Giraffe

We came here as a group of 30 people (team lunch) and the food came out really, really quickly. I ordered the no-​bun falafel burger, which came with 5 – 6 falafel balls, a side salad (mixed greens and grains) and 2 sauces. It was falafel, nothing special but I liked the taste of side salad. Also, everyone seemed to be happy with their meal choices so it is another plus.
I’m giving them 4 stars because they processed our group and food really quickly and the serving team was nice, not because the food was above average. If you have a team something coming up and in need of a place, Giraffe is a good option.

My friend and I came here while we were walking along the river. The smoothies are fantastic! Even came with a giraffe in it I had the full English breakfast which was very good, and she had the veggie breakfast which was also good! It came with a veggie sausage, which I had never had and I very much enjoyed it. The service was great as well!

This is an OK place. Everything I have had here has been OK, nothing to talk about but definitely not bad. I have had the burger with fries, their
Mediterranean platter, the no bun veggie falafel burger and the full English breakfast. The good thing about this place is that they have healthy options and the food doesn’t taste bad at all. Also the service is always friendly and quick. If you are in the area and want a meal that isn’t too fancy or pricey I would pick this place.

Food wise … its okayyyyyyyy … nothing to call your grandma about who happens to live in Kentucky. the waiters are friendly and polite and the venue is alright also. I mean overall it isnt a memorable spot at all to be honest lol … I will tell you that it was rather loud! I’m talking boombox in your uncle’s living room loud but if thats your thing then drop on by

I decided to have lunch here with a friend and was somewhat skeptical at first, from previous experiences I find restaurants that do a wide range of different cultural foods usually cook the food at a mediocre level. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at giraffe, I ordered the sirloin at medium-​well and the steak was cooked perfectly and had delicious juices flowing from it with every cut. The garlic butter complimented the flavours of the beef, making it moist as it melted in my mouth. It was incredibly aromatic and flavoursome.
I underestimated the green salad, it did not taste as plain as it looks. It was very refreshing and the dressing made it very tasty, a great way to cleanse the palate. The olives I had for starters where scrumptious, I like how they had a range of olives, that were deliciously tangy.
Service was excellent, the waitress was very quick and attentive with our orders. The price was fair the bill came to about £50.00 for the both of us. Overall, no complaints.

So this Giraffe is on the Southbank in a prime location, and is probably the biggest branch I’ve seen. It was also absolutely packed, it being 5pm on a sunny Saturday. We didn’t think we’d get a table or even a seat, but Giraffe delivered. Winner.
As we only came here for cocktails, I can’t comment on the food, apart from a delicious portion of sweet potato fries. Yum!
The cocktails however are lovely. All reasonably priced at under £7 for most of them, they’ve got a nice mixture of classics, oddballs and classic twists and we had fun ordering a few and trying them all.
The melon midori is well worth a try, even though it’s a pretty lurid shade of green!

The food was quite exquisite and if it was an option I would give a 4.5 stars. The service was okay but you can’t really get much better in London. There is no A/​C so it can get quite warm and it doesn’t help that the water is served without ice. They were very kind to bring us a cup of ice though. The chicken schnitzel was very good along with all the burgers made from cows right here in London. Also, at the end of the meal they give you really cool complementary plastic giraffes. If you are in downtown London, it is definitely a place you should try for good food and not too high of a cost!

First visit here and must say extremely impressed with the set up and the food. Three of us visited the set up down on the South Bank of the Thames in London one Saturday for brunch and had great Mexican food.
Founded in Hampstead in 1998 by Juliette Joffe, Russel Joffe and Andrew Jacobs,
Giraffe was owned by its founders, with additional financial backing from private shareholders, 3i investment group and chairman Luke Johnson. 3i invested £10 million in the company in 2006, in a deal that valued the chain at about £24m

Above average dinner with interesting options especially for vegetarians. We were seated and served promptly. Had several cocktails to start with which was tasty, followed by tasty food. Everyone in my party agreed that the food was great!
Would visit again!

Visited this restaurant because we were in the area and the large restaurant was packed. We thought that since it was so busy, the food had to be good.
3 stars because of the waiter. We ordered the ribs, beef burrito, steak sandwich with fries, and jambalaya. Maybe its because we are from the US but the food was barely acceptable. I was hungry and was having a hard time trying to eat it. The cost wasn’t cheap (comparing the price in USD) either. The saving grace was our waiter who was actually concerned that we didn’t like the food. She tried her best and because of her I didn’t give this restaurant 1 star.

We stumbled upon this restaurant by accident! Giraffe is situated on the South Bank alongside a select few other restaurants. It was very busy but we were seated within fifteen minutes. Service was quick and there was a large range of food on the menu. I had the steak which was ok but not worth the price. They serve large sides which is a bonus. Overall good experience.

I’ve never been a big fan of giraffe compared with other chain restaurants I have been to but I booked the Christmas menu for 6 uni friends — it looked a bit different — and now I don’t think I’ll go back
We arrived early so they found us some space at the bar to wait which is good and took our orders for cocktails (average and over priced)
We were then seated with only 5 of us there which was fine but as we had already pre ordered food from the Xmas menu they brought it all out! We explained we were still waiting on someone (it was still before our table was booked for) and they were ok with this and took it back but when we got it back it had clearly just been sitting there
Mains were ok but a bit bland and dry
Then we had another fiasco with pudding where they hadn’t put them through so hadn’t ordered enough
They did let us choose of the main menu but their attitude wasn’t apologetic at all
Overall poorly organised and average food
To be fair you are not guaranteed a bad meal at this place as some of the food iv had in the past has been ok but I would rather pick somewhere to try than go back to this chain

We booked a table for 10 to celebrate my best friend’s birthday a couple of weekends ago. In the end 16 people turned up. The staff were very good in finding more chairs to accommodate the extra six and made us all very welcome.
As for the food, we ordered everything on the menu and they were all very well cooked. I don’t think we had one complain from the guests.
Would go to Giraffe again when I’m in the area.

Visiting London a few days ago and after walking along the river we decided we were pretty hungry and needed to grab a bite. They have a menu posted outside which was nice, it let us get an idea of offerings before we put our name on the list. Pretty big menu that was very diverse.
We sat down and were greeted by a smiling server named Hogi (sp) she was friendly and very helpful. We ordered our drinks and found out they were buy one get one free and after our 10 hour flight that seemed like a magical idea.
Food was good, we got steak and being from the states it wasn’t my favorite but a little salt and pepper made it better. The drinks were great, try the strawberry mule!
5 stars is for service, it was a very welcome first night in London.

One of the worst meals that I’ve had since living in London. Terrible I.P.A. Terrible Falafel burger. Terrible sweet potato fries. Terrible Rioja. This place is not managed well enough to operate on this large of a scale. The restaurant is enormous and service was lacking. I’ve been to other locations in and outside of London, locations that I’d give 3 stars, but this location was just unacceptable in terms of food and service. Sadly, restaurants like these stay afloat on account of location and nearby tourism.

Looked online at the many restaurants in the area. Decided to eat here with my Mum. The place was very busy. The wait wasn’t too long to get a table. The food was very good. My meal cost around £12.

I popped into the Southbank branch of Giraffe following a recording of ‘Have I got News for You’ at the ITV television studios. It was rather late– almost 22:00– and we were desperate for dinner, so we were pleased that the restaurant was still busy and we easily got a good booth seat. I have been to several branches of Giraffe across London over the years (even the days before it was bought out by Tesco) and have visited this branch before. The Southbank branch is admittedly my least favourite because it is expansive and always filled to capacity due to its location– I’ve had incidents there where I have been waiting lengthy periods of time for my server who was desperately attempting to explain the menu to non-​native English speakers! So, yes, expect a mostly tourist crowd here.
On this visit, the service was very sluggish as it was towards the end of the evening– it took some time to get drinks, our food and our bill. Items were brought over to our table that we didn’t order and side items that we did order were delayed and came some time after our mains. It was a bit frustrating when we saw our meals walk past us several times before they were placed in front of us (we were famished)! Our server was friendly (and dramatically mispronounced ‘quinoa’, bless him). The Giraffe menu always has some of the same ‘favourite’ dishes and a few new additions depending on the season. It prides itself on offering a good selection of International dishes, such as: thai curries, jambalaya, mezze, a good selection of burgers, peri-​peri chicken, burritos and grills. It has a great selection for vegetarians and even gluten-​free options are clearly marked on the menu.
I ordered the ‘bunless’ burger with a grilled chicken breast on a bed of quinoa salad with salad leaves, avocado, tomato and a burger sauce on the side. I usually enjoy the bunless burger salad on offer at the Burgers and Cocktails spin-​off sister restaurant, but this version isn’t as satisfying– it was colourful and fresh, but a little dry and I found myself adding hot chili sauce for a kick of flavour. The ‘burger sauce’ was a non-​descript pink creamy concoction that I didn’t particularly like. It is a good light option, but was missing any bold flavours. I saw the Global Mezze Platter pass our table and it looked absolutely delicious (I had been tempted to greedily order this sharing platter for myself, as I am always happy with mezze).
My boyfriend had the Mexican burger– a new addition to the Giraffe menu with chicken and chorizo alongside traditional Mexican accompaniments. It came with hand-​cut fries and he ordered more wedges on the side (again, we were famished). I was disappointed that the wedges didn’t come with a dipping sauce and he resorted to the ketchup on the table.
They were still seating people as it approached 23:00 and it took us ages to get our bill and pay, so it was a bit of a frustrating end to the meal.
This is my least favourite branch of Giraffe, so I would recommend it only if you are meeting near Waterloo or stuck on the Southbank. Our Picturehouse membership card worked here and we got a 20% discount off the meal (even the server was surprised, as they do not always accept all discounts and vouchers at this branch). The service is not up to the usual standard of Giraffe due to the busy location and the amount of tables. The service was slow and our food was slightly cold when it finally arrived because of the various delays.
I would recommend this branch for families, as they do cater very well to children and have a good kids menu and prices are very reasonable, especially if you are eligible for a Picturehouse or NUS discount. The food always looks attractive and vibrant on the plate and there is a range of healthy, vegetarian, gluten free choices. The standard across the Giraffe restaurants is also fairly consistent, but do try another location if you can!

I had brunch at Giraffe on Southbank with a few girlfriends a few weeks ago and had a delicious meal. From my vegetarian «Full English» (which came with avocado, potato wedges and vegetarian sausages) to my friend’s banana pancakes served with bacon and maple syrup, we all had a fantastic meal with great service from the staff.

I use to go to Giraffe all the time for a Saturday and Sunday late lunch. My meal was the Mexican Breakfast.
In the last few year, since they’ve been bought by Tesco’s., there attention to detail and quality has dramatically dropped.
The Waterloo store (which was where I was today) was particular bad on the food side. My meal was cold and even though I ordered a strong coffee, it was extremely weak.
Usually the wait staff is a highlight at Giraffe, though our waiter tried disagree with us there there wasn’t a glutton free option for an order my friend made, even though it was clearly stated on the menu. Massive fail.
I really would have like to given Giraffe full stars, though, sadly, I feel their service and food is going in the wrong direction. If you can find another option to eat in the area, go there instead of Giraffe.

I came here for a cheap lunch with my boyfriend. We sat outside to bask in the rare London sun and be by the river. The location is amazing, on South Bank overlooking the water. However, the food wasn’t really that great and the service was lacking.
I ordered a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. My cheeseburger wasn’t warm and tasted quite bland. However, the sweet potato fries were great! Flavourful, crispy and tasty.
All in all, I think next time I try to find a cheap eat off of NUS card, I’ll go somewhere else.

Guter Laden.
Ich sag mal. vergleichbar mit Wagamama. Super Fresschen. Asiatisch angehaucht. Fusion Food nennt man das. glaub ich.
Saulecker. und auf gut Deutsch. né ordentliche Portion .
Personal ist echt nett und aufmerksam.
Und der Preis hält sich für eine Weltstadt echt im Rahmen. günstiger kann man in unserer Bananenrepublik in Großstädten auch nicht essen.
Fazit: sehr zu empfehlen.

Ein netter Laden, wenn man bei einem Spaziergang an der Themse eine kleine Kaffeepause einlegen oder etwas essen möchte. Hier kann man sowohl als Londoner, als auch als Tourist relativ günstig etwas leckeres essen gehen. Dabei ist günstig natürlich relativ. Der normale Burger mit Pommes kostet dort ca. 10 Pfund. Dafür ist dieser aber auch lecker und man wird satt. Natürlich käme man bei Mäcces günstiger weg, aber das ist nicht immer jedermanns Sache. Auch in Deutschland käme man in einem vergleichbaren Lokal kaum günstiger weg.
Der Laden ist stets gut gefüllt, aber wir haben hier stets recht zügig einen Platz bekommen. Das Personal ist freundlich.
Alles in allem ist das Lokal sehr zu empfehlen.