Princess Victoria

We had a very dissapointing meal here. The food was hit and miss with some really good dishes and some dissapointing. But the service is the thing that really lets this place down. We sat down at 7pm and they tried to move us on before 8:30pm even though there was about 6 spare empty tables around us, I complained and got an unconvincing apology from the manager. Then despite apparently needing the table, we had to wait an age for deserts and then we had to constantly try to get attention to receive the bill, pay and leave the premises. I would not return again for food but I would for a drink in the pub which is lovely with friendly bar staff.

We had heard so much about this place, and were disappointed tonight. Perhaps, we had high expectations. The food contains so much Pork dishes, and it's a difficult menu for vegetarians. There were no salads on the menu! The food was OK, nothing extraordinary. Staff is not very engaging.If you like a cosy place with great food, I would go to another place in the area- The Anglesea Arms.

I have now been there twice due to the positive reviews it gets from Time Out. Perhaps I experienced two off days. The menu is totally pretentious and too little choice - how many pork products can you have on one menu?
For lunch I would like some lunch plates not a dinner menu suitable for a restaurant
Anyway the food was unremarkable - it was ok but nothing special
Go to the Adelaide or Eagle much better. Finally the wine list was the appalling though the waiter explained kindly 'yes we are running it down'

We're big fans of the PV having eaten here semi-regularly of times over the past 3 years. After a year off (new baby - diminished social life) We've been back twice in the past 2 months and both times had no reason to feel that both meals were anything other than great. We even enticed some overseas visitors out of their Mayfair hotel for one of the meals and they loved it - and that was compared to the West-End "name" restaurants that they were used to.

I guess every restaurant can have it's off days - as it seems one or two commenters below have experienced - but for what it's worth I've been fortunate not to experience one of these days at the PV and always recommend it.

I absolutely love this place, food is delicious and service is great, nothing to complain about so far apart from once not being able to get a table on a busy night as no reservation was made, can't blame them, who wouldn't want to eat here

I think I may be in for a message from chef James McLean if the previous email is anything to go by.
Time Out is the bible for London eats - but their reviewer must have had the magic mushrooms on his visit - sadly unavailable to us.
This was SERIOUSLY average food and service.
Christ! How difficult is it to boil peas? But the ones with the Fisherman's Pie felt like shrapnel to the taste - and this on a non-busy Tuesday night.
Not once were we asked whether we liked the dishes from a waiting staff who clearly had one eye on getting home early.
Even paying the bill was a problem - and we found difficulty in paying the gratuity using the machine. You would have thought the waiter would have been interested in that - but no, he simply shrugged his shoulders and sprinted to the kitchen.
A big shame - we had looked forward to our debut visit as we live a mile up the road.

To James who posted the previous review..... My name is James McLean, I am the chef.... and one of the owners here at the Princess Victoria and have been here since the very beginning.

I just wanted to get back to you and let you know how disappointed I am to hear of your recent experience at the Princess Victoria and ask if you could contact me at the pub so I can try and understand what went wrong for you on that evening... and if I can assure you that we are fully committed to getting things right and listening when we don't.

We have a lot of plans for the year ahead...... We are expanding our menu to try and give more offering in the way you can eat with us, from increasing the Charcuterie section (all made here at the PV) to adding a section of pickled, cured and smoked fish dishes to our bar snacks...... We will also in the coming days be increasing the range of steaks on the menu and we guarantee that all our sausages are produced on site at the PV.

The wine list is evolving too.... There will be more wine events coming up... the wine shop will be growing and on Mondays in 2011 when you come for either lunch or dinner all wines you order will be at our wine shop prices.

I hope therefore you can give me a chance to speak with you and try and put your concerns to rest....

Kind regards,

James

Seriously average at best? Returned after a year away and returned in high hopes of repeating a great pub dining experience again but was sorely disappointed. Management has changed, the wine guy has gone and staff are inattentive. Food was ok but nowhere near as great as it was. What’s going on?

My wife and I decided to eat in the Princess Vic, out local pub, to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. As usual the food was absolutely stunning but this was easily matched by the great service provided by the staff, particularly Randy, Patsy and the superb Ricardo. Their efforts made the whole night one to remember. Thank you