Rail House Café

Lovely food and atmosphere, very casual didn’t feel rushed it was lovely

I think your experience depends on part on the table you get.
Despite booking well in advance, we we were initially fobbed off with crappy table tucked away in a dead zone at the back, entirely out of view of the restaurant but en route to the toilets. We asked to move and got given a table in the drinks area which was so low it was really for drinks not dinner.
The chicken burger I ordered had clearly been cooked well in advance and just re-heated, because you could have broken bricks on the buttermilk batter. The bread roll and tahini butter was comedically priced at £3.50, and if the butter had any relationship to tahini it was at very best the culinary equivalent of a brief shag in the restaurant toilets. Dreadful.
Overpriced and under delivered.
Never again.

solid pre-Hamilton dining, broad menu to accommodate a large and varied group

The environment was great with lots of quirky design features in keeping with a railway station. I had high hopes of the menu before I arrived as it seemed quite different to other places I've been with various 'bowls' and the ability to mix and match with different skewers. However the execution wasn't quite so good. I had a small beetroot salad bowl which was very nice but only a third full. Of the 3 skewers I ordered the ginger chicken thighs were very good but the leek one was undercooked and therefore very chewy and strongly flavoured rather than the sweetness one expects with nicely cooked leeks. The broccoli skewer had a cold mayonnaise sauce on which rather detracted from the braised brocolli underneath and overwhelmed the flavour. The bread plates were ok - we ordered one of each sort in our party although looking at the menu again I'm not sure thats what we got. Other meal choices included belly pork, burger - both chicken(sandwhich la Sandwich) and applewood cheeseburger, mac'ncheese and cardamon and coconut dhal all of which were enjoyed.
I think this place could be really good and the food sounds great but some of it needs a bit of tweaking.

Really disappointed! The shakshuka was so oily and gross, the halloumi on the veggie breakfast hadn’t been cooked properly, so it was cold and rubbery, the toast was soggy and potatoes undercooked. We asked to swap the fried egg for a poached egg and we were told they couldn’t do it - something to do with the fact that the different kinds of eggs were made in different parts of the kitchen?! The service was ok but felt like we were being rushed the whole way through. The manager came and took the meals off the bill which was nice of him, but we wouldn’t return.

Had a nice evening with a friend. Ambience, service and drinks were good but I did find the food a little disappointing. I had the cheeseburger which I order medium well but when it came the burger was very dry. Shame as ambience and everything else was very good but when you go out for dinner you are really going for good food.

Came for a business lunch. Asked for a table in a quieter area out of the way as it was a business lunch. Was sat in the middle of the room in a complete cacophony and couldn't hear a word. The food was ok not great and the table was cramped. Won't be booking to entertain clients here again.

The portions are very small, especially for how much you are paying. Not only the food portions, but also the wine sizes. The ambience is great and the food is tasty.

I chose this restaurant for its location as it is close to my office and I was organizing a team breakfast meeting. Food, service and ambiance was very good. The full English breakfast was delicious and plentiful. I will definitely visit again and I will organize further breakfast meetings here.

Service wasn't great, especially after waiter spilt my glass of water in my lap. Could have offered to take off our dessert, or something!

Excellent service, delicious food and great surroundings. Handy for Victoria Station too.

We had a lovely meal. Food was really good and the atmosphere was great. We would absolutely recommend

Lovely setting, nice interiors and a great place to meet friends (provided you book as it was very busy when we went on a Saturday!), and the menu has a good choice for most people. However I'm a vegan and will say the options were fairly limited - there weren't actually any brunch dishes suitable for me so I had to order from the main menu. Whilst my food was tasty I think it was extremely overpriced - my main of chargrilled cauliflower was essentially just that - grilled cauliflower on some wilted greens with sauce - and that was £15. A side dish of pumpkin was £6 and literally two slices of pumpkin. So for over £20 I literally just ate vegetables which seems a little steep to me?
We were also meeting for a friends' Birthday which I had told the restaurant and asked if we could have a candle in my friends' dish or maybe Happy Birthday written on her plate but they totally ignored my request and did nothing to mark her Birthday which was a little disappointing as most restaurants will do this no problem.
Overall a good experience, but could go some way to improve.

Wonderful brunch. Pancakes were ahhhmazing!

Staff was quite rude in accommodating our request of an extra person and made us move from one table to the other without a reasonable explanation.

Perfect for pre-theatre dinner. Even got a birthday cake -lovely surprise

The food was nearly all very good indeed, and I'd definitely go back and try other vegetarian and vegan dishes. The food is imaginative and tasty, with loads of veggie choices. The server did get confused over who had ordered what, which meant that I started eating a dish that was meant for someone else before I realized... It's a shame that the decaff espresso is so dire; I assume it's either instant, which it tasted like, or just cheap beans. Kinda spoiled the experience.

Lovely meeting place and concept near Victoria station. Food ok and nothing to shout about. Though the spicy Bloody Mary was very good. Service was pedantic even though it wasn't particularly busy ... till we asked them to chivy up. Brunch menu too trendy... and needs too much time to choose between breakfast, plates, skewers, sides...etc.

Really tasty food. Really different flavours and a better than the usual run of the mill restaurants offering the same boring menu.

Food was lovely. Service was appalling: the waiter didn’t know the menu at the end we were informed the booking time was up in a very unusual way and the waiter referred to us as “girls” on multiple occasions. Wouldn’t rush back.

As we have eaten at the riding house cafe a few times, we thought we would give this one a go. Great food. Portions vary though, the small plate of mac and cheese was gorgeous but way too big for a starter and the fish main my friend had was tiny, so bit confusing with portion sizes. Two of our party had the taster menu with wine which was great value and they loved it. The apple sorbet was Devine too. All in all, a great find! Service was great until our server disappeared for a break, we were left hanging for awhile until she came back.

The food was delicious but HUGELY overpriced for what was on the plate.

Very handy to Victoria Station and Underground. Nice piazza type setting with other restaurants. The decor is well done too. Good choice of food, nothing too fancy and priced reasonably. But picked your time as it can be very busy and you’ll need to book. It can also be very noisy!

I’ve been to the Rail House Cafe various times since it opened (having always been a fan of sister restaurant Riding House Cafe) and this was by far my best experience to date.

When it first opened there was a real issue with rude, incompetent staff and poor service, but I’m pleased to say this time was completely different! Front of house was wonderfully warm and welcoming and table service was efficient and friendly.

Our food (brunch) was absolutely delicious!

My one peeve was that they have this 1hr30 min turn around time that they seem to stick to rather rigidly. When our time was up, the bill was brought over without us asking for it - and actually we would have liked another coffee!

There were a few other empty tables and seemingly no queue, so it felt unnecessary...particularly when we had paid the best part of £50 for 2 for breakfast.

This definitely restored my faith in the group after a few not so good experiences, it was just a shame about the last bit with the bill.

Great venue with good food, perfect place to catch up with friends and enjoy the sharing plates. Nice decor and good service.

Great service and good food. Good options too for vegans. Staff really go out of their way to be helpful. We have been twice now and it never disappoints.

Didn't love the food, but that's probably just my personal taste! Everything else was great x

This was our first visit to Rail House and we will definitely return. Excellent food menu catering for everyone. Good drinks menu with some interesting cocktails. Really friendly and efficient service.

The team were really great, organised, friendly and it is a very nice atmosphere.

Lovely restaurant and the waiters have the best customer service ever. The menu is exhaustive so took me 15 mins to decide ! The food was great - Only shortfall was three of our dishes were served cold. This was quickly rectified once we made the waiters away.

Good atmosphere, helpful and friendly staff. Excellent service

We always do something special as a family on Christmas Eve, and we booked this for lunch before a matinee. We wanted somewhere quite casual, with a variety of food to a give choice for everyone, and the menu online looked like it would be good. The staff were friendly, the food was lovely and fresh, there is a variety of cocktails, which were fun. Within the group, our choices went from a hearty belly pork dish to a light and delicious freekah salad bowl. A few of us chose the mini doughnuts for pudding, and I would definitely recommend them. The decor is based on a railway station theme. It was nice to have a choice of somewhere that isn’t a chain.

Really interesting restaurant with lovely ambience, excellent service and a unique menu.

Amazing food and friendly service and quick

The service was great and the atmosphere fantastic

A little haphazard as they could not find my booking and then found my guest was already at the table! The burger I ordered had a piece of bone in it. They were very apologetic and it was replaced immediately. The very nice staff made up for the inadequacies

Really attentive service. Decent food but a little pricey.
To noisy for my tastes but ok for groups etc rather than a business lunch

Service was fantastic. Shown to table immediately even though a little early. The staff were warm and friendly. The food was yummy. Would recommend a visit.

We had a baby and our waitress was so good - so friendly and accommodating and really helped with our one year old. Love this place 🚂 perfect for a date or a family get together 😋

I frequent both Rail House and Riding house but on this occasion, things didn't go quite right. Having booked for a birthday and confirmed a something on the way in, nothing was done for this. We weren't offered desert menus despite remaining seated for a good hour after finishing. We eventually gave up and went elsewhere.
The dish I ordered also arrived without key components - the chard or seed elements of of the florentine. Sides also failed to emerge.