Smiths Of Smithfield

Very cool vibe, great music, trendy décor, cool staff.
I had the tuna salad and it was delicious. Fresh and full of flavour.
Would recommend.

A great gathering place for the workers around Barbican/​Farringdon area and I came on a Friday where the place was packed. Sat on the ground floor and drinks arrived pretty fast but food took at least 40 minutes to come out.
Nevertheless, the waiters were friendly, the food was pretty good and I would come back again — but I would make sure that my boss knows I’m having a long lunch!

I would avoid the 2^nd Floor dining room at this place. We went for a team lunch, table booked for 1pm for 11 people. The service was so slow it was basically none existent. Our food didn’t come until after 2pm and though it was nicely presented they obviously struggled with our party size as it was clear most of the food had been sat on the side waiting.
I ordered a rare steak and what arrived was cold and grey on the inside. My two other colleagues who ordered steak also complained of similar quality. The burgers were dry and lacking and salad or onions. The only positives were the chips and the pork belly dish.
Would absolutely not recommend. We were so annoyed we asked for the service to be taken from the bill. Considering this place is easily £20 a head not including starters, desserts or a second drink I think they really need to sort out the quality.

A little disappointing — a bunch of sides never appeared, and the pumpkin pie (my first ever!) was almost stale. Would give the place more leeway if it weren’t so expensive. Service was nice though, letting us store stuff in their fridge. Probably won’t return unless it’s on someone else’s dime.

Our dinner at the Top Floor at Smiths of Smithfield was very disappointing.
I had been there a couple years back and it was fantastic so i had high hopes, unfortunately it was a completely different experience. The venue was fairly empty but it did fill up later in the evening. We had a round of cocktails which were decent I suppose. The starters were average, nothing special, not worth it, nothing stood out. The squid dish was not very good at all.
Main course, 2 sirloins and one rump steak, I can only speak for my sirloin but for a place that looks to sell «rare breed beef, they are joking. My sirloin was super thin, so it was overpriced but more importantly than that, it was overcooked, had a fair amount of fat on one side — it looked like some basic supermarket steak, really disappointing. Coffees were ok, the dessert was terrible — coconut dacquoise, the cake part was soaked in rum, there are alcoholic cakes which taste good but whoever made this one wanted to drown the cake, you literally took a bite and the alcohol gushed out, and all you tasted was rum, really disgusting.
Food at restaurants can be bad, it happens but the icing on the cake was the service, I’ve never seen such a rude guy, he couldn’t be bothered to say thank you or your welcome, nor smile. The best part was splitting the bill 4 way and before going to the second card he muttered under his breath loudly, «jesus Christ». As soon as that was done, it told him to take the service off, it was that insulting.
Told the manager about this untrained moron of a waiter who apologized and offered to take the sour taste away with champagne but no thanks. We will never go back, I strongly advise you not to waste your time on this restaurant, its overpriced and not even good. There are so many better places for steak and the service, even McDonalds is better. Sadly we wasted our time but you don’t need to.

Here I am at one of the greatest meat markets in the World. I get plenty of great beef locally in the large cities nearby. They had a pork t-​bone. I was looking for old school pork with some fat. I asked several times to make sure the pork would be cooked medium. I wanted to see pink. I was assured this would be the case.
The pork comes out WAY over cooked. I asked about it, and the server said she’d ask the chef. The chef comes out. I tell the story while the others at the table agree I was pretty much over the top about wanting it pink. The Chef says that cooking it that way causes disease. It has to be well done. I’ll skip the back and forth. In the end, he said he’d cook it that way, but take no responsibility for when I got sick. Even in the US, the USDA, the most conservative of groups, has dropped the temp for cooking pork from 160 to 145.
So, in the end, decent pork. Nice wine. A great group of coworkers and clients to be with. That makes up for the cooking.

Sought out some brunch on a Saturday morning whilst in the area. The service was friendly and ok although the request for some water took a couple of prompts. I had Eggs Benedict but it was a bit disappointing. The eggs were over cooked and the hollandaise sauce was sparse and not very tasty. The crumpets they were served on were dry and boring. Coffee was ok but not great — not particularly strong and flavoursome. So will check out other places nearby rather than try this again. So a 2 star is a little harsh and I would give it a 2&½ if I could but a 3 would be generous.

Love this place. All day English breakfast including veggie version. Elderflower pink lemonade is delicious.

Visited the downstairs café for lunch, I had the breakfast burger which was really tasty, and quite good value (I thought). I like the atmosphere and it’s a good place to bring a large group.

We went the as a group of 9, which can be hard to accommodate, but the staff at SOS was ready for us. I love their big square tables, the openness of the dining room and the food was pretty good as well. Downsides: you can’t have their beer in the dining room, even though you can have it downstairs at the bar, you have a different bar menu upstairs. Which just doesn’t make sense. We got it only after we asked our waitress to ask her manager. And another bad thing is that the men’s bathroom is facing an office building across the street and people can see you if you’re using the urinals, as there is nothing covering the windows.

I enjoyed this place. Good service and good food. The portions are big, and the food of good quality. Perhaps the place is not as cozy as I like, but it was ok. I had lamb, and it was very nice, but not excellent. Perfect place to go with friends.

They’ve taken over what was that pub, The Luxe (no great loss).
So many floors! We didn’t know where we were supposed to go to get to our table. We were looked at very suspiciously by the rather unhelpful doorman. Found it in the end though *phew*
Us 5 ladies reserved our table on a deal through book a table — £17 for two courses and a glass of bubbles each (on a Friday too — pretty good!). Told them this as we arrived but they gave us the normal menus. When the bubbles didn’t arrive we again reminded them that we booked on this deal so we were given a much smaller menu and, finally, our bubbles.
Very limited choice on that teeny menu: three starters: soup (yawn), a Thai beef salad or a beetroot salad (ick — beetroot!) …guess what I had?
The Thai salad thingy was nice. They should probably mention that the beef is cold. But maybe I’m just never expectant of cold beef.
Can’t remember what all the choices on the mains were. I know there was steak (for a supplemented fee — cheeky!) or burger.
Hello burger! It was bloody massive. The beefy part itself must have been touching an inch and a half thick. Gherkin, chips, the works. Ticked all boxes.
Service was hit and miss and the toilets are in the BASEMENT. There is a lift. But when you’re on the second floor, it’s a lot to ask just to pop to the loo in between courses.
Won’t be back in a hurry.

Holy cow this place is awesome but expensive. To start, the cocktails are phenomenal. I got a gin order and he a rum-​based one. Mine had the distinct taste of lime which cut into the gin nicely and my husband’s raspberry tipple was incredibly sweet. He liked it and they are too easy to suck down!
As for the meals, I ordered the Jerusalem Artichoke, Ricotta & Pine Nut Pithivier, Wild Mushroom Sauce (v) for 14 ½ pounds and he got the 9oz South Devon Rib Eye,
Chips, Mustard Mayo for 23 pounds My dish was PHENOMENAL. Holy cow. Holllllllllllly cow. Rich, creamy sauce with thick raviolis bursting with mushroom essence. I closed my eyes several times while eatng.
My husband said his dish was OK– nothing spectacular.
I also go the BOMBAY FIZZ-​Devaux Champagne, Bombay Gin, Passion Fruit Purée, Gomme for 12 pounds. Went down way too quickly again!
For dessert, we split the Chocolate Delice, Pistachio Sauce, Chocolate Biscuit for 6 ½ pounds. I again closed my eyes at the first and consecutive bites. One of the best chocolate desserts ever? Quite possibly. Also the Pecan Pie, Chantilly Cream,
Rum Toffee Sauce for 7 pounds is possibly the best pecan pie I have tasted since the States.
Service was hit or miss– I had to go up to the hostess table to get an initial server. At times a separate one checked in on us and other times, we were ignored.

Shall we have a dirty burger?
Oooh, come on then, if you insist.
Smith of Smithfields has the advantage of being right next to Smithfields (must be where they get their name from, eh?), which means that their meat is really good, and really fresh.
I’ve tried a lot of dishes from there:
— Their Caesar Salad — not enough for a main meal
— Chicken Burger — was «okay» but not amazing.
And well, we always end up going with the burger, because why not.
Served in a brioche bun, the burger is what you would expect of a burger. It’s nice, and it hits the spot.
I swap my chips for a salad — for which they are really generous and the dressing is yum.
Perfect spot for a quick team lunch — that’s probably why we always end up going back!

I am not quite sure what the appeal of this place really is. Yes, sure, the location is attractive, right next to London’s historic meat market in its (the meat market’s) impressive halls.
However, while we had a late brunch on the Smiths’ ground floor, I couldn’t help but wonder why this place attracted such huge crowds. It is not inexpensive (prices are rather middle-​of-​the-​road), the décor is, well, unoriginal (diner meets rustic charm) and the service is not overly friendly. To me, it sometimes felt more like an upmarked McD’s than a good place for a good brunch. The food was OK, but nothing more.

Went for a business dinner with my team. Great food. We all had a variety of food, ribeye, scallops, chicken… Servers were very friendly and always made sure our drinks were full, attentive!
Would recommend. They have multiple floors. All with different menus which I found very cool!

Bit of a breakfast regular here — the Breakfast No 2 can’t be beaten!
Good service. Nice ambiance. Great for meetings or general catch ups!

Went for breakfast with some friends. Was reasonably priced and really nice. It was nearly a case of order envy because my friends food looked great but mine was just as nice!

Leisurely bar hopping in the area one evening, my friend suggested we stop here. I looked inside, and was drawn in by the NYC-​Industrial/​sleek décor. We were seated upstairs on the first floor, at a not –so-​busy bar with some precarious seating I wouldn’t recommend if you weigh over 140 lbs/​64 kg (luckily my friend and I met the criteria). They did have some big comfy sofas but if you are petite like me you get sucked into those things and if wearing a short skirt, getting up out of them looks more like a comedy routine than a genteel, sophisticated rise to get your drink from the table.
So, back to the main reason we came in: drinks… the cocktail menu listed a number of really interesting concoctions with lots of traditional ingredients like angostura bitters, charred orange rind and maraschino cherries. I had the Shoreditch Sling which went down in several delicious thick, cool, long sips.
Staff were very friendly and cheery. Drinks are served with fresh popcorn which is a nice twist from the usual bar treats.
Haven’t tried the food yet, but I think I’ll save that for the SOS that appears to be opening soon in Spitalfields.

It’s difficult to know how to approach a review for Smiths, as it’s very much an acquired taste. We’ve been here many times, at different times of day and during busy and quiet times. Our overall impression is that, yes, it seems a couple of quid more than other places on average, but the food is also above average, albeit simple fare such as bacon butties and porridge.
Its industrial appearance gives away its heritage (it was a building that stood empty for 40 years before being given a makeover), and it feels like you could be in New York. You could be mingling with families, bikers and city slickers when you visit, and the staff will make sure you get as good as anyone in terms of service quality, which is casual and friendly.
You simply can’t beat the porridge, which doesn’t feel microwaved (I’m imagining a large cauldron that’s lovingly prepared by an oat expert with a big stick). Toast is chunky, tea is tea-​y and the bacon is generously piled between two blankets of what feels like homemade bread (or at least bought in from a decent bakery).
So, because we always love coming here, and it lacks pretentious airs and graces, and does a fantastic porridge with banana and honey, it gets top marks. We’ll forgive the tart orange juice.
(Please note that this review is based on our downstairs experience. We haven’t been upstairs yet.)