Joe Allen

I have been going to Joe Allen since I was a little girl; that's at least once a year for 28 years... I went last night with friends having spent a substantial amount of time promising them the best ribs they will ever taste whilst reminiscing over nostalgic tales of Dale Winton bringing me my 14th birthday cake and Honor Blackman blowing my brother a kiss, all in the infamous restaurant. I mentioned to said brother that we were going. He hurriedly encouraged me not to bother as “it's just not the same". I disregarded his comments and, regrettably, booked anyway. I was hugely disappointed. It has noticeably changed and definitely not for the better. Yes the venue has been 'spruced up', but no-one cared that it was slightly worn out - a 1920s prohibitionesque bar should be and that was always part of the fun! In fact the only things that really needed a good seeing to were the loos and they’re still that very distinctive blue. The venue, some of the staff and Jimmy are still there (thankfully) but the food is completely different. We were offered (unnecessarily) three different menus on which none of the original fabulous Joe Allen options made an appearance!! No wings, no ribs, no ice-cream with hot sauce, wine no longer served in a carafe!!! Mortified, I bit my tongue and politely asked the waiter what was going on. He informed me that the reviews on the internet would confirm that the restaurant was the best it had ever been. Well, the calamari was generic and average at best, the burger was not a patch on Meat Liquor (or even Byron Burger for that matter) and the peanut ice cream and jelly was so hard that I required a chainsaw to hack through it. As well as the atmosphere, the only other thing that ever really drew anyone to Joe Allen was the food, which has very much died a death. I would like to make it clear that I have never taken the time to write a review before and am not intentionally trying to give Joe Allen's a scathingly hard time. I just think the new owners should really consider why people have been going there repeatedly for all these years. I mean, why would you take the two best-selling dishes off the menu? Needless to say, I won’t be going back again and so, for me at least, it’s the end of an era.

I agree with the Time Out review. The food is so tired and way behind what else is on offer in and around central London. The atmosphere however is always buzzing and the restaurant remains busy. The crowd is as old as the menu but like they say if it aint broke...

Shocking. Sparsely populated on a Saturday afternoon, but service was extraordinarily slow. The "off menu burger" is now listed on the menu, but wasn't actually available (I've had it in the Paris branch and it was fine). Instead I had a chicken salad the like of which I haven't had since the dark days of the 80s, when London restaurants were a joke. Utterly vile. Couldn't tell which elements were chicken and which were potato. Horrible dressing. Our dishes sat waiting on the kitchen counter for a waitress for 15 minutes. But the chicken in the salad certainly hadn't been cooked that day, so it wasn't in a hurry... My dining companion ordered a second glass of cranberry juice "without ice this time please". The second juice arrived in a far smaller glass to compensate for the padding that the ice offered in the original. They really have their eye on the bottom line here. London is absolutely jammed full of great pre/post theatre dining options. This is a pathetic anachronism. Someone should put it out of its misery.

Went here at the weekend, great restaurant, great food and polite staff, nice atmosphere and not pretentious one bit! like a lot of places in Covent garden. I wanted to spend a bit more than usual and wasnt dissapointed so was willing to spend the money. Loved that it was hidden away a very fashionable place, great place to know about before going to the theatre! will be going here again.

Terrible menu, so limited I had to resort to a Chicken caesar sald, nice enough but I can prepare that myself at home. It used to be such a fun place with a good burger menu, but now you have to ask for a burger off menu and what they bring is so minimal and boring, it is grossly overated and over priced, it is relying on its past and has become complacent.

Liked it very much. The (off menu) burger was one of the best burgers I've had in London, fries were great and there was some nice innovation on the menu (the green beans served with black beans were a lovely touch), while the selection of great imported American beers (Sierra Nevada, Goose Island, Sam Adams, Anchor Steam) was great. Recommended.

Truly appalling food considering £18-20 for a main course... I've had better tasting, better quality food for £5 at my local pub, what a waste of money, Waiters slow (but overworked... there were three for a sitting of well over a hundred... so not their fault really) food sitting on pass for over 15 minutes, completely ruined veg and just tasteless, cheap produce. We're never eating here again and would recommend you give it a miss. Highlight of the evening was swinging open the door as I was leaving and nearly breaking Derren Brown's nose as he was arriving... he didn't see that one coming!