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Aldgate East (District, Hammersmith & City)
Liverpool Street (Central)
Aldgate (Metropolitan)
Mon-Fri 9:00 - 11:00
Mon-Sun 12:00 - 16:00
Mon-Sat 17:00 - 22:30
Sat-Sun 10:00 - 11:00
Sun 17:00 - 21:00
Since I wasn't in London long enough to gather 16 friends to have a whole roast pig at St. John, a friend took me to the Spitalfields location for a meal instead!
We ordered a variety of starters, but the one I remembered most was the broad bean and lovage soup. I didn't expect it to be cold, but the flavors and depth of the pureed soup were AMAZING. I would come back to St. John just for this dish alone! The Tomatoes & Pickled Walnut on Toast were also very delicious, despite my first impression of, "Well, it's just tomatoes on toast.. how good can that be?"
The speckled face lamb was also fantastic. The meal was finished off with some fresh baked madeleines that were to die for.
I'm sad that I'm thousands of miles away from the best food I had in London now.
Having read so many gushing reviews about St. John's, I was somewhat disappointed with my experience finally getting the chance to visit.
We were lucky enough to be seated straight away, however I found the room to be rather noisy and it was therefore difficult to hear my dining partner. This may be due to a rather boisterous table, but it still made the experience a little less pleasant.
Perusing the menu, little jumped out at me, although I do appreciate the attention given to cooking with seasonal ingredients very much focused on British recipes. Having made our selection, we were informed by the waitress that they had run out of two of the four dishes that we had ordered. Not being a meat eater, there was little else to choose from so I opted for the cheese board which was delicious.
Drinking wise, it was nice to be able to order carafes of wine , providing other options than just glass or bottle. The samphire salad my friend had was delicious as were the scallops. Yet somehow the entire experience failed to live up to my admittedly rather high expectations. My friend agreed.
I do concede that it was a Friday evening, so I hope coming back on weekend morning to try their bread and pastries may provide a more uplifting experience and a chance for a re-review.
Great bread ... great fish ... just amazing .....
If I fancy a slightly more special lunch whilst I'm shopping on Brick Lane then I head up the road to St. John Bread & Wine. A British style bakery and wine shop with an eating area, I appreciate their eclectic take on British food and the easy-on-the eye modern interior.
The dining area has a composed air about it and the waiting staff are very attentive, yet it still has a less formal dining experience than what the menu may suggest. The seating is arranged on the window side whilst the other half is the partially open kitchen area, this works well as the bare interior is warmed by the presence of the chefs busily at work.
The restaurant has set times and vairying for breakfast (from 9am), elevenses, lunch and finally super from 6pm, which is very English way of doing things that I find nice, great for the hobbit in you. Their slightly eccentric take on traditional British food wont appeal to everyones palate, for example at the moment they have 'Pig's Head, Mustard and Kale' on the menu, but I enjoy their adventurous style without the gimmicky element that seems to be so popular in many restaurants at the moment. I recently tried the 'Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Duck Egg' and the 'Quince Jelly Fool', both were gorgeously simple and tasty. Their deserts are a mix of super rich, such as 'Eccles Cake & Lancashire Cheese' and super refreshing with 'Bullace Sorbet & Russian Vodka' one that is great to balance the richer mains with.
I have a real weakness for their eccles cakes that are jam packed with currents, teamed with a pot of tea, these make the perfect elevenses. You can take these form the bakery area on the way out so we usually pick up a few as we leave. I've also had the best EVER damson jam here, which I actually re-labeled and passed off as my own one year for the neighbours Christmas present, but we wont mention anymore about that!
A real flagship eatery for great British food.
Listed in: From restaurants to cafes: the…
maybe it's gauche of me to love foie on toast, but good lord, i do. and i loved it here. add to that a lovely (cold) lovage & broad bean soup, tasty leek vinaigrette & wood sorrel salad and some fresh peas & ticklemore, and you have the makings of a great dinner. that said, my favorite part of the meal was the dessert ... apple & rhubab pie with cicely ice cream ... but mostly for the ice cream, which was the yummiest bit of the evening. herb(ed?) ice cream, gooodness, i'd like more!
Listed in: london
This is a place to visit to demonstrate a few things.
One, that British food can be damn good. It's crazy to me that people in the USA think that eating in Britain is going to be torture (I had a friend ask me, 'What did you eat in London? I just saw a travel program with Rick Steves and he said there is nothing to eat in London.' Stupid). Anyway, St. John (both locations) makes really, really interesting, challenging and good food. This week I had starters of grilled sardines in a parsley sauce--incredibly fresh, firm, and tasty--and a salad of fresh greens and pig heart (not a typo), and followed that with pork cheeks braised with parsnips (the pork was incredibly tender and tasty, the parsnips were sweet with a porky flavor as both were in a rich, flavorful broth). Oh, so good...
Second, this place will not break the bank. It's a bargain for London. Dinner for two with a nice bottle of plonk was less expensive than a lunch of fish and chips with a beer at Harrods food hall. Pretty incredible for a true foodie experience in London.
The setting is very casual and yet feels old and authentic, you know you are in London. The food is challenging (I know I have friends who would look at the short menu and see sardines-liver-pork cheek-trotter-pig heart) and say there is nothing they want to eat. But St John is a great, affordable London eating experience. Swing by the pub before or after and you have a great evening!
I don't have enough proof to give it 5 stars, so I am giving it 5 stars based on instinct.....because this is a "love at first bite" kind of place.
I walked in around 6:30 for an early business dinner, and I just loved how unassuming and simple the place is and that smell of fresh bread just knocked my socks off.
Of course I love that they have an ample wine list and then the most interesting of menus. I ordered the mussels in cider for a whopping £6.50 thinking that would be my appetizer, but it was a massive portion--so much that I couldn't even finish it (although I must confess eating a lot of bread, but the bread was just soooo good and both the bread and I were so happy soaking up the delicious cider broth!). I wish I had had room for dessert because they sounded divine. I was definitely drooling over other tables' plates--there was a beet salad that looked divine.
This place is definitely on my "A" list--I can't wait to go back with a big group and sample away!
At the top of Anthony Bourdain's list of places to eat before you die!
The bone marrow w/ parsley and a lil sea salt on toast was sinful. The Pork cheeks are to die for! Will definitely return on our next trip back to London!
After reading about St. John proper, it was a pleasure to come across St. John Bread & Wine while walking around the outskirts of Spitalfields Market. Luckily, we were able to procure a table without a reservation on Mother's Day, which is no small task.
My girlfriend and I enjoyed a reasonably priced bottle of Viognier with olives, Jerusalem artichoke soup, a light salad, a pasta-esque dish of stacked fennel and cheese, a whole quail with aioli and another salad with pigs skin, sorrel and chicory.
Highlights include the artichoke soup and pigs skin salad, but the quail tops my list. The preparation of small birds and game in UK and continental Europe is an art and the kitchen at St. John has mastered this fine art. Kudos to the kitchen for the simplicity of this memorable dish.
The staff is lovely and not forceful at all; they know how to give you enough space to enjoy your meal but not feel forgotten. The design is sleek but not cold, it's actually rather welcoming.
Best of all was the caramel treacle with custard to finish the meal, a fantastic British treat. St. John Bread & Wine is must do for any lover of great food and the good life.
I wouldn't necessarily say that St John's is anti-vegetarian rather, it's pro-meat. A lot of meat! In fact three days later I still feel more pig than lady. Much of this lingering, bloated haze can be attributed to the pig's head and prune terrine my boyfriend and I demolished as our first of four small dishes. So meaty. So dense. So sweet. Delicious!
Before we'd finished this our second dish arrived- giant langoustines served with mustard mayonnaise. Yum! While some people might prefer their seafood sliced finely and served at perpendicular angels, I say hand me the beast and let me crack my own way into the good stuff! And good stuff it was, sweet prawny heaven!
Time for a third plate to join our already brimming table. Our token veggie option (we didn't want to be getting scurvy after all) was a beautiful salad of Jerusalem artichokes, roasted red onion and rocket. The rocket actually ended up being watercress which was a pleasant surprise although I would have preferred slightly less dressing- this was supposed to be the healthy choice after all. Still, I'm sure both my conscience and my body benefited from the vegetable interval!
Finally our mutton and kale arrived to join the party. Essentially this was a really great stew, slow cooked, wholesome and warming. Personally, I could have done with a little more kale to break up the meatiness of it all but as far as complaints go, this is hardly worth mentioning.
If you haven't grasped it already, I'm a big fan of this restaurant! St John Bread and Wine is a far less formal than its bigger sister and all the better for it. There was something especially lovely about watching a couple of young children fight for the last scrap of pigs head- beats listening to bankers talk money that's for sure! Hopefully next time I visit I'll have had the foresight to pre-order the suckling pig- you've never known food envy until you see one of these carried past your table! Five paragraphs and I haven't even mentioned the bread or the wine- oh well maybe I'll have to leave something for you to discover yourselves. Take it from me though, this place won't disappoint- well recommended!
One of the best meals ever. In hindsight I wish I'd done a meal of starters rather than 1 starter and 1 entree. We showed up half an hour early and was able to be seated immediately. It was a luxurious meal that lasted nearly 3 hours and we never felt rushed. The staff even comp'd us glasses of wine due to our dessert taking longer than expected ( we didn't even notice it taking a long time but they apologized for the chef burning the dessert & remaking it). Can't wait to go back!
St. John is an unmissable stop for carnivores. The offerings of offal are unrivalled, and cooked to perfection. I'm not much of a meat eater myself, but even I couldn't resist trying the marrow and heaping platters of smelts. There's a reason St. John and Fergus Henderson are so celebrated -- the quality and service are outstanding.
The meal we ate here was literally one of the best meals I've ever had. Their bread is fresh and delicious and the wine list is varied and reasonably priced. The atmosphere is sophisticated, simple, and casual and the staff is knowledgeable, helpful, and articulate on both food and wine (and pairings). The menu offers modern interpretations of classic British fare, but the food is so far beyond what one would think of as typically British. The cold pea and mint soup was absolutely incredible, so flavorful and unique...I could have eaten bowls of it! The beets and pork cheek were both outstanding! Everything was of the highest quality and perfectly prepared. I wish I could remember more details of this meal, but I suppose I'll have to go back to London to give it another try. And seriously, I would go back just to eat at St. John Bread and Wine.
We had an impromptu dinner at St. Johns and found that most of what is written here is true - cool minimalist room, friendly service and an affordable wine list.
One other comment is that with many things on the menu you are unfamiliar with, and a relatively unstructured menu, it is easy to create a rather oddly-structured meal - which we did.
Food is on the simple side, but well-cooked, and always some odd choices available.
Also, be warned - menu items disappear quickly as the kitchen runs out so earlier is probably better.
If you are looking for traditional English grub, St John Bread and Wine is the absolute ultimate and perfect for taking your friends to Sunday lunch.
You can even order a whole roast suckling pig which will feed up to 16 dinners but the little piggy must be ordered a week in advance and will set you back £320. We did this for a friend's birthday and I have to admit, it is well worth doing if you are looking for a special Sunday lunch.
If you like your food you will love it here - don't take anyone who is on a diet or calorie conscious because the grub is here to be enjoyed. The staff are wonderful and the dining area is very quaint and with a pleasant atmosphere. They also do some delicious desserts which should not be resisted!
Listed in: Top Restaurants
St John Bread and Wine is a really amazing place. I went there for lunch a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The whole experience was really nice, from the service, to the food, to the ambience.
The place itself has a really minimalistic design, with a strong white paint and polished wood vibe. I really like the open style kitchen as well. The staff were really good and not over bearing at all.
They really do use many bits of animals in really creative and delicious ways, and I love the contemporary twist that they give to the traditional food. I didn't realise how cheap it was to have lunch at St. John's, our mains were much less that 10 pounds each.
Man, this was a delicious experience. Mussels, nettle soup, salad, middle white and greens and chocolate rum cake!
I am a worthy disciple of the St John restaurant. And I will follow their leaders anywhere. So far it's taken me only to St John Restaurant (mothership), St John Bread & Wine and Hereford Road. Up soon I hope is Rochelle Canteen (run by the wives of the St John men with a chef from St John B&W).
The original St. John's ethos of "nose to tail eating" has literally transformed British cuisine as it's taken the consumption of no-frills, meaty, offally and locally sourced plates to another level.
While still part of the clan, St. John Bread & Wine is the "light" version, serving adventurous dishes but not quite at the same intensity - and their bakery is a highlight (the source of St John's lovely, lovely, LOVELY bread). The baked goods and fresh ingredients are so amazing that even a veggie friend claims St John B&W as one of her favourite restaurants around.
It's best for breakfast or lunch as the space is bright, sparse and casual. I can't quite give it 5 stars - mainly because it must sit in the shadow of St John.
St. John Bread and and Wine is one of the most traditional British restaurants in London. With its minimal decor and simple approach to cooking, St. John is a favorite among foodies. The menu consists of small plates which includes sprouting broccoli, smoked mackerel, and langoustines to name a few and which are all favorites of mine. I always take out of town guests here or to its sister restaurant St. John and they are always quite pleased and impressed by the food as well as the service. I love this place and would suggest it to anyone who wants the best of traditional British fare.
Neighborhood: Farringdon
Neighborhood: Spitalfields
Neighborhood: Spitalfields
Neighborhood: Shoreditch
Neighborhood: Shoreditch
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
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