Deceptively simple, definitively convivial, Tom is a chef who clearly loves food. Excellent value idiosyncratic wine list. Unchanged, unphased, uncommon, just heartwarming victuals and an ambience made for conversation.
Staff always friendly and service good, and one is always made welcome. The decor is "restrained" (!), and the tables and chairs basic and functional rather than elegant and expensive - does one want more when faced with a daily-changing and interesting menu making great use of seasonal ingredients? The wine list is to "die for" - and as a wine-merchant I should know (!) - and the prices are wonderfully low - espacially when one knows the standing of the growers. I have successfully introduced several friends to this restaurant over the past few years, and all have become "converts"! A veritable Soho gem!
Proper old school - long lunches, romantic dinners. Don't miss the grouse in season. Fabulous value wine list.
Very good wine list, nice atmosphere.
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 4
why did I not discover this place 20 years ago?
good food - bistro but so what? brilliant/cheap (for location) wine list and help to choose. Service fast, helpful, smiling - and great you can only book one week in advance - stops multiple bookings and no shows. no complimentary drink if table not ready? what world is that reviewer in? go to Mitchelin 3* if that is what you want. I heard bar staff say too busy to take booking - great! small place, busy service - phone at a quieter time if you are that desperate - going back for second time a week after first visit, just wish it was closer than an hour away.
Food & Drink 4
Service 4
Atmosphere 4.5
Value 4
Andrew Edmunds is a little, intimate, friendly, filling, unpretentious, fairly-priced, gem of a restaurant perfect for second dates, friendly catch-ups and small group gatherings. I love that the menu changes frequently, implying seasonality and freshness, and has plenty of hearty options. I ordered dressed crab followed by crab spaghetti to much merriment (but the guy next to me went for chicken parfait followed by poussin so he wasn't one to laugh). The first crab was delicious: fresh-tasting, delicate, a whiff of the seaside, with a delicious sharp sauce on the side (of which I would have liked a second dollop, but that's a minor niggle) and good value for a fully stuffed beast at £8.50. But I was sorely disappointed by my main as the chef had committed 2 cardinal pasta sins: firstly, the spaghetti was not al dente but cooked to a denture-friendly sogginess; secondly, some buffoon had broken the strands before throwing them in the pot thus making it impossible to twirl around a fork and shovel in to the mouth. A deliberate insult to the Italians (as any chef worth his salt knows the trick to cooking spaghetti whole), a sop to the terrible Brit habit of cutting up cooked spaghetti (not to be encouraged by the professionals!), or just a trainee error? There was also too much chilli oil for me but that, and the enormous portion size, would no doubt please others. Happily I have had other wonderful mains here (mostly meaty masterpieces) and this meal finished off with a delicious treacle tart which reminded me of school days, but in a good way. The long wine menu included a lovely Gewurtztraminer/Riesling/Pinot blend which kept me happy too. Service was helpful and efficient as ever and the atmosphere its usual cosy self (although I would have liked to turn down the volume on the hedgie behind us). I look forward to finding another excuse to return to this place which feels blissfully “local” despite its central location.
Food & Drink 2.5
Service 3.5
Atmosphere 4
Value 4
If only there could be more places Andrew Edmund's in London! What a great place. The food is very good. Not Michelin Star good, but French countryside restaurant good. And then there is the wine. The owners have a special agreement to buy bin ends at a famous London merchant and pass the discounts on the guests. The result is without a shadow of a doubt the best value-per-drop wine list in the London. It is an absolute joy, really really great. All this is topped of with a romantic atmosphere and some of the kindest and most genuine service around. It is seldom that I such things but, it would be very difficult, if even possible to improve Andrew Edmunds.
Edward J
14 February 2012
Food & Drink 0.5
Service 0.5
Atmosphere 0.5
Value 0.5
Well I find myself in the slightly unusual position of not even getting to the restaurant before being completely annoyed! When I called up to make a reservation, I was bluntly told by a hoity toity lady that she couldn't possibly take my order as they were in the middle of the lunch service. Oh, and that I should call back later, when they're quieter. She may have said some other things, but by that point the phone handset was heading firmly towards the receiver.
Honey, it's great that you're busy, and I appreciate you don't have 4 pairs of hands, but what a great way to give a first impression of your establishment. An apology for not being able to take the reservation and taking my number for a call back would have been a great way to deal with that situation.
Teresa S
05 December 2011
Food & Drink 2
Service 1
Atmosphere 1.5
Value 1.5
This is a Restaurant that pretentiously insists you book no more than a week in advance, rings you on the day to confirm your reservation, then when you rock up at the allotted time, tells you your table isn't ready. No apologies, no “have a complimentary drink to alleviate your inconvenience” more “just stand to one side until we tell you your table is ready”, which in itself was easier said than done, seeing as there was hardly any room to sit down at the cramped tables let alone stand up in the passageway for any length of time. Some would describe this place as cosy, intimate and romantic. I would describe it as uncomfortable noisy and claustrophobic.
When we were eventually allowed to sit down, the food was no less enthralling than their rude staff. Crab spaghetti that tasted of absolutely nothing, and steaks, though tender, had no flavour at all; one member of the party enjoyed their sea bass. Because of its location, this Restaurant doesn't care whether you come back or not, and sadly behaves accordingly.