http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street <b>Great Queen Street</b><br />London, 32 Great Queen Street, WC2B 5AA, United Kingdom en http://trustedplaces.com/uploads/placepics/trustedplaces.comaPlacePic['name']}.140.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1k4ay8
Review by chrisp

Rating: 5.00
Tags:
Like a celebrity wearing sunglasses indoors, 32 Great Queen Street likes to think it's something special, from the conspicuously nameless frontage and dark wood panelling. Inside however it's business as usual in the standard gastropub style - bare wood tables, rickety chairs, tumblers instead of wine glasses. It's a recipe that's worked well enough for its sister pubs the Anchor & Hope and Eagle, and judging by the noisy room full of happy customers on the evening we visited, it's got off to a very good start here too.

The first thing I noticed after I'd sat down was that the room appeared to be full of chefs; it was only after a few minutes it dawned on me that the waiting staff all were wearing chef's aprons. I suppose this isn't a big deal but it made me slightly guilty trying to ask for something, as if I wasn't supposed to be bothering them. Still, I soon got over it.

There were all sorts of interesting things on the minimalist menu - brawn, snails, fois gras, artichoke - quite an eclectic selection and it made exciting reading. However the trend towards stripped down descriptions of the items was a bit extreme. I had no idea what the 'Terrine' was a terrine of, or what 'crab on toast' was going to look like, but I suppose the mystery was appealing in a way. In the end I plumped for 'Brawn'.

This looked lovely on the plate, a rustic presentation but just tidy enough, and having had no idea what to expect from the description in the menu I was very pleasantly surprised. The texture of the brawn itself (ironically a kind of terrine) was interesting, with some big chunks of meat held together by a tasty pate, and cutting through the fat was a good sharp spray of mustard vinaigrette. A perfect introduction to something I'd never tried before - subtle, herby and great fresh ingredients.

The main was "Rabbit, snails and Spanish rice", so being the adventurous type I am it was a natural choice. It turned out to be a kind of risotto, bursting with gorgeous flavours and perfectly seasoned. The snails were superb, not drowned by the other ingredients at all, and nice and fleshy. In fact the only thing that stopped this dish short of perfection were a couple of horrible dry pieces of (I think) rabbit liver that I had to leave uneaten. Fair enough to use them in cooking the stock, but they had no place on the plate. Otherwise though, a good, bold main course.

The dessert was another hit - a Muscat Caramel Custard which tasted rich and satisfying, even if it looked a bit saggy on the plate. I had this with a glass of Muscat dessert wine - why not? - but the £10 house white we had been chucking down our necks all evening was also perfectly good.

It was about this time that I began to notice the overwhelming array of aromas filling the room from all the other dishes. Everything smelt incredible, of fresh ingredients and rustic French flavours; every time a waiter rushed past with another serving you could almost see other diner's nostrils flaring. Calm and sophisticated this restaurant is not, but for sheer exhilarating pleasure and market fresh food at very reasonable prices (the bill came to £38 each, including more than enough wine), you can certainly do no better in this part of town.]]> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:03:53 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1k4ay8839321769 chrisp 51.51584 -0.120576 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1d79d8
Review by Jaime

Rating: 5.00
Tags:
...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.]]> Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:52:43 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1d79d8307808597 Jaime 51.51584 -0.120576 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1w15j8
Review by Sarah_W

Rating: 4.00
Tags:
Weâ¬"ve been meaning to try this restaurant for some time, and what better excuse than my recent birthday? Iâ¬"d read some great reviews, and luckily it lived up to all expectations.

Your first challenge though may be finding it! Donâ¬"t look for a sign outside, as there isnâ¬"t one. Instead you need to know that itâ¬"s on the north side of the street opposite the very grand Freemasonsâ¬" Hall. Inside, the welcome is friendly and the décor cosy ⬠dark red walls, basic wooden tables, lots of bustle. This isnâ¬"t a place to come for elegance and style, or for a romantic date ⬠itâ¬"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 didnâ¬"t disappoint.

All in all, an excellent night out. The only shortcoming of this restaurant is its popularity. Weâ¬"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 hadnâ¬"t been rushed during the meal. This small concern certainly wouldnâ¬"t stop me coming again however ⬠in fact, I canâ¬"t wait to go back!]]> Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:02:27 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1w15j8725787817 Sarah_W 51.51584 -0.120576 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1d04b8
Review by lenalouise

Rating: 4.00
Tags:
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...]]> Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:45:48 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1d04b8221109335 lenalouise 51.51584 -0.120576 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1b44h7
Review by sue

Rating: 4.00
Tags:
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 ; )]]> Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:02:59 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1b44h7277029839 sue 51.51584 -0.120576 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1b74e7
Review by Hazzabout

Rating: 4.00
Tags:
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.]]> Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:15:51 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1c04882/great-queen-street/1b74e71268562998 Hazzabout 51.51584 -0.120576