Porters English Restaurant

I have eaten at Porters every time I have visited London. It is without a doubt one of the best British restaurants in London. I simply don’t understand some of the reviews that are posted here as my experiences at Porters have always been first class. Great food, friendly service and fair prices are what you can expect every time. I like to judge restaurants by trying them myself, not by a few malicious reviews. Give Porters a try the next time you are in London, you will not be sorry.

Great place for typical British food. The inside is quite decorated for a fun atmosphere. It was really easy to get seated on a late Saturday afternoon. Had the pâté to start served with homemade onion marmalade and 3 pieces of bread. Overall very delicious and quite filling. Had the steak pastry for a meal which was very tender and a large portion. Overall decent place to grab a meal.

This place was recommended by the hotel concierge as a good place for authentic English food. The food was OK, wine was OK, beer warm. We had split pea soup that was OK, the fresh crab salad was very good. The lamb chops were cooked perfectly. I did not care for the smashed peas, they had a fermented taste that stayed with me for a long time after the meal. Those peas ruined the entire meal.

Please note: this restaurant does not have gluten free dish and chips. They serve you grilled fish with the skin and bones. Not what I walked all the way across London for.

Our internet guru and production assistant Chrissy’s father in law recommended Porters from his London trips and he knows his food and restaurants. The desk guy at the Radisson we were staying at says he goes there himself. It was a nice day so we walked using GPS to guide us. I’d never had Shepherds Pie and don’t know what the standard is, but I loved it. Never had mashed potatoes that way. But I can’t find it in the States that taste as good. Porters might consider opening a location here in Los Angeles. If you have room, try the chocolate cake. We split a piece. Excellent too. The really cool thing is that even though we were tourists, we were totally welcome as though locals. In the countryside we find that to be common, but rare in the City. We even got into a conversation with the couple at the table beside us and they told us about their upcoming trip to Florida. Service was precise and friendly and the prices were not that bad considering we were in London.

Went in looking for a crisp refreshing beer and ended up with a warm one. Instead of the manager apologizing and addressing the confusion on «real british ale» he condescendingly belittled us and made sure I would never go back here.

Lousy service. Had theatre + dinner reserved before a play. We sat for over an hour and never received our entrees. However the folks around us who came later all received their meals. We finally had to walk out so we wouldn’t miss our show. The manager has been very concerned about this review and so it was edited to stick with our service experience. If we could ever make it back to London, we might pop in to see if things have improved.

Even though you’re in London with its culinary prowess of international tastes and delights, you just fancy good old fashioned English food done really well. When I met a work friend for a pre-​theatre dinner, that’s what we wanted. The catch was, as a coeliac, the restaurant to cater to my friend’s tastes.
We plumped for Porters as on paper, it fulfilled the requirements and was close the the West End. But, did it live up to its promises? The suspense! Ok, suspense over because it most definitely did!
6pm with a table reserved for 2, we turned up to a delightfully quaint restaurant with a Tardis-​like quality (bigger on the inside, casual Dr Who humour there). Good thing we booked, obviously popular for the pre-​theatre diners. The walls were lined with old playbills of productions past, which for me is basically perfect decoration so that scored many a point.
The waiter was friendly and helpful, providing us straight away with the gluten-​free menu. This menu however, whilst what it promised, seemed a bit disappointing in choice. My delightful work colleague ended up with some nicely marinated chicken and assorted vegetables, which whilst lovely was dry. I had a pie (so she could be naughty and steal a bit of my gravy), which was much better. Filled with soft, tender game and swimming in a rich port reduction, this pie definitely lived up to the restaurant’s look and feel. Filling too! All for £14, so you expect quality here.
Pudding was a bit disappointing, we had heard there assorted ice creams were incredible, so whilst they were smooth and creamy with interesting sounding flavours, my apple & cinnamon ice cream was basically all cinnamon. I love cinnamon, so win! But apple would have been nice too.
Slightly delayed in getting the bill so we had to march rather quickly to the theatre loses this place the full 5 star treatment, that and the gluten free menu. Don’t advertise a whole menu if your offering isn’t as good as your main a la carte in my opinion.

Terrible Service harboring on discrimination.
Us 4 Indian Professionals (MDs and PhDs) went to Porters for dinner with a reservation at 9PM on November 9,2013.We arrived there at 8:50PM and were seated by 9PM. In the following 55 minutes we were served 1 bottle of wine and NOTHING else. Every appetizer we ordered we were told after 15 minutes of waiting that they had «run out».Eventually at 9:50PM we decided to leave and finally the manager for the evening followed us out to the street and claimed she was «busy» in the kitchen preparing our meal! Inspite of such bad service they still charged for the bottle of wine-​some customer service.
The owners need to do a deep dive into their customer service and shake things around but for now stay away!!!

Toad in the hole. Hard to find! Not bad, but nothing to rave about.

Exactly what it says in the outside. I always bring my parents and friends to here as it does great English food at very reasonable prices. They take pride in what other people would gloss over, and as result they have lovely food… You can get the same food in pubs cheaper, but there it comes from a microwave. The service is always great and we had a very nice waiter.
It’s a refreshing change to all the tourist food in Covent Garden square. The only reason why I don’t eat here more is that there are other great restaurants in the area!!!

This was probably the worst food I have eaten in London. We walked in thinking that we would treat our friend to a typical English meal. The Salmon and Shrimp cakes were horrible and gave us an indigestion. Half way through the meal, we were informed that the beer we were drinking ran out. Stay away!

Finally a place with real English food!

Nice and cozy place on St. Patrick’s.

Not a bad place for a nice pie and mash. Seemed like a bit of a tourist trap as many of the patrons noticeably seemed to be from out of town, but the food was good. Had the steak, onion, pea & red wine pie with gravy which was nice, as was the honey porter beer that I had to accompany it. The menu is extensive so there’s something for everyone. Try not to be seated in the downstairs area though, the décor is not as nice and it’s really drafty.

This place came highly recommended to us by a British couple from our church. Apparently, they go here every time they are back «home» in England. My wife and I knew we had to visit this place and try it if locals ate there.
This was our first dinner in London and my impression is that this was a traditional English restaurant experience. The menu was mostly filled with meat pies, bangers and mash, etc. We enjoyed the food because we don’t get much English food in the USA and were told the food in England was terrible. We enjoyed our meal and the «Spotted Dick» dessert was also pretty good. Our waiter was nice and attentive.
Not sure if it would be the first place I went back to if we ever make it back to London, but it is definitely worth visiting at least once if looking for old school English dining experience and food
My original rating was 3.5 stars, but bumped it up to 4 after getting a personal message from the owner of the restaurant! That’s service

This place is a bit of a tourist trap and I think the food’s a bit over priced, but if you like pie and chips then is the place for you.
The last time I ate here I had the roast beef and yorkshire pudding and I have to say I’ve had better roast dinners; unless I had an overwhelming craving for pie and chips I propbably wouldn’t rush back.

restaurant typiquement anglais agréable, bon service, les pies étaient trés bonnes, petites suggestions des frites maison auraient été de mises, c’est en tous les cas ce a quoi je m’attendais en lisant les supers critiques de ce restaurant d’ou j’ai pris l’initiative d’emmener ma famille! sinon mise a part cela, rien a dire, service correct, nourriture bonne, cadre agréable

Good fillet steak, great Zinnfandel Ravenswood red wine, and a nice chocolate fudge cake. That’s all you need, I guess.

Wow, I am probably going to get mauled for this review after reading what others have written. But I gotta say, I really enjoyed my meal at Porter’s as did the others I was with. Perhaps I am not well trained on what a proper English meal should consist of or taste like — nonetheless, my meal had great flavor.
I ordered the Chicken, Wild Mushroom and Leek Pie with New Potatoes. The flaky puff pastry was warm and comforting. As my fork made it further into the dish the piping hot filling was revealed. Flavorful chicken, a creamy broth and loads of mushrooms. The food was delivered quickly and the server was very attentive. Overall, a very enjoyable meal.

So you remember that scene in Ferris Bueller? The one where he tries to get into the exclusive Chicago restaurant by claiming he’s Abe Froeman the «Sausage King» of Chicago?
Well, take the Maitre d from that scene, make him a middle aged woman and put her in Porters «the English restaurant»… let’s face facts people it’s a pie restaurant.
Without making eye contact with me, the lady in question suggested on several occasions that I probably wanted the pub with a similar name round the corner despite my protestations about a table booking etc. Now, I admit, I wasn’t dressed in my smartest outfit but there’s no need to be rude.
The restaurant predominaently has pie on the menu, while I like a good pie as much as the next person, I feel trying to make them too gourmet would be a fools errand. We’ll just end up with ‘foam pastry’ or other such nonsense.
Luckily here, the fillings are nice and unfussy and each pie comes with a golden crown of puff pastry.
As for the maitre d? I did what Ferris did;
Once my friends arrive and validated the booking, she apologized and said;
«it’s ok, understanding is what allows people like me to tolerate a person such as yourself»
It’s that tolerance, and the fact everyone else who worked there were lovely, that makes this review 3 stars and not 1.
(Disclaimer: I’ve embellished the above story for effect but the facts are all there. Maitre d was rude and the only pie she needed was humble!)