Garfunkel’s

Ich habe hier sehr gut ‘Fish & Chips’ gegessen. Der Fisch war knusprig in Bierteig und schön kross.
Die Kritik der Vorredner geht in die Richtung, Garfunkel sei eine Kette und im Stil der 90er Jahre, was mit dem Vorwurf einher geht, ‘altbacken’ zu sein. Genau das kann ich bestätigen und genau das finde ich gut.
Ich bekomme hier genau das, was ich erwarte, der Besuch bei Garfunkel und das Essen ist planbar. Es ist hier sauber, nicht zu laut und das Essen ist gleichbleibend gut. Genau das, was ich bei einer Kette erwarte.

Typical American food in London (hot dogs, burgers, even some American-​Italian dishes). Just average. If you’re craving the comforts of home in London, then I’m sure there are better places. Their simple hot dog with fries was fine for a quick lunch.

Not sure why this place gets bad reviews. Maybe I love it because I am American. Whenever I am in London I get the Garfunkel Breakfast (Traditional English Breakfast). Good size serving for a good price. The Lunch’s are great as well, the Chicken with Lemon is excellent.
Prices are good, free Wifi (good since I don’t get data plan when I go to London).

Why oh why did I go here? This place is sooo bad. But hey, we just got out of the theatre and my husband was covered in stage blood, so we didn’t think we’d get in anywhere nice. So off to Garfunkel’s it was.
Not sure what to tell you, but don’t waste your time and money here. The nachos were weird, a total mess of tortilla chips with some kind of Mrs. Dash spices sprinkled all over them, barely any cheese, and a huge pile of what we can only assume is the Arabbiata sauce they use on their pasta. Eww.
The spaghetti carbonara, or alfredo, or whatever abomination of a cheese sauce that was, came out way overcooked and soggy, like airplane food or stuff that’s been sitting under a heat lamp at the Old Country Buffet for hours. The steak and ale pie at least looked okay, but we’re fairly certain everything we were served had just been microwaved from frozen. God knows I’ve had better frozen Weight Watchers meals, and that’s saying a lot.
Avooooiiiiiid.

There’s not much to say about Garfunkel’s … and yet there is a lot to say. Garfunkel’s is a British chain of American inspired restaurants that began in the era after the worldwide success of the Hard Rock Café. That was like 50 years ago and even though there are some cities that still get excited about hamburgers and Hard Rock Cafes, that era for most metropolises has long passed. And yet Garfunkel’s still survives. There’s no buzz about eating here anymore as surely there once was that a cool American hamburger place had opened. In fact the night I was there it seemed decidedly quiet despite being in the middle of the theatre district and steps from Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden.
I didn’t choose to go to Garfunkel’s but my two British friends chose it. It was close to the theatre we were attending and it is an old standby. The food was decent and by London standards fairly priced. My friends ordered the hamburger and hot dog which they both liked. I ordered a British steak and ale pie which was serviceable but not exceptional. The waitress asked if we wanted mustard and so I asked for some English mustard to add to the steak pie for a little kick. They didn’t have any. They only had that bland deep yellow American mustard. That should tell you a lot about Garfunkel’s right there.
A bottle of Syrah wine was tasty and fairly priced. The service was efficient and we could easily stroll in time to the theatre. So in a way, Garfunkel’s did its job as a pre-​theatre restaurant. And now I have said all that I can about Garfunkel’s!