Nice spot, quality food! Reservations made online a couple weeks in advance for 3 of us on a Saturday at 5pm. Plenty of tables open. Server was pretty on it but took us a while to get our check at the end, though that might be a cultural thing in the UK? He came once we flagged him. Easy to get there by tube. Very busy, very loud. I started with the Springtime Garden cocktail (£13.5), it was refreshing, and light but almost too light (and I'm a lightweight) I got the Duo of Lamb (£27) and it was great, got it pink (not well done) and it came out perfectly, 4.5 stars. I mentioned a squid allergy, and they took it very very seriously, giving me a digital menu that was filtered but what has crustaceans or is exposed to crustaceans, and my food had a little green flag with a toothpick marking it as allergen free to me. It was unnecessary, I told them I can pick it out of a dish and still eat it, but the gesture was appreciated. My group enjoyed their Butterflied Sea Bass (£28) and Risotto Verde (£19). My portion of the meal came to £45.28 total. read more

Nothing beats an authentic, delicious, fresh meal, especially while in London. Browns is located in an interesting area of London, but easily accessible and worth the visit. From the appetizers to the main courses, the whole meal was incredible. Expect the restaurant to always be busy, however, we didn't have a reservation and got a table right away. It's a loud restaurant but the vibes are good. Definitely felt like a true, authentic London restaurant! read more

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Absolutely beautiful place to have drinks and food in the middle of the most beautiful city in the world. read more

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Enjoyed the bottomless brunch here! Had the portabello mushroom burger and fries which delicious! Loved the bottomless Moët! jay who was our server kept the bottomless drinks coming! Afternoon tea here is also great! read more

Browns - Covent Garden - Wine Bars Near Me - London, XGL

Afternoon tea was superb! It's only from 3-5pm and 26 per person, You get a choice of your tea - earl grey, English breakfast, ginger and turmeric and the like. They bring out a delicious spread of our raspberry marble birthday cake, delectable savouries, warm scones with seasonal jams, and irresistible mini cakes and puddings to consume for 1.5 hours. My favorite would have to be the warm scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam plus the mango and passion fruit torte and chocolate delice! Make sure to make your reservations :) read more

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The good stuff Making online ressies are super easy and their digital stuff is great! Restaurant is clean and plenty of seating Menu is diverse and interesting. They do have gluten free options which is appreciated On this day service was spotty and slow. Not sure if that's normal but it they got our order wrong a few times and took over 20 minutes to get my check. read more

Some friends and I booked the Afternoon Tea Service for a recent trip. I found browns menus to be one of the more affordable afternoon tea options (a great value for full services/everything that's included). I have severe nut allergies, as does one of my friends dining with me and Brown's menu when I booked contained no nuts at all. The menu changed a few times over the months before our reservation, but remained nut free! Upon checking in they verified the allergy and spoke to us many times and showed up the allergen list as well. They did mention there could be some contact/cross from items not prepared in house, but luckily my allergen is actually contains so we were safe! The building itself is great (particularly for a current attorney) as the building is a former court room! The variety of food with their service was great, a good mix of savory and sweet. My favorites were the chocolate sweet item and the lemon tart. The tea options were limited, but included something for everyone. Service was fine, a few items were forgotten from our table a few times, but upon asking again we're always brought over. Also, we showed up a little before our reservation, but they had no trouble seating us early! This is a great option for afternoon tea! It's one of the more affordable choices, without missing out on any details. Also, it's one of the only nut free tea options I could find in London! read more

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We came for afternoon tea and the staff was immediately very attentive! They were very gracious in making sure we knew how everything worked (because it was a little obvious we had never done this before). Everything came out very quickly and the water explained what everything was and what his recommendations were for in the order we ate things. Honestly, this is one of my favorite things we did in London. I loved the whole process of making my own cup of tea. And all of the pastries and sandwiches were delicious, especially the passion fruit panna cotta. My only complaint is that the clotted cream was definitely off. Like the texture is supposed to be like soft cream cheese, but what we got had the texture of marshmallow fluff. Other than that, we did have a little bit of trouble flagging down our waiter when we wanted to pay the bill and leave. But we soon learned that it was the first day since they had reopened, which explained the busyness. Along those lines, we asked for a box to take all our leftovers in. And the waiter let us know they didn't have any boxes yet, but in the end he was still able to find some containers for us! And the price was pretty reasonable too, especially compared to all of the other places we had looked at. read more

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we were in the area and we're going to another theater after a matinee and decided to stop in Brown's because it was on the way there was no reservations. available, It was a Saturday night, but I must say the staff is lovely. The woman at reservation table, I could come in, but I have to stay an hour and a half only which I can understand not a problem and then we had a reservation somewhere else and I didn't have a phone with me and actually the general manager was so nice. He lent me his phone to make the phone call waiter was also very nice. His name was Sergio answered all our questions we had somebody with allergies. He went and got the information to help us decide what would be the best choices with that allergy you couldn't ask for a better group of people that work for this restaurant. Everybody that took care of us was beyond my expectations of such dedication to make people comfortable in their restaurant The food was OK. Good I had the cod fish which was good. We also had a vegetarian meal and we also had fish and chips. Very crowded. Great location for the theater. Make sure you have reservations. read more

This was one of the worst restaurant experiences I think I've had. The restaurant was clearly understaffed. We had to ask another waitress for our drink order and the manager was often seen running around covering for waitresses and waiters. We then grabbed salt and pepper off a nearby but empty table because we couldn't find wait staff. We partly chose Brown's because they offered this octopus and chorizo dish but they were sold out. Then I asked about the Blackened Cod, but no, they were out of that too. So I got salmon. When we finally did get food, the food was totally devoid of any flavor. Was it good? No. Was it bad? I mean no. Was it food? yes. No seasoning, no sauce, nothing. Could I find anyone to complain to about how bad the food was? Of course not because they were understaffed and ignoring a two-seater table. Ridiculous. read more

Browns - Covent Garden - Some sort of fish that had no flavor - Wine Bars Near Me - London, XGL

Horrible food but cute nice restaurant. The waitress was in such a bad mood maybe becaUse they were going to close in 30 mins. The chicken schnitzel was flavorless along with the steak and kids burger. The cinnamon banana brioche dessert was good but the bottom was so hard like it was days old. Keep walking & don't bother. read more

We came to browns following a part 1 viewing of 'The cursed child'. The menu was good and had great options, however following ordering our food we heard tables being offered a theatre menu/offer. We were not and although this didn't ruin our experience, it did potentially affect our choices and therefore cost. I had the 7oz FILLET STEAK. GARLIC BUTTER SCALLOPS followed by the VANILLA CRÈME BRÛLÉE. The steak was cooked to perfection and the scallops were too, I would recommend this dish. The brûlée was tasty but was extremely rich, although it is a rich dessert I assumed it was smaller. This thing was huge. My partner had the PRAWN & DEVON CRAB LINGUINE followed by the APPLE, RHUBARB & RASPBERRY CRUMBLE. My partner described her main as 'alright, but wouldn't order again'. The dish was bland overall with little seasoning, not much crab either. The dessert was 'delicious'. read more

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This was my first 'afternoon tea' experience. Service was fine. I personally found the food skimpy. There were all the usual items served for tea ( of which I am aware after reading many articles and reviews) but everything was tiny. The scones were two per person and the size of a silver dollar ( tiny). The jam and cream were served in tiny dishes. The sandwiches also were tiny. The ones that were served on crust less white bread had extremely skimpy fillings. The deserts also super tiny, two to three bites at best. There was a slice of cake which was a little larger. The tea offerings were limited. It was not a super fancy place but nice enough. If what we got here is what 'afternoon tea' is everywhere, then next time I will slip it for something that is more value for the money spent, which in this case was 32 pounds per person. Plus the girl was unable to box up the leftover piece of cake: "we don't due take away service". Not sure if this means you can kiss your left overs good bye if you get a 'real meal' or not. I have seen in other reviews that tea leftovers from other places are boxed up to go. Again, my first one but felt somewhat ripped off at this place. read more

We had a lovely long chatty lunch! Vida was our waitress was amazing and made the whole experience so special. We can't praise her enough. Will definitely be back. Thank you Vida read more

Let me start off by being blunt and saying this place is awful, STAY AWAY. My fiance and I came for christmas dinner (which also happens to be my birthday) and we are so disappointed with the entire meal and everything that went down. It started by our waitress coming to our table (15 minutes after we arrived) explaining that when we pre ordered our food that we ordered too much and we would need to cut it in half. Which makes no sense because when I had completed it online the survey i took gave me a number of items to choose in every category, so how did it allow me to order more than was allowed if the price is the same as what it was for half the food? When we tried to explain this to the manager he spoke to us like we were absolutely idiots and basically told us too bad there is nothing we can do. So we picked half the food we originally thought we were getting and once the food arrived it was AWFUL. The food was cold, had no flavor and was just plain gross. To wrap it up we paid the exact same price i was quoted for our original meal for half the food we thought we were getting, with a waitress that ignored us most of our dinner, and to top it off the food was not good. Waste of money and not a good choice for a holiday or a birthday. Completely ruined my day. Happy birthday to me! read more

Ada was amazing! She was very helpful when accommodating all of our allergies and requests!

Unfortunately, when we went, they did not have a lot of food on the menu. When we got service, it was good but again, unfortunately, they did not have a staff which meant the wait was terribly slow. From the time we ordered our food it took 30 minutes for them to let us know that the food that we ordered they no longer had. I just think they need more staff and maybe you would have a better experience. read more

Old world elegance. The dining space is very large. The front part is too drafty. The saxophone player was good. Not crazy expensive. Consider the location and dining ambiance. The half chicken was bland. Like old style British before spices became common place. Presentation could use some work. Served with potatoes and creamy leeks. The leeks were the most flavourful part of this dish. The chicken schnitzel was too dry. This is the thing with schnitzel, easy to end up dry and for these prices I expect more. Chef needs to pound it more and control the heat better. Just a piece of chicken really, but the skill in making it is in the temperature and time to make it succulent. Served with no sauce. No one wants a dry chicken meal. The fries were not seasoned, but I guess I can do that myself. The bread pudding was a modern twist on this poor mans classic dessert. All desserts overpriced. Made of brioche, orange marmalade, dry fruit. Server told me I can have any but one desserts due to my nut allergy, but half of those had nuts in the description. Overall it is a really nice place, but the food is not worth the price, surprising for a nice looking place that has been here since the 70s. read more

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This is a classy atmosphere at a reasonable price. It was suitable for my work dinner although they squeezed five of us into an odd shaped table. Overall it was a great location with a nice selection of dishes. You can get your standard fish and chips or other simple fare but the quality is a step above most places nearby. I enjoyed the lobster risotto which had large chunks of meat, tomatoes and flavour. The side of buttered spinach was a nice touch. They have a decent selection of cocktails and everyone left happy. In addition they have old courtrooms for hire upstairs for special events. It's a fun bit of history in a lovely restaurant. read more

Browns - Covent Garden - Lobster risotto - Wine Bars Near Me - London, XGL

If you go with a large group, skip this meal. We went with a large group for an end of tour meal. Bad decision. It was hotter than heck, and I'm never too warm. The person at the front looked at me like I was an alien with two heads when asked if they could do anything about it. No apologies, no explanation. There was a limited dink menu on the table when we arrived. One would think that if it's a prepaid group meal, those are the choices that would be included with the meal. WRONG... they started bringing us all a bill for the drinks halfway through dinner service! Had I known that, I wouldn't have chosen the passable wine from the list. The restaurant gave us all one dinner option; one starter, one main, one dessert. I am in the unfortunate club of having food allergies, they did collect our requirements ahead of time, but that was the best I can say about that. While I did receive a piece of gluten free bread instead of regular for the mushroom toast, I can't stand mushrooms, so I didn't eat the starter, fine, my choice. Then the main was chicken schnitzel, so because of my wheat allergy, they brought me a vegan vegetable curry. I am not a fan of curry, but I tried it and after one bite, knew I couldn't eat that. Fine, I'll just eat fries off my husbands plate and wait for dessert. According to their gluten free menu, they offered a gluten free chocolate brownie. Yay, every one was getting a brownie with ice cream. I got an apple crumble. When I asked the waiter if the crumble topping was gluten free, cuz it sure didn't look it, he said, "that's the vegan option." OK, great, but I didn't request vegan...vegans eat wheat...I can't! He proclaimed the topping was just sugar. Umm, no it wasn't. Others seemed happy enough with the standard option, but for me, this was a big disappointment. read more

We came here to have afternoon tea for the first time and it actually turned out to be a great experience. The tea, of course, was fantastic. The multi-layered tray of sweets, pastries, sandwiches, and other bites were really, really good, especially the desserts. There wasn't much to the sandwiches, as they were lightly filled, but they were good. Also, we weren't expecting a full meal, so the size of them makes sense. Our server was very nice, but she did disappear from time-to-time, so we ended up having to track her down through another server to close out the bill. All in all, though, a very good experience. read more

Able to get table without reservation on a busy Saturday night. Had the gnocchi which was delicious!

Nice spot for a bite in the busy west end. We luckily had a reservation and were seated at a rather funny table that was difficult to get into/out of. I really enjoyed my fish n chips, but my husband really regretted ordering the ribeye, as it was way overcooked past medium rare and a rather unfortunate meal all together. Otherwise, location was great, staff was busy but polite if we flagged them down for refills, and ambience was just fine. The windy narrow staircase downstairs to the toilets was a bit precarious so I wouldn't suggest this for older folks or the disabled. read more

My friend and I went to Browns right after Christmas. Most restaurants were closed for private events or were no longer taking customers because their kitchen was closed. While this was true for Browns as well, Stella accommodated us on a cold winter night and saved us from having to eat McDonald's from around the corner. While the food was just okay, I am giving the place 5 stars because of the hospitality of the staff. A special shoutout to Stella who went out of her way to seat us and serve us just 5 min before the kitchen closed. read more

This was a fine place to grab a nice dinner in the bustling West End. The menu is pricey, but should not be too surprising in this part of town. The wait staff were very warm and helpful. Regarding the food, it might be a bit of a mixed bag. My scallop appetizer was cooked to perfection, but my medium rare steak was not. I asked for it to be medium rare and different parts of the steak ranged from medium rare to medium well. The actual restaurant itself is very pleasant on the inside and not too loud. Perfect for a quick bite or a longer linger. read more

Two start is generous given the abysmal service. Not one thing came out as ordered, e.g. the salad without the salmon, the mains without the starters etc. Then when one waitperson comped us dessert, the other took away our bill and added it back in. We were to amused and peeved to say anything. Just don't go. P.S. the people next to us were having tea which looked so inedible that most was not touched. read more

Oh this was a bad decision - late on a Saturday night after the theatre in the middle of touristy land, we searched for somewhere with a spare table and ended up here. We walked in and were immediately told off for not checking in the hostess (who was not there). Then every table seemed to have some complex conditions around it. Eg. if we sat at the comfy booth, we couldn't have table service - we had to order at the bar. If we sat in the quiet part we could only choose from the bar menu, but could have table service. It was exhausting to try and find a suitable combination. When we did finally sit down, it was at a table next to the tills in the restaurant area (where we could have both table service and the full menu). For the first ten minutes that we sat there, there were dirty plates piled up about a foot away from us. Eventually when someone came over, I ordered the tomato soup and my friend ordered the fish and chips. My soup was cold and came with stale bread (to be fair, after I mentioned the bread, they brought me some more, warmed up). The chips were nice on my friend's meal, but the fish wasn't brilliant and the mushy peas were inedible. When we told them about the peas, they told us that it was their special recipe and although some people didn't seem to like them, they thought they were excellent. (Well, as long as the chef likes it, it doesn't matter about the customers, right?!) All in all, my feelings are that I shan't be returning, even if they do have the last table left in Covent Garden at 10.30pm on a Saturday night. read more

Browns - Covent Garden - Wine Bars Near Me - London, XGL

Had a wonderful lunch here on a busy Saturday afternoon. We were able to get a table for 2 at around 1pm with no wait and no booking. The decor is a bit classier then it's fellow nearby restaurants (I'm looking at you Chipotle) and the menu a little pricier as well. The cocktail list was fab and both drinks that I had (Blood Orange and Grapefruit Gin Cocktail and a Negroni) were well mixed and delicious. The fish pie that had as my main was fantastic and different than similar offerings I've had at pubs. And it was lava hot when it go to the table. Service was excellent, the atmosphere relaxed. We felt slightly under dressed (I was wearing nice shorts and sandals) but not too bad. I'd dress better for dinner. read more

Browns - Covent Garden - Excellent Fish Pie. And HOT! - Wine Bars Near Me - London, XGL

Okay okay as everyone is review this place today I want to too. When my sister was at University (she went to Oxford you know!) all her friends parents would come up and take their little darlings out for lunch. Browns was the place , in Oxford they all use to go. I think that sums up this place pretty well - it's well posh, and a little too posh for the likes of me. It's not posh in the great food sense, it's posh in the, stuck up people sense. A very British experience unfortunately! They do a few things well here, please don't take this as being a 3 star as a negative thing, their afternoon tea is superb and they have fish cakes to dies for. Ask for the hollandaise sauce with it as it goes soooo much better than the one they give you but really well made. Well done Browns, you Great British institution you! read more

Browns - Covent Garden - from website - Wine Bars Near Me - London, XGL

We're just home from an incredibly unimpressive meal at this restaurant. The food was poor, the service was pleasant but largely vacant, the decor by our table scruffy and dusty, and the toilets needed a very good scrub. The total came to £80 for two adults and a child, which seems pricy for what was a fabulously over-cooked burger, a schnitzel that was so dry it was almost inedible, and two sausages with mash that had been left sitting so long before delivery to us that it had formed a crust on top. The desserts weren't much better. My apple and damson crumble contained only one hard lump of roughly a quarter of a plum, and the accompanying ginger ice cream also advertised on the menu was entirely absent. Such a shame - this used to be a reliably great restaurant. We feel terribly ripped off. read more

Reliable British fare at fair prices. You'll find fish and chips, various beef or chicken pies, steak, burgers, salmon, and the usual run of side dishes on the menu, along with a cheese board, sticky toffee pudding, and creme brulee for afters. Given the location in Covent Garden it's a good idea to book if you need to make the opening curtain for opera, ballet, or theatre (all just steps away). Extra large bar if you need to kill time in pleasant surroundings. read more

I came here for dinner the other night with a few friends. We were a party of 6 on a busy night and they were able to seat us rather quickly. The ambiance was classy and the restaurant was clean and spacious, but very loud. This restaurant seemed to be very strict about any changes to menu items or alterations to any of the menu items when ordering, so if you want to eat here then keep that in mind. My friend wanted to order the Browns Classic Burger medium-well and our server said that the burger could not be prepared more than medium-rare. I thought that this was very strange! As a carnivore myself, I totally understand and believe that beef should be more on the rare side because I think it tastes better that way. However, everyone is different! One should be able to have their burger prepared exactly how they want it prepared. Perhaps the restaurant can warn them that the temperature that they are requesting will taste less than optimal, but they absolutely should still be able to decide the temperature at which they want their burger prepared. Ironically, those in our party who did order burgers medium-rare and wanted them medium-rare ended up with very well done burgers. Needless to say, my friend who had desperately wanted to order the burger medium-well done in the first place, was not happy when he saw that others' burgers were well done. For the inconvenience, our server allowed us to use the check in offer (25% off when you book quoting yelp). Apparently this offer is usually only accepted for smaller parties, but they allowed us to use it even though we were a party of 6 which was very nice of them. We all really appreciated this because half of our party wasn't able to get what they really wanted off of the menu because they were very strict about the temperature at which they cook their menu items and about any menu changes. I was going to order the Cod and Chips, but our server told us that the tartare sauce came inside of the actual fish. I thought this was a little ambitious for me, so I opted for the Duo of Lamb (lamb cutlets and pulled shoulder lamb shepherd's pie topped with buttered mash, sautéed samphire, chestnut mushrooms, and red wine jus). As for the lamb cutlets, I thought that these were a rather small portion. They were mostly bone and fat, so I got very little meat off of them. As for the shepherd's pie, this was excellent! Very tasty mashed potatoes and great incorporation of the lamb shoulder. It wasn't too salty, yet it was very savory, hot, and delicious! The sautéed samphire was delicious as well and cooked perfectly, however, it was overly salty. The red wine jus is a real strength for them. It is savory and delicious! I wanted to put it on everything! I thought our server was friendly and I had a lovely conversation with him. I recognize that it was not his fault for being the barer of bad news when it came to the menu items or not being able to prepare the burgers how we wanted. He couldn't help it! However, he definitely could have helped his service. We waited for about 30 minutes to get our bill after we had communicated with him that we were done and wanted the check. We searched all over for him in the restaurant and he was no where to be found. We eventually asked someone else to have him come and deliver our check, but even then, we found ourselves waiting for what seemed like forever. When he finally delivered the check, the 25% discount that was promised was not there. Overall, the restaurant has nice ambiance, it's clean, some of the food is great but other menu items can be improved, and the service was very spotty. I doubt I will be back. read more

Browns - Covent Garden - Duo of Lamb--lamb cutlets & pulled shoulder lamb shepherds pie topped w/ buttered mash, sautéed samphire, chestnut mushrooms, & red wine jus - Wine Bars Near Me - London, XGL

Met friends for dinner at the Browns in Covent Garden last night....wish I'd read these reviews before going. The truth is that this place fails in most areas. * Service is terrible. I think servers are overworked or the restaurant is understaffed. They never come by and when one finally flags a server down they seem astonished that you need assistance. Bizarre. * Food takes forever to arrive. Forever. It took at least 1 hour to get dinner. * Food itself is average at best. The bread starter, while pretty to look at, was dry and stale. The penne with tomato sauce was just...wrong. (Ragu makes a better sauce.) Others in our group had the fish and chips and chicken breast, which seemed okay. I had the house salad, which I requested without edamame. Which of course came with edamame. * Ambiance is okay. But this place is VERY loud. So loud I couldn't hear half of what the person next to me was saying. The Bottom Line: Not sure why this place is so busy, aside from the fact that it's a great location. We definitely won't be back. Total let down. read more

I have eaten at Browns and this particular Browns on many occasions. I am still amazed at how busy this one always is. I believe most people hit the bar then get the munchies and snag a table as there is always a 20/30 minute wait on tables. The food is ok and the staff always helpful, I have eaten in the upstairs private rooms before, I think it used to be a bank or the such like. The best tables are the booths as I always find the service better not quicker just more attentive. Perhaps it is something to do with the fact there are more of you so more spend and better chance of a tip or am I just being sceptical? Aside from the pre theatre crowd, post theatre crowd the after work drinkers at the weekend I have always found it easier to get a table at the weekend. Clearly if you are there during the week my advice book in advance otherwise be prepared to wait for that table! I like Browns and will continue to eat there on and off. read more

We came as a large group (13) for my mum's 50th birthday yesterday and it was great. They slightly screwed up the booking as we were meant to have a bar table for an hour then a restaurant table from 8pm, and they booked both tables in the restaurant. However they rectified everything and were very apologetic. Great service and atmosphere all around. The wine was good and the food was great! Yes it's expensive, but you get what you pay for. I had the duck salad, baked mackerel and sticky toffee pudding, which were all gorgeous. Good ingredients cooked simply and very well. It's really easy to find (literally just round the corner from Leicester Square tube). Would definitely recommend if you're in the area and fancy a treat of a meal! read more

Browns - Covent Garden - Baked whole mackerel - omnomnom - Wine Bars Near Me - London, XGL

I absolutely love Browns afternoon tea! Relatively cheap in cost but not in flavor, service, or ambience! I heard about this place through a friend and booked afternoon tea for myself and 5 friends. A few weeks later, I came back with 2 other friends. All of my friends greatly enjoyed the experience and 2 of them returned on separate occasions with their respective families. The scones were soft, warm, and delicious (probably the best I've tasted in London!). There was a good assortment of pastries, which were slightly different but equally yummy between my visits. The tea and sandwiches were also tasty. For London, the price of afternoon tea was a steal, with no compromise on quality. The brasserie is large, classy, and well-lit, with an interesting layout, as it used to be a court. Service was a bit slow but that was to be expected at a busy time. Thank you Browns! read more

Don't be intimidated by the old school elegance. This is a lovely pub with linen napkins, very attentive service, a pitcher of cold water on your table [!!], and really tasty food. Had a delicious roast chicken on the lunch set menu, and my companion had a super tasty burger. The creme brûlée was large enough for two to share. A great place for a leisurely meal in beautiful surroundings. We may have looked a bit scruffy, but our treatment was first class all the way. read more

I had a great sea food platter from browns but the service was rather slow as we had gone for a pre theater meal and they were inundated. I tried the baked camembert which had been left to sit too long so it had hardened when i got it but they were quick to rectify the problem read more

Astonishing, excellent service. I hosted a one-day conference here. (I hired a room upstairs of the restaurant). Since I live in the US, it was a gamble booking in sight-unseen. We were actually incredibly pleased. The location is great. The room was quite ample. It was beautifully set up. It was comfortable. The Audio-Visual assistance I was given by Stuart/Stewart who managed our event was truly World Class. The pastry I ordered was well-liked by all my people. We had lunch there, too, and everyone was so pleased with the food and service in the very busy restaurant. I can't say enough nice things about Browns. An exceptional place to host an event. We will use them again. read more

"Luce, we're meeting at Browns on St Martin's Lane!" I yell down the phone. She's cycling; I can hear the traffic. "We're not eating there are we?!" she asked, aghast. I couldn't see the problem as we walked into a fancy-looking bar/restaurant, desperate for a drink. The maitre d' said that there were tables available and we went for a drink in the bar to wait for Lucy. The drinks list is extensive with plenty of averagely-priced cocktails (the Bloody Mary was quite sublime) but, despite being the only people at the bar, the drinks took FOREVER to come - and the first round didn't even include any cocktails (they came later). They took so long that a very drunk man thought I was on my own and tried to get me to join him and his friends. I declined. Eventually, (and I'm talking 15 minutes), we got our drinks and Lucy showed up. We didn't let her get a drink before we went to our table as we would've been there all night. The service continued to be terrible. Each step of the meal (waiting for menus, waiting for the order to be taken, waiting for drinks, waiting for starters...you get the gist) took an exceedingly long time and poor Lucy was ready to drink the water that kept dripping on her from the air conditioning as she was so thirsty. All through the meal we were asking for glasses of tap water - which came, much to our hilarity, as we were settling the bill! Waiting to get the bill had me about ready to walk out as they were clearly not that interested in our paying. But being a good girl, I didn't. I did have to actually grab the arm of a passing waitress (I don't normally touch strangers...) as we had asked 3 people and waited a good 20 minutes and no bill had materialised. Physical contact seemed the only measure by this point. But how was it? Um, it was OK. We had some very tasty bruschetta to start with and I had linguine with prawns and chorizo which was OK. It was OK, OK? But the service wasn't, it was terrible. Until we were paying our bill when suddenly these glasses of water appeared and 2 waitresses offered to take our photos (friends were visiting so it was a bit of an occasion, we don't normally take photographs of ourselves in restaurants). This became even more of a farce when my friend's doddery old camera got stuck on long exposure so we came out as blurry shapes, and we told the waitresses not to worry about it but they kept on snapping away...even though we were now desperate to leave after having been in there for some hours! An odd experience...I don't often use exclamation marks in my reviews but this definitely warranted it. read more