The Riding House Cafe

The food was pretty average and the portion size was below standard, especially for what you paid. We were extremely disappointed with the service: frequent reminders, mistakes with the orders, pushing the bill before we asked for it, and then including the tip automatically (we had it removed). The food quality is surprisingly unoriginal and uninteresting - a restaurant should be able to either provide simple dishes (avo on toast) with exceptional quality ingredients and/or provide more interesting variations on things. The ambiance is fantastic - nice decor and good vibe. I would definitely recommend for a coffee / drink.

I used to go here regularly but hadn’t been for a couple of years. Thought I’d try it again for a family meal and was really disappointed. The service was terrible. Staff were slow to attend the table and really rude. There was a horrible rumbling noise above our table and I had to complain 3 times before they moved us and that was only when I requested to speak to the manager and made the suggestion they move us since they claimed to not be able to hear it. Food was mediocre. Staff sat down to eat their own lunch and left us waiting again to pay the bill. Left waiting to collect our coats behind another couple complaining. Terrible terrible place.

I did not complain, but the muffins for the Benedict’s did not appear to be fresh. I know a fresh muffin when I have one.

Lovely decor and ambience. The breakfast timing could be better as my breakfast was luke warm whilst partner's was piping hot.

Nice, but first time in 5 years in London that I’ve been asked to leave a restaurant because our “1.5 hours” is up.

Amazing service and delicious food!

This place has a nice atmosphere and good menu but I’m not sure I’d go back. I asked for the eggs to be well done and they were runny. They only brought one small slice of bread with a main dish (toasted so hard it required teeth made of steel). When I asked for more they said it would be charged. The waiter wasn’t particularly friendly or helpful. There’s a ‘wham bam thank you m’am’ kind of attitude.

A nice relaxing atmosphere for a Sunday breakfast. There’s a nice selection on the menu although the food was relatively average.

I've previously had drinks and bar snacks at the bar. I really enjoyed that experience so I came back with friends for dinner. Dinner was nothing to write home about ... We had different types of beef and were each slightly disappointed with our dishes. The wine selection was good and we got a good wine for a decent value. Service was good.

Food gone downhill massively - Camembert not melted properly and flavourless served with slices of stale bread. Hard muffins with brunch dish. Generic overly sweet puddings.

Awful! An hour after we arrived we were told we had to leave as our table was booked again.
No warning at all! We were just about to order further drinks and a desert bit were told to go. When we complained the manager removed the service charge- which we wouldn't have paid anyway.
Appalling! Never again. This was a first and very definitely last. Some of us had travelled 3 hours to go to a reunion after 34 years and it was spoilt by this place.

Staff were so attentive to my group and my friends 2 year old girl Sophia, very patient and friendly. Thank you!

Always welcoming. Friendly, top notch service. Fantastic food and the team (event, management, waiting and bar staff are superb. I am a regular patron and constantly recommend it.

Really enjoyed the layout, lovely food, good wine, and a comfortable setting. The only issue which put a dampener on the evening was the noise coming from one of the tables. One or two individuals being unbelievably loud and over the top. Clearly craving attention...Some tables actually moved/left because of this. I would hate certain individuals to spoil a review for what was otherwise a lovely meal, but staff should have easily spotted this and reacted accordingly...

A favourite place for brunch with very good food and services!

Thanks it was all great. I'll be back some time soon

Food not quite what it used to be. Still a very pleasant lunch

Booked Riding House Cafe for a brunch meeting, because of it's central location and previous experience of eating there. Bustling restaurant with a good choice of appetizers and mains. Reasonable value for money.

Lively atmosphere, great food and excellent service.

service was great ......a very beautiful Spanish lady

Good food, nice surroundings. Good for people watching

Front of house greeting friendly and efficient, service efficient. This was a second visit, the first was for breakfast which was just OK this time it was lunch which was not great. The dish looked as if it had been prepared for some while and simply kept piping hot which mirrored the first visit. Prices didn't reflect the content but this is Central London

Nice place with good atmosphere. A bit expensive. Good taisting.

Lovely restaurant with comfortable seating and a great ambience. Staff friendly and helpful. I had the rabbit and my friend has the beef Wellington and we were born very impressed with the quality of food. Nice wine list. Will definitely visit again.

Service was just awful. Having to wait forever to be served. Had to wait ages for our order to be taken, for the food to arrive and then even longer when we wanted to pay for the bill. Staff there were pretty rude, however front of house were okay. Food was really not worth the price. It was so average and arrived stone cold. Never going there again, that just ruined the experience.

Great service, well prepared good quality food using good ingredients - thoroughly enjoyed our Breakfast experience and will definitely be going back!

Great atmosphere and a tasty breakfast. Quirky decor with attentive staff and a menu that is different to the norm was a great pre meeting breakfast

The overall experience was really lovely, the woman who served us was so kind and went out of her way to check if something on the menu was still able to be ordered, and always came and done things quickly when we asked for more water etc.
In terms of the food, really good big portions for the prices you pay, I got the french toast which was lovely but after one slice it got very sweet and difficult to eat, that said I would order it again. My partner got the maple and bacon pancakes which was very nice, they gave a little maple sauce but when we asked for more there was no charge/problem. They had a nice crisp to them which was unusual in pancakes.
Lastly, we both ordered hot chocolates which unfortunately were not made the best, they had a distint aftertaste and the chocolate tasted not like the usual in coffee shops. However, last time we went we got the coffee and that was good.
Would definitely return as its good value for money.

Just wonderful service and lovely people
Cold coffee and sadly dreadful pancakes ?
So for a fun time yes for the food no

We had a lovely time, nice atmosphere, good food and attentive and friendly waiter so would definitely recommend!

The ambiance was great, though our group did have to wait 15-20 mins to be seated as our table wasn't ready. Would have been nice to be offered a drink while we wait, or to seat us at the bar rather than by the entrance, especially as I am pregnant. Service was good, staff were attentive and topped up our water regularly which is a nice touch. We all ordered from the brunch menu - I had the chorizo hash which sounded great but it was pretty disappointing. I expected all the ingredients to have been fried up into a hash (as that was the name of the dish) with a runny poached egg on top. Instead it was a mash up of everything in a hot skillet that was brought to the table. The eggs were really baked up and overcooked - the whole dish was really dry and needed more flavour / sauce. We also shared a macaroni cheese which was more of a flavourless pasta dish in a white creamy sauce with a little cheese baked on the top - again it was disappointing. Had the chocolate fondant for dessert which tasted great but the fondant was so small, I think the scoop of ice cream next to it was bigger! My husband ordered an espresso martini, again it was very small and wasn't even close to reaching the top of the glass.

Went there specifically to have the buttermilk pancakes for breakfast. They were very good, with a slight crispy crust and moist inside. I also had their Goji smoothie and a cafe latter, they were very delicious as well. The service was good. The food came shortly after we ordered so we didn't sit too long without food. I also asked to have the cream on the side for my pancakes which they remembered. Overall a very cosy restaurant, not too noisy the day we were there.

The Riding House Cafe is sadly not what it once was, in relation to its food, its service or overall experience.

The service varied between casual and sloppy. Certainly not smooth and far too many things took too long.
The food, which once was excellent, felt like mass catering, it had that glaze of being left beneath the kitchen heat lamp for too long.

I guess the giveaway to this fall from grace was that I could get a table at short notice for four on a Friday night. All of the other nearby options which I was hoping to tried were all booked.

Disappointing dinner. Food was pretty tasteless and unusual service. Wouldn’t recommend.

Excellent! Thoroughly enjoyable evening with good food and wine and fabulous service. Thank you.

GOOD QUALITY COOKING AT DECENT PRICES. SOEM NICE WINES BY THE CARAFE ALSO

Perfect for informal business meeting, the ambience is conducive to positive discussions and solution-finding. Food, drink and the service is spot on.

Lovely waitress,
Decent breakfast but over 15 min wait for booked table and then they ask you to pay and leave when you have actually only been seated for an hour at most.

Really friendly service. Good coffee. Pancakes a little thick and too solid. Needed more syrup which was provided on request. Orange juice ordinary.

2nd time I've been here and both times, the food was good, the bar staff really friendly and funny and the bill isn't crazy expensive. Great place to meet a friend and catch up on the goss