St. John

St. John is a hyped restaurant, and so I had high expectations. It is a very no-frills restaurant, which is almost refreshing in a way; sparse decor and white. The service received was excellent; it was my birthday and we were greeted with two glasses of champagne. Each server was courteous and friendly and very helpful. The food itself is why I'm giving it 4 stars; not the 5 I wanted to give it. It's a tad too rich. Be prepared for that. The bone marrow will require your own muscle to get out; became quite messy. Overall the dishes were solid, but just so, so rich. Even the dessert - bread pudding - was too rich. I feel like it could be curtailed a bit, and it would be perfection. We will give it another try regardless.
4 7 years ago (04-10-2017)

Was very disappointed with my experience. I'm all for trotters, trip and nasty parts. Give me sweetbreads or give me death. However, I found St. John to have become a parody of itself. The food was self referential in that it was overly indulgent in the "fat" aspect that made St. John so revolutionary when it hit its stride 20 years ago. My dishes were overly buttered and greasy. For example we had some greens and radishes small plate. Gone was the nice interplay of creamy butter and snappy fresh bitter you can have with fresh greens and radishes. It was replaced with a buttery sopping pile of greens and greased up radish. The Pig cheek plate was over indulgent. If it were sweet it would be sacharine. Fatty to the point of sickening after a few bites. Instead of crispy skin and some juicy fat, with soft tender cheek meat, we got a plate of quivering pig gelatin and grease. I wanted so badly to enjoy this. I just couldn't.
3 7 years ago (30-08-2017)

What a strange place. Food is nice but very specific in terms of the clientele they are looking to serve and the taste is extremely, err, offally. Service was great so the people are friendly and welcoming and bring you in nicely. The link between the bar and the restaurant could be more clearly made because they appear like separate places. But they really aren't...
4 7 years ago (14-08-2017)

Meat lovers paradise especially if you love grouse or pork. Very friendly service. Very comfortable ambiance.
5 7 years ago (21-10-2017)

Was very disappointed with my experience. I'm all for trotters, trip and nasty parts. Give me sweetbreads or give me death. However, I found St. John to have become a parody of itself. The food was self referential in that it was overly indulgent in the "fat" aspect that made St. John so revolutionary when it hit its stride 20 years ago. My dishes were overly buttered and greasy. For example we had some greens and radishes small plate. Gone was the nice interplay of creamy butter and snappy fresh bitter you can have with fresh greens and radishes. It was replaced with a buttery sopping pile of greens and greased up radish. The Pig cheek plate was over indulgent. If it were sweet it would be sacharine. Fatty to the point of sickening after a few bites. Instead of crispy skin and some juicy fat, with soft tender cheek meat, we got a plate of quivering pig gelatin and grease. I wanted so badly to enjoy this. I just couldn't.
3 7 years ago (29-07-2017)