http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1a11872/the-peasant <b>The Peasant</b><br />London, 240 St John Street, EC1V 4PH, United Kingdom en http://trustedplaces.com/uploads/placepics/trustedplaces.comaPlacePic['name']}.140.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1a11872/the-peasant http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1a11872/the-peasant/169qu7
Review by up_shiraz

Rating: 2.00
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It might have had something to do with the long walk, or the pouring rain, but when we walked into the peasant it was with some trepidation. It's quite a big space downstairs but it doesn't seem to be configured to hold that many people, with an enormous space taken up by the bar. The decor is pretty cool and the British Beer Festival that was on was a real beer drinker's delight. If the mark was for the pub alone it would have been a higher star rating.

We headed upstairs for a birthday dinner and the room was nice. The staff were a bit fussy and as it was so quiet (on a Saturday night), they kept trying to take away unfinished drinks etc. They were friendly enough but not inspiring.

Unfortunately it all fell apart with the food. The menu is really very attractive, with very posh sounding gastro pub dishes. Prices seemed to be that London gastro staple - £6-8 starters and £13-16 mains. The donwside of an exciting menu is that if the food doesn't match it, you have a massive case of over-promising and under-delivering. Now i don't want to see that unless it's means that the annoying girl/guy is being fired by Sir Alan.

Wood pidgeon cassoulet was just a a bit of a cheat. The beans were tasty and the wood pigeon tender, but it wasn't confit'd...so it wasn't really a cassoulet. Don't call it a cassoulet then! The young lady's oxtail was meltingly good. Others had oysters and such like and seemed happy enough.

The wheels came off with the mains. Braised beef brisket was a massive hunk of dry beef without enough juice, fat or sauce to keep the jawbones interested. The birthday girl's Balmoral venison was so tough that it all got left behind. This came from the Queeen's deer, people! I mean...Libby...what happened there? Did you hang the beast at all? Did Phillip do the butchering himself? I'll stop there...before I incriminate myself any further.

So all round not good enough. But the upshot is I get to give my first 2 star review. I've eaten so much good food recently that I was worried it would never happen and you'd start thinking i was a bit soft. Well, I am a tough cookie after all...grrrr...]]> Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:06:36 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1a11872/the-peasant/169qu71151881534 up_shiraz 51.525135135653 -0.10439927833642 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1a11872/the-peasant/1x59p7
Review by mrsevans101

Rating: 5.00
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Having eaten lunch here some time ago in the downstairs gastro pub we decided to make a return visit for an evening upstairs in the restaurant proper.

The pub was full of wedding revellers so it was a little surreal to wade through the crowds to go upstairs to the sombre-by-comparison dining room.

The upstairs restaurant is beautifully decorated with vintage cinema posters and the furniture is very much of the French brasserie style (with a wonderful high ceiling, proper napkins and French waitresses).

The menu is short and concise with half a dozen choices for each course.

Of particular note was the squid with mini stuffed peppers, a salad dressed with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and little pieces of gently fried chorizo. The best dessert (which I can only recommend second hand as there was no way my husband was going to share) was the assiette of chocolate - a chocolate parfait, chocolate mousse and (I think) a white chocolate milk thingy. I also enjoyed the pan fried haddock which was served on a delicious bed of crushed potatoes, flavoured with mustard and plenty of butter (making the additional mash we'd ordered rather superfluous).

Service was excellent - friendly but laid back - and the selection of wines available both by the glass and by the bottle were excellent.

All told, three courses with wine (including a delicious red dessert wine) came to about £90 including service charge.

I'd definitely recommend a visit, especially at the weekends when this neck of London is pretty quiet.]]> Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:54:39 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1a11872/the-peasant/1x59p7802344155 mrsevans101 51.525135135653 -0.10439927833642 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1a11872/the-peasant/1k45p8
Review by gilka

Rating: 4.00
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This is a nice gastro bar which I found just by walking around this area on November 2007. On the door you can see all the food quality stamps which is not a bad sign to begin with. We ordered a steak sandwich and sausages and mash they were both very tasty, came quick and affordable. The music was great too as well as the deco. The man on the bar was friendly and helpful. What else do you need? we came around 4:30 afternoon at Friday, later on it got really packed! ]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:51:25 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1a11872/the-peasant/1k45p8233481640 gilka 51.525135135653 -0.10439927833642