom Risotto arrived and looked confused when we said we had not ordered that, but again did not think anything of it.
The pork belly was really good... not the absolute best I have had, but definitely worth the money. There were some crispy bits, but overall because of the jus, there is not a lot of crispy cracklin'... just in case that's what you are looking for. Besides the overwhelming amount of parsley on top, the dish was really good... mashed potatoes creamy and the jus was absolutely delicious. Everyone else seemed to really enjoy their food... Casual Ian almost ready to lick his plate. However, Work BFF still had not received her stuffed mushroom. We waved down a couple different waitresses because each time we said something, nothing happened. At this point, we needed to leave and Work BFF did not want to eat her lunch after we were all finished.
Yet again, another waitress came out with a plate (I imagine the same plate...) of Wild Mushroom Risotto. Work BFF explained (for third... possibly fourth time. I admit I lost count) that she had ordered a stuffed portobella mushroom, but as the rest of the table was finished, they did not need to bring it out, but it needed to be removed from our check. The waitress looked like a cross between mortified and confused and simply said, "Sorry." We waited again for the bill to arrive after we asked a couple of waitresses (ours... never anywhere to be found). When it arrived, not only had Work BFF's stuffed mushroom been taken off, but Casual Ian's Wild Mushroom Risotto had been removed as well. No. We did not correct them. I know. Say what you want, but in my perspective, we did not have time to sit and wait any longer for it to be corrected... Work BFF's perspective may be slightly different.
Anyway, the food was good, price...for the area was probably reasonable, anywhere else it could've been considered slightly pricey, but the service was hit and miss. read more