Hoi Polloi

It’s such a nice place for both brunch and dinner. However, I enjoyed brunch a lot more.
My friend had pancakes overloaded with berries and she loved them. I had avocado toast with slices of salmon, which was great. I had a green juice and she had an extra strong coffee. All in all, it’s a great brunch spot at the Ace. Hip and young scene with a handful of middle aged folks
We ordered carpaccio as an appetizer for dinner, it was meh.

I’ve been to Hoi Polloi for a Sunday Brunch with friends and we had a great time. We ordered Avocado Toasts with poached eggs and blueberry pancakes; Everything was delicious and well presented on the plates. The location is very nice, there was also live classical music to entertain the customers. The restaurant is part of the ACE Hotel but you have to access passing through a flower shop on Shoreditch high street. The service is good and the prices are fair. I live in Shoreditch and I thought I had to try it, but I will definitely go again and I highly recommend it.

We live just around the corner and are regulars in the main Ace lobby and coffee shop, which is great. I’ve been to Hoi Polloi three times and will definitely go again. The first time was for breakfast with a work colleague. They have a good selection of healthy breakfasts including green juice. More recently we have been twice for dinner. The second time both myself and my partner had burgers and fries. They were excellent. Our favourite is probably still the Hawksmoor but the Hoi Polloi burgers were perfectly cooked with a good «salad» interior including celery and a slight mustardy sauce. In fact, writing this is making me feel like another one! Another good thing about Hoi Polloi is you don’t need to book weeks in advance, as there are often plenty of last minute tables … which means we can go back tonight.

Trendy Shoreditch venue with OK food and novel décor. Enjoyed the fish and chips, but probably a little overpriced.

Decent drinks, inside the trendy Ace hotel. Definitely lots of eye candy and good for people watching. I like how there is a little nook at the corner where you can still have quieter conversation if preferred.

We came here for a birthday meal, which being mine, I was really looking forward to but I left feeling as though my expectations were a little let down.
While the choices of food range from meat, vegetarian options and fish, over all the food is fairly bland. I had the sea bass, which was well cooked — flakey and juicy — but really it had little flavour to it.
The restaurant also had been informed it was my birthday, which kindly they brought me a complimentary desert, only they gave it to my friend instead with her name written on the plate… so while the thought was there, unfortunately it was the little details like this which left me feeling quite disappointed.

Can you really go wrong with pancakes?
Yes. The answer is yes. Though simple, the pancake is the most often massacred breakfast food and Hoi Polloi deserves four stars just for the fact that they flip up a darn tasty stack of pancakes.
I was staying at the Ace Hotel on my most recent trip to London and had the pleasure of sitting down with the infamous Alex S and his lovely cohort in crime for brunch. The restaurant/​diner is located within the hotel and though it is pretty bare bones in terms of décor, it lends to the diner feel of the space. With it’s bench/​booth seating, it reminds me of old truck stops back home… except truck stops that a hipster designed, because it’s still in the Ace afterall.
I ordered juice (Sunshine), pancakes with bacon and maple syrup and a side of sausage. Why bacon and sausage? I feel sorry for you if you have to ask that.
Let’s start off with the not so fine: I would pass on the side of sausage next time around or any of the other sides for that matter — they are pretty tiny portions for what you pay for.
But that’s the only thing that stood out as a red flag here. The juice was great. In fact, I went back twice for the same juice to keep me perking along through the weekend, and the pancakes were top notch. Right amount of dense to fluffy and not skimping on the syrup. Tasty indeed. The prices for brunch were a little high, but I feel like that is more my unfamiliarity with London than anything (it makes me weep when I see how much you all spend on cocktails). Though I don’t think it will be a future «destination» spot, if i’m back in town and staying at the Ace again, I would definitely hit this place up for breakfast.

Classic, quality breakfast.
I don’t know about this spot any other time, as I have literally only done breakfast here. But I have enjoyed every breakfast I have had.
You walk in through the flower shop (or through the hotel if you want to go the long way) and sit down on the modern diner-​esq feeling they have for this place (complete with the soft lighting and booths). Menu comes in a newsletter. The food is über prepared to look as good as it tastes. And I enjoy it.
Yes, it’s a little overpriced for what you get and the service can be hit or miss, but it is delicious and photogenic and a nice place for a breakfast, hungover or not. If you’re in Shoreditch, you could do worse in the morning.

Do not go to Hoi Polloi!
We booked an afternoon or tea at ACE for friends who were visiting London and wanted to experience a British afternoon tea in a less «stuffy» environment. We are all fans of the ACE Hotels in NYC and LA so we figured it would be a good bet. Unfortunately, we were wrong.
Upon arrival to an EMPTY dining room except for a table of two, they informed us at 5:30pm (the time of our booking) that they were no longer serving tea and were preparing for dinner service. The website and the paper menus all state they serve tea until 6pm. The hostess who broke the no-​tea news then dismissively turned around and returned to slicing bread. It was pretty unbelievable. Basically, they ruined our afternoon and they were completely unapologetic about the entire ordeal.
Bonus: I received an email from OpenTable the next day to say we skipped out on our reservation!
The bottom line is that this place is overhyped. The empty restaurant on a Friday, when it is supposed to be stylish and cool, is evidence of the fact that it is neither. Truth be told, having tea alone in an empty dining room wouldn’t have been very fun anyway, so many it was meant to be.

I’m staying at The Ace Hotel which is connected to the restaurant (or the other way around). Either way, the restaurant provides the room service as well as for eat-​in.
First experience was with room service. I ordered the burger which comes with a side of chips. Burger was nothing special, more on the small side, and fairly bland. Chips were good.
In keeping with the hotel style where plastic dish-​bin style trays are used for storage in the rooms, they use the same thing for serving room service. In the rooms it works — to serve food in, you feel like they ran out of trays and grabbed a bus bin normally filled with dirty dishes collected when bussing a table at the end of a meal. Just doesn’t come off well.
The next experience was this morning when I thought rather than going to the coffee shop in the hotel (which is rather good) I would go for a more substantial breakfast.
After getting seated you’re given what appears to be a newspaper which is the menu. Kinda cool though it seems that the menus have been used quite a bit.
Anyway, the place wasn’t all that busy but the staff seem oblivious to people. I sat at the table with my newspaper menu, no water, no coffee, nothing for close to 15 minutes as a couple of servers walked pat me several times. I believe one accidentally let me catch his eye but that didn’t seem to spark any notion of coming over to the table.
I eventually got up, grabbed my bag and walked out. I am pretty sure the host saw me leave but like the rest of the staff, didn’t really seem to care and didn’t say anything.
It’s not often I give a 1 star rating for a place but neither of my experiences warrant anything more. With so many options now in the Shoreditch area, you should skip this one and you won’t miss anything.
Too bad as the Ace hotel itself is really great and I’m really enjoying that. Too bad the restaurant can’t add to the positive experience.

Having been enraptured by the glorious ‘Sunday Strings’ concept here (the string quartet playing popular tunes while you eat), I led some more friends here through the secret florist’s entrance for brunch this weekend to share the love.
Our booking was at 12.15pm from the ‘Weekend Brunch’ menu, which starts at 12pm. Sadly most of the items on here that had also been on the ‘Breakfast’ menu from 8 – 12 had already run out. That included my first choice, the avocado, chilli and poached eggs on toast, as well as my second choice, the eggs florentine, as they’d run out of spinach. Disaster. Now Sunday brunch has got to be their busiest service period of the week and yet they seemed to be woefully unprepared for the fact that ‘the avocado and eggs florentine have been flying out the kitchen this morning!’ as the waitress told us. That was no surprise to me — why was it a surprise to them?!
I was quite disappointed for a time (and half tempted to pop out and buy an avocado from up the road). But sought solace in a pear and prosecco cocktail that cheered me up. Sadly for my mate’s girlfriend they were even missing an ingredient for her drink too so had to make her a tweaked ‘Dizzy Dolly’ cocktail. Luckily my third choice pancakes with bacon and maple syrup arrived generously sized, fat and fluffy and made me the subject of food envy from the boys, particularly the mate that ordered the smoked salmon and got a decidedly stingy portion!
The food was thus much more hit and miss this visit in terms of value for money, and the amount of ingredients out of stock was quite unacceptable. I’d mark them down even further were it not for the string quartet — who were again quite brilliant — and the best cappuccino I’ve tasted in ages. Let’s hope they’ve learned their lesson — I know I’ll be booking an earlier sitting next time to make sure!

Came here for dinner. Disappointed with the price to quality ratio. Got the burger for 14 pounds and a cocktail. The cocktail was solid but the burger was fairly tiny and wasn’t anything special. I found Dirty Burger down the street for half as much and was much better.
You’re paying for the interior and dishes.

Whoa! This place!
HOORAY for the string quartet playing pop songs in candy floss-​coloured sweaters
HOORAY for the mid-​century modern everything and Scandinavian vibes. (My teapot was dream-​worthy.)
BOO for the exceptionally disappointing afternoon tea. The scones were outrageously good, but the chocolate cake was so dry, it had actually turned white, and the sandwiches were hard and dry (one was evidently the butt of the bread loaf).
It cuts me deep, but the food is really the ONLY thing that stops this place from being somewhere I would otherwise go every week.

I usually end up grabbing a table at the Hoi Polloi once I’ve had a few drinks and as a consequence my delight over the food is probably a bit biased towards teh positive!
They have some really interesting meat dishes (the Featherblade is to die for!) and it’s priced pretty fairly. I’m also a fan of the various drinks available and the atmosphere is always quite lively due to the mixed bag of clientele from the local area and staying next door in the fabulous Ace Hotel.
I always bump into total oddballs either at the bar or even sat at a table, and these random interactions usually make the visit worth it just on their own. (If you’re oddball adverse I’m sure you can probably avoid this).
Top tip: If you want a last minute table, pop onto OpenTable and book there 15 minutes in advance; walk-​ins often result in waiting around for much longer than that for no real good reason. (Presumably as a solo diner I’m somewhat discriminated against but last time I was there it took me over an hour to get seated despite there being tables available on OpenTable the whole time!)

Been here for drinks and dinner. Hoi Polloi is quite a trendy restaurant given its location in the heart of Shoreditch, however, it’s not super packed with the music pumping… it’s quite spacious and is a great place to catch up with friends (eg hear each other talking!)
Thought the food was really tasty and the flavours came out well. The service was quick and attentive. I’d definitely go again — next time for brunch as they’ve got a string quartet!
Top tip: enter through the flower shop instead of the main hotel entrance — flower shops always smell great!

Just three stars seems too little, but the super-​fan-​fabulous four stars just don’t do it for me. That’s SUCH a shame!
The YAY!
* Entrance via the flower shop on Shoreditch High Street.
That’s just way too cool now, you have to admit that!
* Nice little booths, cocktails, warm interior, it’s a classy spot.
* On Saturday and Sunday, they have a string quartet that plays your ‘nowadays tunes’ as though your classical hits from the 18^th century — it’s brilliant!
The NAY…
The quality of the food. I am SO sorry to say, but that’s the reason I go out and have brunch or dinner somewhere… The Eggs Florentine were nice, the Eggs Royale ‘fine’ and the smoked trout omelette merely MEH and the mushroom broth just water with a floating egg: double MEH. All the dishes needed seasoning and all and all — I can’t be fan of a place with medium food. Darrrrnit! I want to like this!

This space in the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch on the High Street, is absolutely beautiful, full of lightish woods, gold lighting and warm golden hues. Fantastically comfortable and spacious leather booths throughout make this a large and inviting space. Either enter through the hotel, or from inside an adjacent flower shop, The hidden entrance at the flower shop makes this place feel almost feel like a secret. The look and feel is a high five –gorgeous.
The place suffers from a tad too much hipster though, and not enough food, either on the portion size and on the quality, sadly. I hate when that happens. I had the saddest looking crab salad. In fairness, it really would have been more accurately sold as a tiny crab toast appetizer. Truth in advertising is always appreciated –let’s put that one on the menu. The taste was just okay –just some crab with mayo, toasts and some pickled vegetables. Meh.
On the plus side, the staff here was friendly and when they got our order completely wrong, made it right, by comping my friends their tasty burger and chips. BTW, the burger and chips (fries) were fantastic, and cooked to a perfect medium rare as requested, well, from what I saw anyway, drooling over my sad little feel-​sorry-​for-​me corner with my tiny crab toast «salad.»
A good order was the granola and yogurt, if you like a simple breakfast, along with the hearty salmon with couscous. The crab salad however, was not a good order, she said, beating a dead horse.
Ending on a positive note, they made me smile with the string quartet playing 80s songs for Sunday brunch –this is where they nail hipster in an oh-​so-​great way. Props for creativity and humor on that choice.

I’m a big fan of the ACE in New York and I dig the look of its London outpost, but I’m not super interested in dining here at Hoi Polloi again.
I shared dinner with two pals on Christmas Eve. The company was grand, the food less so.
The chickpea fritters lacked oomph. Thank goodness for the accompanying aioli to perk them up slightly.
The cauliflower cheese was done with an extremely strong cheese — so strong that no one at my table could stand the smell of it, much less the taste. Pretty disappointing if you love traditional cauliflower cheese in all its mildness.
I ordered broccoli with anchovy crumbs, but received broccoli with salt cod (which I had had more than my fill of in Portugal two weeks prior). I inquired when it arrived and was assured it was the correct dish. Still puzzled, I consulted the menu to figure out the mystery. After another inquiry the dish was swapped out for the one I’d ordered.
Dripping chips were wonderful. (When are they not?) I also enjoyed the cocktails. In this neighb you’re spoiled for choice. Hoi Polloi isn’t one I’d make again.

I’d recommend this place more for the space than the atmosphere. The space is really cool – big open, beautiful room but with great acoustics and tables spaced and spread out so that you can have a conversation. I just loved being in the room!
The food was good but nothing to rave about. Cauliflower cheese was really good although a massive portion for a side and nice not to have it oozing in cheese but it was definitely a cheese on the bluer side. The plaice was an interestingly prepared dish albeit heavy and not served as warm as we would have liked. Chickpea fritters were a bit flavorless.
Food needs a step up and a warning the portions are confusing – we ordered a snack, split a main and had two side vegetables and had too much food.
Price didn’t break the bank and although the wait staff could have been better, they were trying really hard.

Walking through the maze that is the Ace Hotel, we marvelled at how well it blended into its Shoreditch surroundings. You feel like you’ve escaped the hustle and bustle outside, but looking around at the clientele, you know you’re definitely still in Shoreditch.
The north end of the building is where Hoi Polloi resides, spacious like a canteen but with an intimate, cozy atmosphere. You know the trendy and rambunctious restaurants, where the music is amped up so you can’t hear anything your companions are saying? I really appreciated that it wasn’t like that at all at Hoi Polloi, that they weren’t trying hard and forcing the trendy vibe.
The food was decent but minimalist, we ordered the broccoli and cod (bit small considering it was 8 quid), skirt steak for 16 quid (perfectly medium rare but a little sparse), the 12 quid burger was good but lacking fireworks, the fries were fries. The deconstructed lemon curd, malt ice cream, and date pudding were all solidly done as well.
In other words, overall we enjoyed our time here– good standard food but nothing to blow your mind.