The Rookery - London

The restaurant felt a bit cold and it seemed like the person in charge had left, leaving only young staff to manage the place. They only accepted card payments, no cash. However, the food was delicious with generous portions.

We came for the Sunday roast. Our table had five people, so not a particularly large group. Anyway, lots of issues. Oy! Our table wasn’t ready for our reservation, the food took an hour and ten minutes to arrive (although one meal arrived fifteen minutes before the rest and had already been eaten by the time everyone else’s meals arrived), when mine arrived the chicken was dry and over cooked, and for my friends who ordered the beef, the portion sizing was all over the place (they had to even out the beef themselves). Mine also didn’t come with a Yorkshire pudding as advertised on the menu (the waiter also tried to argue that it wasn’t supposed to have one until I pointed to it on the menu, at which point he said something along the lines of “oh, okay, but I’ll get you one anyway”... which was a bit infuriating). As a final kicker, two of us ordered the sticky toffee pudding, which was supposed to come with custard, but came with cream instead. Had heard good things, so was very disappointed. Wouldn’t eat here again.

The restaurant appeared pleasant, and I visited for Sunday lunch with a group of 10 people. Despite expecting a longer wait time due to the size of our party, we were still left waiting for over an hour for our simple Sunday roasts. The restaurant was busy, but it seemed that very few tables had received their food. It was puzzling as the roasts seemed like a straightforward dish to plate up, rather than requiring complex cooking. Unfortunately, the food did not live up to expectations - it looked good but lacked flavor. Surprisingly, the red onion was the most tasty element of the meal, overshadowing the beef, potatoes, and gravy. The extended wait time and disappointing food experience were compounded by the addition of a 15% service charge to our bill, which we opted not to pay. I had anticipated a satisfying meal for the price of £16.50, but was let down by the bland dishes and exorbitant cost of items like a £4.40 Diet Coke. Despite the friendly staff rectifying an issue with my partner's meal by removing it from the bill due to a hair found in the food, I left feeling unsatisfied. I realized that I could have paid less elsewhere for a quicker and more enjoyable dining experience.

Really don’t understand how this place survives. Very run down bar. Ordered Blood Marys. Almost undrinkable. Food took 50 minutes to arrive, despite us being two of only six people in the place. Very basic, all over-cooked, two parts genuinely inedible. Still tried to charge us for service. Over-priced. Not many places in town you can describe as both ‘poor’ and ‘over-priced’, but The Rookery is one.

I visited the Rookery for the first time and had a wonderful experience. The pub has a lovely outdoor seating area in front and the staff are very friendly and welcoming. Although I didn't try the food, the drinks were excellent.