Reform Social & Grill - London

catt 3553

Had a three course meal with wine for two through a Groupon. The scallops and lamb were addional supplements but still reasonable given the location. Lovely food and excellent service.

Harold Hudson

A Quaint tidy and clean restaurant, all tables were set up well and prepared, there is a mini piano set up in the corner so I suspect on occasion has live music played for guests. The seating is either cushioned chairs or if you're lucky booth seating on a Chesterfield style booth. The walls appeal as animalistic patterns and the restaurant is lit up with art deco style

Accessibility
Wheelchair users not suitable

Service
Waiter, was quite confrontational and arrogant when dealing with customers, we had a voucher which was ambiguous with the wording, the waiter shut down any discussion over the wrongly advertised voucher despite wording not stating any supplement fees would be incurred however were. Which doesn't make much sense considering the pan fried sea bass was the same price as the lamb shank on the standard menu, yet came with a £9.50 supplement for the two course menu.
We were the first diners in the restaurant and it was fairly quiet with not many other tables seated. Our food arrived when there was around 3 other tables seated so there is no excuse of the restaurant being busy for any faults.
Dinnerware was set appropriately with a delicate silky cotton napkin.
Bread for the table was given just before the starters arrived which was nice to enjoy them together.

Food
Table bread, balsamic vinegar olive oil, crunchy dry bread, nothing to write home about. Not quite the soft focaccia with garlic herbs you would expect in a warm 4* environment so this has room to improve.
Starter
Burrata (mozzarella ball)
Nothing to complain about the cheese, but it's quite a basic starter. Served on a salad tomatoes with quartered salad tomatoes and halved yellow tomatoes with a drizzle of balsamic. Choice of tomatoes was quite basic for a £12 dish the restaurant boasts is iconic, a more appealing taste would be the mix of sundried tomatoes with the mozzarella and sweet cherry vine halved tomatoes. It certainly wasn't a 4* starter.

Main
Lamb shank £25
Delicate and dissolving, a very soft and excellent taste of lamb, the mash potato mixed with butter, not as silky and creamy, but still adequate for the meal. The shank is served with a pickled red onion which sour taste compliments the lamb quite well and a warming strong lamb jus. The meal is a suitable sizeto leave you with some space for desert.

Ribeye steak medium rare £28.50. Our particular cut was very juicy and a strong beef taste with good quality beef. The bernaise was again a strong taste with a nice hint of dill and not too overwhelming.
Some chips were slightly underdone and mild to cold with the meal, it's likely they were cooked in advance and kept under a heat lamp for a while and served with the steak. They appear in no way hand cut and seem to be pro cut frozen chips again not quite a 4* experience

Wine
Quite a watered down taste of house wine, a weak and mildly fruity taste sourced from Italy. It doesn't pair well with hearty red meats so is not a good choice of house wine in my opinion.

Overall, with a rocky service and questionable quality of accompanying food the restaurant is okay, certainly not worth the value charged for the dishes and is more 3* dining with a 4* impression. The lamb shank was very delightful to devour and the quality of the main food seems very good for that it would be 4* but there are a few areas which drag it down in my overall rating of 3/5, It was a pleasant experience but wouldn't dine here again.
Any customer is of value to a restaurant it did feel like our group was the black sheep in the restaurant, perhaps the staff thought I was picky and wanted to avoid me.
We entered via the hotel, and the reception for the coinsiegre was flawlessly professional and gave a great sense of privileged and decorum, the same can't be said for the restaurant.

Stephanie Davy

The staff were really friendly and helpful. I booked for 4 people for afternoon tea initially. Later I needed to up that to 6 and I also had some changes I wanted to make to the sandwiches (we don't eat pork). The restaurant was easy to get hold of, and the staff dealt with our needs very easily. I didn't have to repeat myself when I arrived; staff were well informed. The service in the restaurant was superb. Clean and good quality facilities throughout. And the food was tasty. We were full and the staff gave us boxes to take our treats home. Overall great experience. The only reason I took off one star is because there was no one to great us when we arrived and we had to wander around a bit to find out where to go as there were two different sections. Also the toilets had great facilities but there was a bit of a tissue issue going on down there that suggested it might need more regular maintenance. Would come again for sure.

Julian

I ordered lamb shank which was full of flavour, a good portion of meat and mashed potato with a deeply rich jus and sweet pickled red onion, with a bit of crunch which added a pleasant twist.

The pork loin was nicely grilled and had smoky chargrilled flavour. The portion for the pork wasn't impressive, and blackcurrant and port gravy was underwhelming. It was still a nice dish, but there wasn't enough, so you would need to order a side. At £27 it seemed a little steep, given the portion, and perhaps a bit more potatoes au gratin would be a reasonable compromise by the kitchen.

The menu has a good variety, including sea bream, cod, cauliflower steak (which is their one nod to the vegans) but also, tagliatelle, fish and chips, burgers and steak. So there's something here for everyone.

Felix Gan

Came here on one of the weekend afternoon and ambience of the restaurant is good. Great starter dishes. I ordered the beef and my wife ordered the lamb. Out of these two meat, I preferred the lamb dish cooked really tender and juicy. Beef was a bit too peppery. Lovely portion of chips that I enjoyed most on this.

Overall I think the food is good. Staffs were quite busy when there were more people coming to the restaurant. However, overall I think it is a great place to be if you want somewhere cosy around central London.

Jess

The service was great. The lamb fell off the bone it was very tender and the sauce complimented it very well. I do wonder if they marinated it or not as it didn't taste as though the flavour had yet reached the meat but it was wonderful all the same. We unfortunately had a fowl smell in the area we were dining in and it was overly hot. If you are getting a Groupon for the place please keep in mind you will be paying an extra 32.99 (for two) if ordering the lamb shank.

Saul K

Excellent meal. Great service. Nice place. Very empty, but it was a Monday evening.

J Gregoratto

I had the afternoon tea and can say that it is the best one I’ve been in London which were a few. The service is absolutely lovely, sandwiches were delicious, the scones are the best I’ve ever had, and different from all other afternoon teas I’ve been, all the deserts were quite delicious!!! They were attentive regarding my concern with peanuts and nuts in the ingredients, and I will absolutely go back. Amazing!