Guinea Grill: "Best" Beef (Not) in London (London Restaurant Review No 2)

The Guinea Grill was sold to us as an unknown gem, having the best beef in London. Naive as we were, we believed it. We were sorely disappointed. The atmosphere was promising, as the Guinea Grill looks exactly what one would picture an olde English meat/pub restaurant to look like. The place is very dark and wood paneled, and has an intimate feel (although the tables were spaced far enough apart to allow room and conversation).

We started with wine by the glass. Lisa had a Rioja, which she found suitably light and fruity. Steve had a Chianti, which had a nice, sweet flavor. We really confused the waiter by ordering an appetizer and salads because, in Britain, usually customers have only one of these. In any event, we started with the salmon, which was extremely good, although could have used more creme fraiche. The salads were tasty, with good blue cheese dresing, but had alot of extraneous green stuff, and god knows you don't want extra green stuff in salads. Lisa, though, particularly liked the olives.

Lisa had the filet as her entree. It was cooked appropriately, but essentially tasteless. Perhaps that is the standard for English beef. Certainly, Steve's ribeye was not much better. It was not perfectly cooked, too well done, and tasted poor. The chips which accompanied the meat, though, were excellent. Chips in England means fries, and these were just right.

For dessert, Lisa had the pear sorbet. She really liked this dish. Steve had bread pudding with clotted cream. Both Lisa and Steve became major clotted cream fans on this trip, because of how good it is at tea with the scones. However, Steve thought it didn't work with bread pudding, but Lisa actually liked her taste of the dish.

The restrooms were awful - more like you'd expect from a standalone pub than a pub/restaurant like this. Both were grimy and you could hardly get the soap out of the dispenser.

If this is the best beef London has to offer, we, particularly Steve, are glad we don't intend to go back any time soon.

Dinner for two with wine by the glass was about 135 pounds ($270 dollars), which is terribly overpriced for the beef quality (but some of the other dishes did help a bit).

Our ratings for the Guinea Grill 30 Bruton Lane, Mayfair London

5.5 of 10 Steak Knives 1 of 3 Bathroom Brushes