Giles Coren's review of The Wolseley (The Times)
Jay Rayner's review of the Wolseley (The Observer)
Matthew Fort's review of The Wolseley (The Guardian)
AA Gill's review of The Wolseley (Sunday Times)
The Wolseley reviews
I took 5 friends for brunch on my birthday. Some of us ate from the brunch menu while some chose a traditional Sunday lunch. The food was great, service good and the atmosphere was perfectly relaxing for a Sunday get together. I will certainly recommend this place.
by Moo Moo "top london reviewer" (24 reviews), 10 May 2008If you don't mind booking in advance for dinner or lunch (as it does get booked up), it is well worth the wait. The service and food are both good. Even Sunday brunch!
by Firework (6 reviews), 21 Apr 2008What is happening at the Wolseley? I go there every couple of months when I am in town, and generally just turn up for afternoon tea or breakfast (even at lunch and dinner I've managed to get in without a booking). However, on my last few visits I've noticed it has lacked polish and a certain attention to detail. Is it because Corbin and King have poached all the best staff for their new restaurant on Regent Street? Are the staff not bothered now they get an automatic 12.5% service charge? Do they even receive the service charge? Who is the manager in charge?...
The food is still reliable, the decor is great, it's still relatively good value, but I really want to LOVE it again.
Had high expectations but found a noisy, cramped restaurant with the food quality and service of a motorway service station.
by saucyland (10 reviews), 13 Feb 2008Birthday breakfast spoiled by order wrongly taken and had to wait. Three times had to ask for water, cappucino was cold and had to ask for butter. Luckily the manageress was taking note and invted us to have the breakfast on the house, after apologising. The Wolseley has gone downhill - possibly changing staff too frequently? A shame.
by colton, 24 Jan 2008Very busy and interesting surroundings; kind staff who were helpful and friendly; fairly easy to book afternoon tea; half the price of the Ritz and I did not have to be dressed like a dog's dinner to eat! Overall, a good experience.
by londonsparky, 17 Jan 2008Great place to go for atmosphere and good service but not more than that. The food is overrated, overpriced, unimaginative and tasteless... a pity that no one bothered to teach the chef how to cook!
by anne mediony, 29 Dec 2007We have had breakfast with our son, lunch with business partners, tea on mother's day and dinner on my birthday, plus a couple of others in between! We are always made to feel welcome, the food has always been excellent and the menu always interesting, well executed and inexpensive. Can't wait to go back!
by Thabo, 20 Jul 2007Went for breakfast and ordered the crumpets - totally hard and overdone and could have easily been a 70p pack from a supermarket as there was no marked difference at all. My tea was also cold. Viewing the lunch menu, there does not seem to be one main dish suitable for vegetarians. This is such a snobbish and old-fashioned attitude given over 10% of people in the UK are non-meat eaters... plus they attract many of us media types for meetings, many of whom seem to be veggies, so what a silly thing to do. Won't be going back.
by jemimastar (4 reviews), 11 Jul 2007The Wolseley is opulent but not at all stuffy or overbearing. The service from various waiters and waitresses was superb, and not once were we reminded about their two hour rule. The tables were not placed too closely together, so there was no need to raise our voices in order to have a conversation, while the napkins and tablecloth were pure linen and a real treat.
Having had steak only a couple of days before, I chose the Scottish Halibut - grilled rather than poached, with a side order of mash. The other fish choices seemed just as delicious though - Roast Haddock, Grilled Blue Fin Tuna and Baked Whole Sea Bass - and there were some good meat choices too, including Roast Rack of Lamb and Fillet Steak au Poivre. My friend opted for the Plat du Jour, which that day was bouillabaisse, which she said was excellent.
Apart from lunch and dinner, breakfast and afternoon tea is also served here and there's a good selection to choose from the All Day Menu, so if the budget doesn't stretch to a la carte, it's not a problem. And the Plat du Jour, which changes daily, is a reasonable £15.75. Next time I want to have afternoon tea there!
Delicious food and fabulous atmosphere. Staff were very friendly and generally managed to cater to all our needs (the dessert took a long time to arrive, but they deducted this from the bill). Will be back again, no doubt!
by Eliza, 18 Feb 2007Been three times and thought it was excellent at every level - service, food and definitely decor.
by Dannyman001, 22 Jan 2007Having visited this great restaurant in 2005 whilst holidaying in London, I ensured I had a booking for my 2006 visit. The retaining of clients' details on computer is highly praiseworthy, as it's pleasant to be 'remembered' when making a booking, but even more pleasant to be greeted with a "Welcome back" on announcing your name on arrival at the restaurant. Very good PR.
My niece and I had a delightful meal, with superb service from the staff. A repeat visit during my next holiday is definitely on the cards.
Been there a couple of times. Great service, great atmosphere and good food. I definitely recommend it.
by rea "top london reviewer" (17 reviews), 16 Oct 2006Had a nice meal with my daughter at lunchtime. The service was good. Beautiful building. Only problem was a rather large gentleman sat at the table behind so was rather squashed. But looking forward to going again.
by Kayk, 13 Jun 2006You poor person (anonymous 27 October). I had to sit close to Steven Norris. But the food was excellent.
by BernardG, 28 Nov 2005Have we missed a great restaurant in London? Let us know.
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