Boyds Grill & Wine Bar

Review summary

1. S

   Skip

   Washington DC

   13 reviews

   vip
   2.0

   13 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Based on Boyd's website, I had expected this to be a much classier and polished establishment. It was not. It took 20 minutes for someone to come to take our order for cocktails, more than 30 minutes after that for our cocktails to arrive. When the cocktails arrived, there was no cheese board that we had explicitly ordered as an accompaniment to our cocktails. Our server was clueless about where it was. 10 minutes later, a full hour after arriving, our cheese plate and all the dinners arrived at the same time. Who wants their appetizer cheese plate served at the same time as the main course? I told the manager there had been no attentiveness to a proper order of service for cocktails, cheese plate, dinner. The manager comped us on the cheese platter, but it was not something that went well with steaks. We wanted wine with our dinners, but no one ever returned to the table so we ate dinner without a bottle of wine. Frankly, we were glad to get out of there. The best that I can say is that this was basically a train station eatery. No table cloths, nothing special, lackluster service, noisy ambiance, no opportunity to order wine with dinner, no proper order of service. Very very disappointing. All I can say is the food was decent, but not great.
   

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2. P

   Peter

   London

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   No welcome, Very poor service , mistakes made but no apologies, food was okay. Definitely would not recommend.
   

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3. K

   Karen

   London

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on 16 November 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Very nice room restaurant with attentive staff and good service.
   

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4. R

   Richard

   London

   2 reviews

   vip
   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 26 October 2024

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 1

   Understand this for what it is and you might not be too disappointed. I thought it was a suitable place for pre-theatre meal as it looked relatively classy and trendy. It wasn’t. It’s a soulless hotel bar where they’ve laid out some tables for people that need to eat and perhaps don’t want to venture out far. I ordered the Hunters Chicken which as we all know, is grilled chicken breast with bacon and cheese on top. Only this wasn’t. This was a grilled chicken breast with a tin of tomato passata poured on top. Bland and boring, much like the venue. And then I decided to find the toilet. In a hotel, it can’t be hard, right? But of course it was hidden, probably to stop the public walking from the street to use them. A hotel Receptionist said “take the lift to the -1 level”. I got in the lift, and then, after riding with hotel guests to the 3rd floor, back to Ground, up to the 1st floor, back to Ground, I very stroppily went to Reception only to be told “yeah, pressing the button for -1 level won’t work if you don’t have a hotel room card to touch in”. Brilliant. Naturally I didn’t pay for the “Passata Chicken” and I wouldn’t go back in a hurry. Classic case of over promising and under delivering.
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 2 November 2024

   Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear your experience didn’t meet expectations. Our venue is designed as a peaceful retreat in central London, emphasizing classic elegance with Italian marble walls and historic charm. For the Hunter’s Chicken, our version draws from the Italian pollo alla cacciatora—a lighter, healthier take that includes flavors of mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and finely chopped chicken leg, in contrast to the British-style with cheese and bacon. Menu descriptions aim to guide guests through our unique dishes. We apologize for any confusion in locating the restroom. A key is required for security, and staff are always available to assist. We’ll work on improving guidance and hope to welcome you back for a more seamless experience.
   

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5. s

   simon

   Surrey

   3 reviews

   5.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on 16 October 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Perfect. Bar service was sublime. Atmosphere whilst early evening was great.
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 22 October 2024

   Hi Simon We are glad to hear you had good time with us Thank you so much
   

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6. J

   Jessica

   Chicago

   6 reviews

   vip
   4.0

   6 reviews

   Dined on 12 October 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Beautiful hotel bar. Just went for apps and champs - both were delicious.
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 22 October 2024

   Hi Jessica Thank you for taking time to leave this nice feedback. We are looking forward to welcoming you back soon.
   

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7. S

   Samantha

   Worcestershire

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 12 October 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   The food here was amazing, very reasonably priced, great service and venue was stunning
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 14 October 2024

   Hi Samantha, Thank you for your review, it makes the hard work worthwhile hopefully we will see you again soon
   

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8. C

   Carol

   London

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on 10 October 2024

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   On receiving the bill we discovered that rather than the previous 12.5% service charge there was an additional non-discretionary 10% levy “to cover the price of price and food increasing” then a 5% service charge for the staff. Charge the right prices. Don’t slip an additional charge on in the small print. It also shows how little they value their staff as they were clearly keeping the previous higher service charge. We won’t be back.
   

   Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 14 October 2024

   Hi Carol, Thank you for your review, id like to add some context Food, rent, rates, liquor, labour and services have all increased exponentially since the Covid crisis, and Brexit, and all businesses in hospitality have felt the squeeze and are figuring out how to tackle these tough headwinds, without increasing menu prices to the point guests will no longer frequent. We have applied to levy to help with those increased costs, without inflating our bottom line- we are not looking to profit from this, but to protect the profit we make as a business, which incidentally keeps people in jobs. We are pleased you are concerned about our team, as are we, and they are well remunerated, as well as do very well from service charge, and a host of other company benefits
   

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9. T

   Terry

   London

   11 reviews

   5.0

   11 reviews

   Dined on 10 October 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Good food & service, restaurant within hotel so nice and civilised, busy but not crowded or noisy
   

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10. H

    Hermann

    London

    4 reviews

    3.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on 4 October 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3

    We ordered two Ribeye steaks, both of which were tough. Presentation of the meal was also below the standard one would expect in the middle of London in a good restaurant. Washroom facilities were in the basement, difficult to reach, having to request the service staff for a key to use the lift. The manager did compensate us for one of the Ribeye steaks. Whilst appreciated, it is not good for a Steak Restaurant to serve poor quality meat as one would assume they know their trade!!!
    

    Boyds Grill & Wine BarResponded on 14 October 2024

    Hi Hermann, Thank you for your feedback After reviewing with our restaurant general manager, we were surprised that your guests steak was tough as well, as on the night they said it was good, and nothing was left. Had we known, we would have tried to fix it for you We source premium products, and strive to cook and serve them in the best way, though clearly on this occasion we were unsuccessful, sincere apologies
    

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