Great Queen Street

Reviews for Great Queen Street

• 5

  Great Queen Street

  32 Great Queen Street London WC2B 5AA uk
  
  Jaime

  12th June 2008

  Great Queen Street...

  Current

  ...is great. Great food, service and atmosphere. Think meaty, meat dishes - great steaks, game, potted shrimps - very modern British, not cheap, but not too posh that you can't wear your jeans and Converse. It's not wholly necessary to make a reservation, which is great for the disorganised as you can just roll up, take a seat, have a few beers and wait for a table (or even better, a seat at the bar) to appear. To get an idea of what the place is like, the last time we went our waiter was a dead ringer in terms of looks, personality and outlook for Howard Moon in the Mighty Boosh.

  Post to facebook

  Was this review helpful? (1/1 found this review helpful)

  Report this review
• 4

  Great Queen Street

  32 Great Queen Street London WC2B 5AA uk
  
  Sarah_W

  1st December 2007

  Great gastropub

  Current

  We’ve been meaning to try this restaurant for some time, and what better excuse than my recent birthday? I’d read some great reviews, and luckily it lived up to all expectations.
  
  Your first challenge though may be finding it! Don’t look for a sign outside, as there isn’t one. Instead you need to know that it’s on the north side of the street opposite the very grand Freemasons’ Hall. Inside, the welcome is friendly and the décor cosy – dark red walls, basic wooden tables, lots of bustle. This isn’t a place to come for elegance and style, or for a romantic date – it’s all about the food here!
  
  So, what about the food? The menu changes daily and is very seasonal, although I gather that some items are regular favourites. For our autumnal treat we chose:
  For me
  ~ celeriac soup with foie gras (a tasty disc floating in the centre which melted into the velvety soup); partridge on a bed of kale and other vegetables; prune & armagnac mousse
  For Chris
  ~ snail & bacon salad (one of those regular favourites); pork with choucroute; chocolate pudding
  
  We were also excited to see our favourite Austrian grape represented on the wine-list, a Blaufrankisch from Mittelburgenland, which didn’t disappoint.
  
  All in all, an excellent night out. The only shortcoming of this restaurant is its popularity. We’d booked an early evening table (7.00PM) and were encouraged to leave quite promptly after finishing our meal as others were waiting for tables, although I have to say we hadn’t been rushed during the meal. This small concern certainly wouldn’t stop me coming again however – in fact, I can’t wait to go back!

  Post to facebook

  Was this review helpful? (5/5 found this review helpful)

  Report this review
• 4

  Great Queen Street

  32 Great Queen Street London WC2B 5AA uk
  
  lenalouise

  30th August 2007

  Current

  Being a sister restaurant of Anchor and Hope (one of my favourites), I knew Great Queen street would not disappoint and I was right. There are a few familiar dishes that I'd had at A&H before and the menu setup is pretty much the same...the dishes for that day printed on a piece of A4. They seat more here than at A&H and you can actually book, (wow!! lol).
  
  We had starters of steak tartare and potted shrimps. The steak tartare portion was a bit smaller than we expected but pretty tasty nonetheless and the potted shrimps were delicious.
  
  For mains we shared a lancashire hotpot and had it with greens. The meat was soooo tender and the flavour was just amazing. I ended up eating more bread just so I could soak up the sauce :D . After that we were pretty full so we went for some tasty cheese as we finished the rest of our wine. Oh no, I want to go back already...

  Post to facebook

  Was this review helpful? (3/3 found this review helpful)

  Report this review
• 4

  Great Queen Street

  32 Great Queen Street London WC2B 5AA uk
  
  sue

  24th August 2007

  Not your average Covent Garden restaurant

  Current

  I was eagerly anticipating our evening at Great Queen Street - not only was I going to spend some time wining and dining with loved ones, but I was also going to get to check out one of the current 'places to go'.
  
  Located a stones throw from Covent Garden, Great Queen Street is seemingly trying to keep a low profile, with no signage on the exterior. There was just a small menu stuck on the front window with the name, along with the tempting dishes on offer.
  
  On entering the red-walled, wooden floored, attractive space, I was momentarily taken-aback by the noise. Yep, this is a noisy place with no soft furnishings to help soak up the excited chatter. That said, the atmosphere was great, and the place was really buzzing at 7.30pm on a Monday night.
  
  The staff were wonderful - friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, patient. I wanted to become best friends with them all. The crowd was animated, with a good mix of after-workers, groups of friends, tables for two, and even one of the owners of Arbutus/Wild Honey was spied sitting at the bar with a mate.
  
  The menu was an intriguing mix of British fare, with dishes simply named, such as "Crab on Toast" or "Foie Gras" or "Cup of Gazpacho" - no need to ask for menu translations!
  
  There were six of us dining, and to start we all shared the Smoked mackerel, and two of the daily specials - the Snail salad, and the Pigeon bruscetta. The mackerel was deliciously smoky, and the pigeon even impressed our resident pigeon-phobe.
  
  For main course four of us shared the Seven hour neck of lamb and boulangere potatoes - what a great dish! The lamb was so tender, and the serve of potatoes was probably big enough to feed the whole restaurant! We also had the Braised shin of Hereford beef, and the Braised duck. These choices got the thumbs-up as well.
  
  Dessert finished off the meal perfectly, and included the Little chocolate pot, and a few scoops of the Banana & Caramel ice cream and the Pear & Vanilla sorbet.
  
  We had an excellent evening at Great Queen Street, though I wouldn't go there in a group again as the noise made it impossible for the whole table to participate in a conversation. Next time it will just be me and Alex, and a good bottle of red ; )

  View comments (1) Post to facebook

  Was this review helpful? (13/13 found this review helpful)

  Report this review
• 4

  Great Queen Street

  32 Great Queen Street London WC2B 5AA uk
  
  Hazzabout

  24th August 2007

  Covent Garden Gastropub

  Current

  I was keen to try this place, after all the hype when it opened a few months back - it's run by the people behind the Anchor & Hope and the Eagle - both gastropubs I'm very fond of - but the bonus here is that you can book a table, rather than having to take your chances like you do at the Eagle, or wait at the bar for hours like you do in the Anchor & Hope.
  
  If you can find your way inside (it's difficult to find, being unmarked from the outside), the menu will seem familiar to anyone who's visited any of these other gastropubs - it changes daily and relies on in-season, British ingredients, and all looks so delicious that it's difficult to choose.
  
  The food definitely lived up to its promise - the six of us ordered lots of different dishes between us and there were excellent reviews all round - as did the wine list (wine is served rather bizarrely in little tumblers rather than wine glasses). The staff were extremely friendly and there is the same open-kitchen, relaxed feeling that you get in the Eagle.
  
  I didn't like the atmosphere quite as much as some other gastropubs though. I think this is basically because there is not really a proper bar area (though you can sit at the bar to eat or drink, there's no standing room), and you pretty much have to book - essentially it's not really a gastropub at all, more like a restaurant or brasserie. Also not so keen on all the dark red walls and dark wood floors and furniture - maybe in winter this will seem cosy, but on a summer evening it just seemed unecessarily gloomy. The quality of the food means I'd still visit again, though.

  Post to facebook

  Was this review helpful? (5/5 found this review helpful)

  Report this review