Boyds Grill & Wine Bar

Review summary

1. S

   Sharon

   VIP

   London

   35 reviews

   3.0

   35 reviews

   Dined on 7 December 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   I thought we had booked for a pre theatre set menu but this does not operate on Saturdays. Not sure this was very clear when booking
   

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2. S

   Skip

   VIP

   Washington DC

   14 reviews

   2.0

   14 reviews

   Dined on 23 November 2024

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Based on Boyd's website, I had expected this to be a much classier and polished establishment. It was not. It took 20 minutes for someone to come to take our order for cocktails, more than 30 minutes after that for our cocktails to arrive. When the cocktails arrived, there was no cheese board that we had explicitly ordered as an accompaniment to our cocktails. Our server was clueless about where it was. 10 minutes later, a full hour after arriving, our cheese plate and all the dinners arrived at the same time. Who wants their appetizer cheese plate served at the same time as the main course? I told the manager there had been no attentiveness to a proper order of service for cocktails, cheese plate, dinner. The manager comped us on the cheese platter, but it was not something that went well with steaks. We wanted wine with our dinners, but no one ever returned to the table so we ate dinner without a bottle of wine. Frankly, we were glad to get out of there. The best that I can say is that this was basically a train station eatery. No table cloths, nothing special, lackluster service, noisy ambiance, no opportunity to order wine with dinner, no proper order of service. Very very disappointing. All I can say is the food was decent, but not great.
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 26 November 2024

   Thank you for sharing your feedback. We sincerely apologize for not meeting your expectations during your visit. We strive to offer exceptional service and a refined dining experience, and it’s clear we fell short in this instance. Your comments regarding the timing of your cocktails, cheese plate, and wine service are invaluable, and we will address these issues with our team to ensure better coordination and attentiveness in the future. We appreciate your understanding and will work hard to improve our service. We hope you will consider giving us another chance to provide the experience you were expecting.
   

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3. P

   Peter

   London

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on 23 November 2024

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   No welcome, Very poor service , mistakes made but no apologies, food was okay. Definitely would not recommend.
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 26 November 2024

   Thank you for sharing your feedback. We're truly sorry to hear that your experience didn't meet expectations. We sincerely apologize for the service lapses you encountered, including the lack of greeting and attention to detail. This is certainly not the standard we aim to uphold. We appreciate your comments about the food and will review your concerns to ensure improvements. Your experience is important to us, and we will work on making our service more engaging and attentive. We hope you’ll consider giving us another chance in the future.
   

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4. M

   Mark

   Oxford

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on 23 November 2024

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   My wife is gluten free, this restaurant is in the dark ages with no information on the menu and when you ask almost everything has gluten in it. Same problem for the dairy intolerant friend with us. Definitely wouldn't go there again. Service very slow - it wasn't busy and still took almost an hour for the food to appear..
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 26 November 2024

   Dear Mark, Thank you for sharing your feedback. We sincerely apologize that your experience didn’t meet expectations. Our team strives to accommodate dietary needs, and the manager did offer to modify the ox cheek and prawn dishes to make them gluten and dairy free, but we understand this may not have been ideal.We also apologize for the slow service and will look into improving kitchen timing. We hope you’ll consider visiting again and letting us know your needs in advance.
   

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5. K

   Karen

   London

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on 16 November 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Very nice room restaurant with attentive staff and good service.
   

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6. R

   Richard

   VIP

   London

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 26 October 2024

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 1

   Understand this for what it is and you might not be too disappointed. I thought it was a suitable place for pre-theatre meal as it looked relatively classy and trendy. It wasn’t. It’s a soulless hotel bar where they’ve laid out some tables for people that need to eat and perhaps don’t want to venture out far. I ordered the Hunters Chicken which as we all know, is grilled chicken breast with bacon and cheese on top. Only this wasn’t. This was a grilled chicken breast with a tin of tomato passata poured on top. Bland and boring, much like the venue. And then I decided to find the toilet. In a hotel, it can’t be hard, right? But of course it was hidden, probably to stop the public walking from the street to use them. A hotel Receptionist said “take the lift to the -1 level”. I got in the lift, and then, after riding with hotel guests to the 3rd floor, back to Ground, up to the 1st floor, back to Ground, I very stroppily went to Reception only to be told “yeah, pressing the button for -1 level won’t work if you don’t have a hotel room card to touch in”. Brilliant. Naturally I didn’t pay for the “Passata Chicken” and I wouldn’t go back in a hurry. Classic case of over promising and under delivering.
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 2 November 2024

   Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear your experience didn’t meet expectations. Our venue is designed as a peaceful retreat in central London, emphasizing classic elegance with Italian marble walls and historic charm. For the Hunter’s Chicken, our version draws from the Italian pollo alla cacciatora—a lighter, healthier take that includes flavors of mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and finely chopped chicken leg, in contrast to the British-style with cheese and bacon. Menu descriptions aim to guide guests through our unique dishes. We apologize for any confusion in locating the restroom. A key is required for security, and staff are always available to assist. We’ll work on improving guidance and hope to welcome you back for a more seamless experience.
   

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7. s

   simon

   Surrey

   3 reviews

   5.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on 16 October 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Perfect. Bar service was sublime. Atmosphere whilst early evening was great.
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 22 October 2024

   Hi Simon We are glad to hear you had good time with us Thank you so much
   

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8. J

   Jessica

   VIP

   Chicago

   6 reviews

   4.0

   6 reviews

   Dined on 12 October 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Beautiful hotel bar. Just went for apps and champs - both were delicious.
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 22 October 2024

   Hi Jessica Thank you for taking time to leave this nice feedback. We are looking forward to welcoming you back soon.
   

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9. S

   Samantha

   Worcestershire

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 12 October 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   The food here was amazing, very reasonably priced, great service and venue was stunning
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 14 October 2024

   Hi Samantha, Thank you for your review, it makes the hard work worthwhile hopefully we will see you again soon
   

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10. C

    Carol

    London

    1 review

    2.0

    1 review

    Dined on 10 October 2024

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4

    On receiving the bill we discovered that rather than the previous 12.5% service charge there was an additional non-discretionary 10% levy “to cover the price of price and food increasing” then a 5% service charge for the staff. Charge the right prices. Don’t slip an additional charge on in the small print. It also shows how little they value their staff as they were clearly keeping the previous higher service charge. We won’t be back.
    

    Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 14 October 2024

    Hi Carol, Thank you for your review, id like to add some context Food, rent, rates, liquor, labour and services have all increased exponentially since the Covid crisis, and Brexit, and all businesses in hospitality have felt the squeeze and are figuring out how to tackle these tough headwinds, without increasing menu prices to the point guests will no longer frequent. We have applied to levy to help with those increased costs, without inflating our bottom line- we are not looking to profit from this, but to protect the profit we make as a business, which incidentally keeps people in jobs. We are pleased you are concerned about our team, as are we, and they are well remunerated, as well as do very well from service charge, and a host of other company benefits
    

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