St John Restaurant, Smithfield Market
| Address : | 26 John Street, Smithfield Market, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 4AY |
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| Phone : | 020 7251 0848 Please mention thefoodplace.co.uk when you call. |
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| Cuisine : | British |
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| Open for : | dinner, lunch |
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| Type : | restaurant |
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| Tags : | award winners, michelin starred, private dining room |
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| Awards : | 2009 - 2013: One Michelin Star |
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| Short URL : | http://iate.at/xnx8 |
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St John's was opened in October 1994 by chef Fergus Henderson and experienced restauranteur Trevor Gulliver. The restaurant is based in an old smokehouse situated right next to London's Smithfield Market (the hub of the meat trade in London). The restaurant is famous for it's "nose to tail eating" philosophy, with lots of unusual cuts of meat and offal appearing on the menu.
Other restaurants in the group are; St John Bread & Wine and St John Hotel.
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Review left on 04/11/2010 by dave (99 reviews)
After reading the Nose to Tail eating books, I'd been looking forward to my visit to St. John for some time, and it didn't disappoint.
To start I had the famous road bone marrow on toast - the one dish that is always on the menu at St. John, everything else changes with each service. The bone marrow is scooped out of the bones it was roasted in and spread onto the toast along with a parsley, shallot and caper salad and some wet sea salt. The fresh sharpness of the salad balances out the fatty bone marrow, and the salt provides some seasoning. My main was lambs tongues, turnips and kale. The turnips were tender and flavoursome and the kale retained just the right amount of bite - but the star of the plate was the lambs tongues; a beautiful texture and intense 'lamby' flavour. My dessert was raspberry ripple ice cream.
Service was also excellent, the staff were knowledgable, attentive and friendly - but without fussing or being over familiar. I've heard criticism in the past say the staff can be stuffy, but I certainly didn't encounter this. Atmosphere wise, when we arrived at around 12:30 we were only the second table and the stark white restaurant interior felt a little empty and clinical - however it soon filled up and when it did suddenly the restaurant seemed to 'work' as a space.
Also, be sure to visit their bakery on the way out, the bread and cakes are fantastic.
Review left on 14/10/2010 by steph (139 reviews)
I ate at St John on Monday at lunchtime. I was a little nervous about going here as although I'm not squeamish about eating different kinds of food, I'm not that keen on offal.
The restaurant is quite understated really. You walk through a bar area and then up to a raised dining room. Decor is kept minimal and you only actually see about 3 colours (white, black and grey!). The tables are simply laid with white paper table cloths and dark wooden chairs under them.
I had lop ham and coleslaw to start, which at over £8 makes you think that it's possibly a little overpriced. Maybe it was, but the ham was *delicious* and probably one of the best English hams you can buy. For my main I had Arbroath Smokie with parsnips. This was a smoked haddock with a creamy sauce and two pieces of parsnip. This was so full of flavour and it all went together very well. Dessert was a tough choice with a range of old favourites that reminded me of childhood. I opted for the Eccles Cake with Lancashire Cheese which despite the previous two courses I was able to eat and not feel stuffed afterwards.
We bought a dozen madelines to take away as it just didn't seem right not to sample these! They were very light and left me wanting more!
The staff were very friendly, it was unpretentious (despite its Michelin Star), the meal was perfectly presented and tasted fantastic.