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St. JOHN Smithfield, London,
Award-winning

St. JOHN Smithfield

4.8
4.8
4071 Reviews
£41 and over
British

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2 people
19:00
Booked 46 times today
  • Good for special occasions
  • Great for fine wines
  • Charming
Fergus Henderson’s original home of “Nose to Tail Eating” opened in a former smokehouse around the corner from Smithfield Market in 1994.

Celebrating the finest of indigenous British produce and making the most of what is seasonally best whilst applying straight forward cooking techniques, St. John is now celebrated as one of the 50 Best Restaurants in the World and in 2009 was awarded its first Michelin Star.

Nose to tail eating means that, where appropriate, every part of the animal should be put to good use in the kitchen and so along with Roast Beef and Lemon Sole, diners will find Rolled Pig’s Spleen, Kidneys and Ox Heart, Liver and Chitterlings as well as the Roast Bone Marrow & Parsley Salad, something of a ‘signature’ dish.

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Price
    £41 and over
  • Cuisines
    British
  • Hours of Operation
    Lunch Mon–Sat 12:00 pm–3:00 pm Sun 12:00 pm–4:00 pm Dinner Mon–Sat 6:00 pm–10:30 pm
  • Phone number
    020 7251 0848
  • Website
    http://www.stjohnrestaurant.com/
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Diners Club, Mastercard, Visa
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Executive Chef
    Steve Darou
  • Private party facilities
    The Private Dining Room can accommodate up to 16 guests (terms and conditions apply). St. JOHN bar and restaurant is available for private hire. Please contact amelie@stjohnrestaurant.com for details.
  • Location
    26 St John Street, London, EC1M 4AY
  • Award-winning
    1. MICHELIN 1 Star 2023
  • Area
    Farringdon
  • Parking details
    None
  • Public transit
    Farringdon Station, Barbican Station
  • Additional
    Bar Dining

Menu

View menu on restaurant's website

What 4,071 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.8
4.8 based on recent ratings
  • 4.8Food
  • 4.7Service
  • 4.7Ambience
  • 4.6Value

Noise • Energetic

Diners' Choice Awards

  • City of London

    Best Overall

  • City of London

    Best Value

  • City of London

    Innovative

  • City of London

    British

  • City of London

    Most Booked

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
St. JOHN Smithfield offers a "legendary" dining experience with consistently "amazing" food and service. Known for its unique "nose to tail" menu, patrons rave about the bone marrow and madeleines. The vibrant atmosphere and knowledgeable staff enhance the dining experience. "Unpretentious" yet refined, it's a must-visit for food enthusiasts.

4,071 Reviews

  1. Matthew

    St. Louis

    57 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    57 reviews

    Dined 1 day ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Truly a great meal and experience. Food is excellent, service is great, and the ambience is incredible. Love it

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  2. Anthony

    London

    6 reviews

    5.0

    6 reviews

    Dined 1 day ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Excellent food, excellent service and ordered 6 madeleines to take home for a perfect evening.

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  3. Lauren

    London

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Quick birthday lunch stop off, had the classic bone marrow and parsley salad with a glass of red. St John never disappoints, service is always 10/10.

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  4. Avril

    London

    10 reviews

    5.0

    10 reviews

    Dined 4 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Excellent service and great food. Never disappointed.

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  5. Barry

    London

    17 reviews

    3.0

    17 reviews

    Dined 4 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 3
    Lunch here yesterday that was both enjoyable and somewhat disappointing. Generally the food was good but rabbit main course was barely edible: very little meat, sinewy and boney. I appreciate rabbit is not the most "meatiest" of dishes but this should not have been served up. To their credit the dish was taken off the final bill with no qualms. Starters and dessert both good. Like to have seen a bottle of wine available below £65 (it was lovely, but then should have been for the price!). All in all mixed feelings. Interesting space in which to eat.

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  6. Nigel

    Essex

    7 reviews

    5.0

    7 reviews

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Really welcoming, great food and service to match, really comfortable feel.

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  7. Kathleen

    San Francisco

    12 reviews

    5.0

    12 reviews

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Outstanding food, service, ambiance. Classic British food, nose to tail, simply but exquisitely prepared. We started with olives and roasted bone marrow, a favourite we order whenever possible, and this was the best we’ve ever had. Accompanying parsley salad was flavourful crunchy and fresh, perfect accompaniment along sourdough toast. For mains we shared grey mullet, grilled shorthorn, white asparagus, green salad and a sublime braised mutton. Everything was superb and we were quite full but couldn’t resist dessert. Both the lemon posset and date loaf with butterscotch sauce were incredible and we ate every last bit. Service was low key excellent and very helpful as we ordered wine by the glass having over imbibed over the weekend and server recommendations were perfect.

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  8. Kateryna

    Austria

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Amazingly tasty food, active atmosphere, minimalistic design

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  9. Bryan

    London

    36 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    36 reviews

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    After all these years it never faiils to beg the question, why don’t I always eat here. The food speaks for itself, the service is exemplary, personifying the art of attentiveness without being obtrusive. Thank you to everyone who makes it happen.,

    1 person found this helpful

  10. KC

    Singapore

    3 reviews

    5.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on 13 November 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Our waiter (sorry I didn’t get his name but he looks like Fergus Henderson😊) was great and gave us really good recommendations for food and wine. The bone marrow was the highlight. Saddleback was also really good. The portions are generous and we couldn’t find room for dessert. Next time! I was just ever so slightly disappointed that we didn’t get more exotic choices - we had heard about a pig’s ear soup but alas it wasn’t on the menu today. A reason to go back but you could be really unlucky I suppose and end up with the same menu, which is only posted on the day. But we will definitely be back.

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FAQs

St. JOHN Smithfield is rated 4.8 stars by 4071 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a booking

2 people
19:00
Booked 46 times today
Google Map for St. JOHN Smithfield

26 St John Street, London, EC1M 4AY

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Award-winning
    1. MICHELIN 1 Star 2023
  • Area
    Farringdon
  • Hours of Operation
    Lunch Mon–Sat 12:00 pm–3:00 pm Sun 12:00 pm–4:00 pm Dinner Mon–Sat 6:00 pm–10:30 pm
  • Price
    £41 and over
  • Cuisines
    British
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Parking details
    None
  • Public transit
    Farringdon Station, Barbican Station
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Diners Club, Mastercard, Visa
  • Executive Chef
    Steve Darou
  • Additional
    Bar Dining
  • Website
    http://www.stjohnrestaurant.com/
  • Phone number
    020 7251 0848
  • Private party facilities
    The Private Dining Room can accommodate up to 16 guests (terms and conditions apply). St. JOHN bar and restaurant is available for private hire. Please contact amelie@stjohnrestaurant.com for details.
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