National Dining Rooms
National Gallery
Trafalgar Square
WC2N 5DN
Tel: 020 7747 2525
Date of Last Visit: Sunday, February 24, 2008
The Victims: Julie, Jen, Niculie, Kellie
The Damage: £35ish each?
The Background: Julie has bought us all tickets to the Vanity Fair exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. We've paid her back, of course. But it was good of her to organize this. I like it when people organize weekend activities for me. I'm very good at showing up to events that other people have organized. I am also good at sitting around in my pajamas all weekend. These two things might seem unrelated, but they're not.
Finding the National Dining Rooms: As you're facing the National Gallery, the restaurant is in the building to the LEFT. Over by Canada House. I spent a while wandering in and out and around, looking for it. Don't do that to yourself.
The Service: Started out really well at first, but then grew distracted. Desserts took ages to arrive. We were all done with ours by the time Jen's showed up. (They just totally forgot to put her order in.)
The Bread: Hard! Really really hard to cut into.
My Starter: Butternut squash soup. Nice, but nothing spectacular. Needed salt.
My Main:
6 comments
Thanks for this review. I’d been wondering about the National Gallery restaurant because it gets such good writeups (in American newspapers), but I was suspicious because it’s in such a high-tourist-traffic area. It sounds like I’m not missing much by not going.
…we should go on review reconaissance together one day…
Sorry you had a bad experience. Liz and I have had some excellent food in there, including last Sunday when we also visited the Square for the Vanity Fair exhibition. They do struggle a bit when full, but for high end brasserie food they generally do very well. There’s probably an age issue here. The ambiance is very reminiscent of Lyons Corner House back in the days when working class people dressed up to go there for lunch and pretend to be middle class!
I’ve just realised looking at the National Gallery website that we ate in the Café Brasserie downstairs whereas I think you were in the more upmarket restaurant upstairs. How ironic! You should definitely try the Brasserie. The entrance is in the Square, just to the right of the main entrance.
Hi,
Some sad news about the chef at the restaurant…
http://tinyurl.com/2cv3w7
Mike, Alice…
Yes, I was so intrigued by all the fab reviews…didn’t it win Time Out Restaurant of the Year last year? It just goes to show you, I suppose, the experiences at restaurants can be so individual. Mike, I will give the Brasserie a try some day!
Douglas…yes, a review together at some point sounds great!
Ann…wow, thanks for the info about the chef. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
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