John Salt

This is by far the worst Sunday Lunch I've had in London. The roast beef came out absolutely blue - there was blood seeping onto the plate. They advised 'this is how we do it', which is perfectly fine, but the menu or waitstaff should advise this when you order. We like our meat rare usually anyway, but this was much more than 'rare roast beef' which is normally pink, the meat was hardly even warm. The 'roast chicken' was actually smoked chicken, but again this was not noted on the menu, nor were we advised this by the waitress. Smoked chicken has a very specific flavour, and some people don't like it. Regardless, putting roast chicken on the menu when it's actually smoked is just adding confusion for no reason. The roast vegetables were undercooked, and there wasn't a green thing - kale, cabbage, beans, peas - in sight. The gravy looked more like tea-stained water. The roasts arrived without Yorkshire puddings, despite them being included in the menu. In a city full of venues that pride themselves on their Sunday Roast, you can do much better than a Sunday afternoon at John Salt. Try The Albion, Drapers Arms, Pig & Butcher, The Crown, Marquess Tavern and countless others nearby for a better dining experience.

This is by far the worst Sunday Lunch I've had in London. The roast beef came out absolutely blue - there was blood seeping onto the plate. They advised 'this is how we do it', which is perfectly fine, but the menu or waitstaff should advise this when you order. We like our meat rare usually anyway, but this was much more than 'rare roast beef' which is normally pink, the meat was hardly even warm. The 'roast chicken' was actually smoked chicken, but again this was not noted on the menu, nor were we advised this by the waitress. Smoked chicken has a very specific flavour, and some people don't like it. Regardless, putting roast chicken on the menu when it's actually smoked is just adding confusion for no reason. The roast vegetables were undercooked, and there wasn't a green thing - kale, cabbage, beans, peas - in sight. The gravy looked more like tea-stained water. The roasts arrived without Yorkshire puddings, despite them being included in the menu. In a city full of venues that pride themselves on their Sunday Roast, you can do much better than a Sunday afternoon at John Salt. Try The Albion, Drapers Arms, Pig & Butcher, The Crown, Marquess Tavern and countless others nearby for a better dining experience.

We had Sunday lunch here yesterday, there was 10 adults and 1 toddler and I can honestly say every one of us loved it. As somebody that hates pubs etc that are too noisy John Salt had the level of music and type for a chilled Sunday lunch perfect. My man and me shared the crab and fennel on pork skins and burnt leeks for starters and both were delicious and both had the baby chicken for main and it was perfect with great beet tops and fab roasties, everybody that had the beef rump cleared their plates and raved about it. The service was fantastic with nothing any trouble, even when we asked for more beef and chicken gravy pots. Great bloody mary that comes with a cracker and a couple of slices of cheddar on top, my only criticism would be the cheddar could have been tastier, but in the grand scheme of things.....at least two of the waiters played with the toddler that was with us engaging him with pieces of fruit and making him laugh. This is our new favourite Sunday haunt. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Had a wonderful evening eating 12 courses - incredible food, excitingly presented with amazing flavours. Highly recommend.

Desperately overhyped. Minute portions, one or two of which were delicious and innovative but gone in two mouthfuls. The chicken on a brick more or less sums up the experience: a tiny smear of underwhelming parfait with a few tiny berries. Top marks for the bread and butter, which was delicious, but is not, no matter how hip it might seem, a 'course' in its own right.

Fantastic meal last night - 8 course tasting menu - best in London this year. Technically adept, inventive food. Hen of the woods was delicious, turning what can be a rather unexciting wild mushroom into something truly out of the ordinary. The wild salmon didn't do it for me - texturally just too spongy, but everyone else loved it. The scallop "burger" with kiwi and black truffle was a winner all round - a nod to Peter Gordon but none the worse for that. The chicken on a brick is a fine and interesting dish - the lingonberries adding a tart contrast to the chicken skin and the parfait. The vacherin risotto was liked by the alliophiles rather more than by the alliophobe but was, on any view, technically perfect. The beef heel was a well-judged coda to the end of the savoury dishes, adding a rich, beefy, gelatinous hit. The whipped cheese with carrot puree was a very clever re-imagining of a cheesecake - the sort of idea that Ferran Adria would have been proud of before he moved from cooking food to creating art. The wine list was suitably off-piste, with the Domaine Roches Neuves the most mainstream of the non-hedge fund wines. The service was also exceptional. But maybe, as Alan D says, I am just a fawning idiot...

Seriously ? Is this the biggest case of emperor's new clothes in modern food. Are we right back to the days of silly gimmicks passed of as genius. I thought those days had passed. I tried the tasting menu it was pretty tasty... in parts. The guy has some talent but is it just me who doesn't get why a brick covered in caramel with some chicken liver parfait is ground breaking. Isn't it just making the people fawning over it look like idiots. Also has nobody noticed how quiet the place actually is ? Went back for the roast, apparently the chef didn't turn up for work...it showed.

Hello experienced diner. Frustrated you choose to take to a website about your meal. Contact me direct please on ben.spalding@hotmail.com

Incredibly disappointing. This should be a lot better. Amuse bouche and mushroom starter was promising, but it went down hill from there until pudding which ended the meal on a relative high. Chicken on a brick was pure gimmick, a chicken pate of normal quality. The Machiavellian egg was bad... mashed potato and egg with parsley sauce. The smoked watermelon didn't go with it but was the only refreshing foil to the stodge. The scallop burger 'thing' just plain didn't work - overpowering kiwi meant all the subtleness of the scallop was lost - we were encouraged to eat this with our hands which was a messy and unpleasant job. The rainbow trout was actually good, unusual texture which I enjoyed with the fragrance of kafir lime. The heel of beef was average, but was very sticky and had no textural contrast on the plate - although it tasted good I wouldn't be surprised to eat this on a Sunday at a fairly good pub. Ben himself presented this telling us it had "caramelised shallots 'n' that" - yeah thanks for that Ben. Puddings were the highlight - the fennel and absinthe one was balanced well and also had lovely textural differences with nuggets of chewy biscuit and sponge. The chocolate mousse was sweet and chocolately with a black pepper edge which worked to stop it being insipid. But overall a disappointing meal which wasn't cheap. 2 stars.