With Chinese New Year landing on Saturday (Happy Year of the Rat!), we decided to have a very non-Chinese style lunch to celebrate. Thanks for a pre-purchased Travelzoo voucher, we headed out to the city for a juicy steak and cocktail at Smith & Wollensky.
Date Visited: Saturday, 25th January 2020.
Location: The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam St, London WC2N 6HT
Getting There: A short-walk from Charing Cross rail and Underground, along with the numerous buses that service the area. Given its central location, you can walk from a few Underground stations.
Cost: With a pre-purchased voucher from Travelzoo, it was £78 for 4 people which included a 250g sirloin steak, unlimited fries and a cocktail. Extra cost of kid’s meal plus any starters or desserts at a-la-carte prices.
Review:
After seeing a special discount from Travelzoo, we decided to grab a nice steak lunch and have a day out in the city. This time it was a nice steak offering from Smith & Wollensky, situated within the Adelphi building. The restaurant is decorated in the old New York steakhouse and bar style. I’m guessing its actual New York version looks the same!
Staff are very welcoming and warm, taking our coats, Cara’s scooter and more importantly the voucher code. We had a lovely large table – one dislike we have at restaurants, is not having sufficient table space for all the food we order (and to allow Cara space to play and draw). Although we had a voucher and set menu, it didn’t stop us from ordering more starters, plus Cara’s lunch. She opted for the fish finger sandwich, but without the actual sandwich (i.e. just fish fingers). They had other options available, ranging around the £10 mark for kids meals.
Whilst waiting for the starters and steaks, we munched on the warm bread and salted butter. Refills please! They were delish. For starters, we shared the tuna ceviche, beef carparccio and their famous pea soup. And more bread. Cara’s lunch arrived with our starters and she ate two of the three large fish fingers. Thumbs up from her.
Once those plates were demolished, the steaks arrived. All cooked nicely (medium-rare) with our chosen sauce and unlimited fries. The fries were fresh and crispy, and surprisingly a lot given it was served in a small metal tub. None of us actually ordered a second helping of the fries.
While we were busy carving the steaks, Cara opted for the sundae special. This involved 2 scoops (or unlimited scoops for a bit extra, but that’s a little dangerous!) and then decorating your bowl with an entire table of sweets. Double thumbs up from Cara.
Combining the voucher with the extras, it worked out to be about £28 per person. For two courses, including drinks, in London, not too bad.
Tips:
- Keep an eye out for deals – the restaurant was busy, but not fully full on the weekend, so keep an eye out for deals and book yourself in for a lunch to make a nice day out in the city.
- Make it a day out – After lunch, we had to burn it off so took a nice stroll down to Buckingham Palace and Green Park. There’s also the Thames, Covent Garden and Leicester Square close by. Would be a great day out during Spring or Summer!
More Info: https://www.smithandwollensky.co.uk/
Ratings:
Burn Time: 4 out of 5 – arrived at 12:45pm and didn’t return home until the early evening. We could have stretched it out more but Cara was knackered and even took a 10 minutes nap on the way to Buckingham Palace!
Value: 3.5 out of 5 – any time you dine out in London it’s going to take some funds out of your wallet, but with the voucher, it wasn’t too bad and the other attractions and sights were free.
Overall: 3.5 out of 5 – food and service were great at Smith & Wollensky. Will try to return, perhaps when it’s a bit warmer and sunnier!
If steak isn’t your thing, perhaps check out some other places to eat that has Cara’s tick of approval!
Have you eaten at Smith & Wollensky? How was your experience? Let us know below.
I can’t believe you had unlimited fries but only had 1 serving!
Were you feeling ill?!? ?