York & Albany

Get there early for a cocktail at the bar, then head to your table for a feast! Sitting with an unpretentious crowd you can browse and get the low down from your server on anything unusual on the menu (great they they bring uncommon vegetables and dishes). The roast beef is the daddy, sometimes served on a board for you to carve and plate yourself if you're with a group. Table tip: sit upstairs (ground floor) for better atmosphere and natural light... it's a bit like a conservatory. Downstairs has the toilets and kitchen plus bigger tables for larger groups. Walk off your food with a walk in Regent's park or the staff will happily order you a black cab at the bar.

Nowadays walk into an average pub in the week & you will be lucky to find more than a handful of people.
But that is average a word that is not in Gordon Ramsay’s vocabulary.
Enter the York and Albany a Tardis like jewel that from the outside would never reveal the treasures within.
Inside beautifully original features find you walking through an elegant bar into a cosy eating area which even on a Tuesday sees every table full.
A great menu that delivers simplicity and diversity using the finest of ingredients starters like Black pudding with a poached egg that had even lifelong black pudding haters amazed at the extraordinary taste to magnificent Salmon Fish Cakes with a lemon mayonnaise.
Onto Main Course and choices from the gamely Creedy Carver duck to the freshest tasting Sea Bream or winner of several london best burger awards at Breadstreet Gordon’s infamous Rib Burger.
Deserts I can never resist Apple and Rhubarb Crumble but the others with me had the warm Treacle tart and the Salt Caramel Parfait and all were nothing short of to die for.
Service was impeccable at all times for a gastropub you could easily forget and believe you are in a Michelin 1 star restaurant with every dish created with passion and delivered to the table with love and unbridled attention. Pricewise amazing value for money if you are expecting witherspoon prices forget it but then this is as far apart from witherspoons as the Harvester is to Hawksmoor! But with 3 courses running at about £25-£30pp and the daily offers menu offering 2 courses £18.00 or 3 courses £21.00(Lunch or early dinner) you will not find this quality with such good service anywhere else in London(except of course some of Gordon’s other restaurants!)
Thus dinner finished the Manager Mario one of the most attentive and friendly people I have had the pleasure of meeting took us on a full guided tour this is not just a pub or a restaurant, Down stairs revealed a private party in progress with seating set in a very swanky setting leading into the Chefs table area overlooking the pristine kitchen.
Back at Ground floor level and a door enters you into an old fashioned delicatessen with some of the finest and most interesting foods to buy.
And then upstairs Gordon’s Boutique Hotel the Townhouse with emphasis on service and traditional elegance with value, no wonder it is fully booked most nights. And also the Regency room an incredible meetings or private dining room with a massive banqueting traditional Victorian table seating upto 24 with incredible views from the original arched windows overlooking regents park the word here is wow!
To sum up a complete gem that is worth a night of discovery for all Londoners and should not be missed by anyone visiting London from overseas to see how a traditional English pub is like run with excellence and every attention to detail whilst delivering traditional fare in only a way Gordon Ramsay can translate to perfection.

A great sunday lunch and worth putting an hour or two afterwards to sample some of the cocktails which are expertly made.

I have only good things to say about this place. As we arrived we were warmly greeted, relieved of our coats and led to our table. The service throughout was very efficient and the ambience was good. Think a cut above a chic bistro. It’s supposedly a gastro pub but it really does take pride in what it does. We had a three courses for £21 offer which was really good value. The main Sea Bream with curried cauliflower was amazing. Worth going back for in itself. Outside of the offer, prices are quite expensive but still very much worth a visit for a lovely treat. Note you may have to order sides with some of the mains.

We ordered roast beef with marrow and were served two steaks with a wine sauce and tiny bits of marrow in it. When we questioned the manager she replied – oh the menu was changed recently. This was untrue – the kitchen had clearly run-out and tried to compromise whereas what they should have done was say that dish wasn’t on the menu today.
To compound our experience the table next to us was full of some kind of crime family – literally talking about their time in prison, drug deals and how one of them glassed someone and nearly killed them – it was like a re-enactment of Eastenders meets the Krays. I accept this was not in the restaurant’s control – but what was in their control is that the bar was so incredibly raucous it was unpleasant. When we enquired we were told the barman was conducting a cocktail class – well it was more of a drinking and who could shout the loudest class from our perspective at the other end of the room!
Last but not least – the music was really shoddy and crap – if a restaurant must play muzak, for goodness sake play it at a low volume and make it good – not some incessant duff duff duff music that nobody wants with their meal.
I had high hopes and previously my experience eating here once before wasn’t so bad – but this experience was bad enough for me to to want to leave this review. If it was my restaurant I’d be apologising and offering a free pudding for serving steak and calling it roast beef – but hey that’s just me.
This is after all a Gordon Ramsey restaurant and it’s not like he ever shouts at anyone for getting it wrong is it!

It was a somewhat sunny day at the weekend, I was a bit lazy and happened to look for a nice place to eat something around noon. As I walked by York & Albany many times, actually almost every time I am going to Regent's Park, I decided already some months ago, that I should check out York & Albany.
And then on this lazy day, it was the right time. I did not really plan to go there, but it was one of the options I had in my head when I left to find something to eat. So, I went in and got a nice small table at the window. I liked that place a lot, because I could enjoy the sun there!

I ordered a Pizza Quattro Formaggi and took the white wine the waiter recommended. The pizza was actually a bit salty, but it went very good with the white wine, so I was fine with that.
The dessert tasted very very good, if not even better!

When I went there, I did not know that's a Gordon Ramsay place, so I had no specific expectations or something.
Anyway, I liked it and can recommend the York & Albany. Good location, tasty food, pleasant-tasting wine, and delicious desserts. What else do you need?!

I went there for lunch with friends and had a nice time... We gathered around a table, and ordered the two course menu. The food was very good, just as you would expect, and reasonably priced. It was not a steal, but not expensive either. The drinks were normally priced, maybe a bit higher than in the rest of Camden. But we had a quiet and clean table, and that made it worth it!

I ate here quite a while ago. The Restaurant it's self is lovely, the service was excellent which I expected. The food was great and was presented beautifully although the portions are very small, we left a little hungry which I didnt expect after a meal for 3 priced with a bill of over £200!

http://hungryinlondon.com/2011/01/york-albany-camden/
(for rating and pictures)

Set menu: 18 pounds for 2 courses, 21 pounds for 3 courses

York & Albany was a very pleasant surprise. You walk up Parkway from Camden Tube Station and it seems endless in wind and cold. You think you must have missed it, when you suddenly there it is: A Gordon Ramsey restaurant in the middle of nowhere (at least it seemed so to me, correct me when it’s a really cool area after all) at the corner of Regent’s Park which is unpretentious and the food is really really good.

When you come in, there is a bar area (with apparently very good cocktails I was told) which invites to sit, chat and linger. I found out that there is also a boutique hotel attached to it with 10 rooms, I wouldn’t mind staying there at all actually.We dined upstairs in a comfortable dining room with big windows toward a little garden (it was dark so can’t tell you if it’s a nice garden) and there is another dining area in the basement. The upstairs one was nicer I thought.

We had booked the set menu (2 courses for 18 and 3 courses for 21 pounds) on toptable, but we clearly would not have needed to as when you arrive before 7pm you can just order it from the menu. (Cheeky toptable again, you think you have made this great deal and you clearly didn’t…)

When I saw the menu for the evening I was a bit disappointed at first. Did not sound too exciting actually. But boy, I was so wrong, the head-chef Colin Buchan was doing an amazing job.

The chicken liver and foie gras parfait did not look terribly pretty (in fact nothing looked that great, they could work on their presentation) but was delicious. Smooth and perfectly flavoured it worked heavenly together with the sweet and sour quince chutney. The little pieces of bread stuck in the chutney did look very weird though (we find the same concept of sticking things into stuff again with the dessert).

After the already promising first course the second was even better. Roast Salmon on savoy cabbage with chicory jam again sounded a bit blah, but emerged as one of the most interesting fish dishes I have eaten in a long time. The salmon was almost raw with just the outside crisp, wonderfully soft and flaky. The contrast of the salty cabbage and the sweet and bitter chicory jam was highly pleasurable and I was sad when it was over. Please next time without the baby turnips though. They did not add anything to the dish, you wonder if turnips every do actually.

And then the dessert! Wonderfully rich dark chocolate ganache which was so high in cacao content it was almost black. With it came caramelised bananas and honeycombs adding some luscious sweetness. It was one of these dessert where you have to hold yourself back to not lick the plate. (See photo: I put your attention to things being stuck into things again, I am not sure about this).

If you go for a la carte, the starters are around 9 and the mains around 20 pounds, so not cheap. I think I would have just about been happy to pay full price for the meal as I thoroughly enjoyed it.

But of course I like my bargains, and this set menu is a great one. Basically all go!

The food is completely delicious and the waiting staff all seem lovely, well-informed and very attentive. It's decorated in a warm Gordon Ramsay beige, and manages to feel both upmarket and relaxed. It's the kind of place where as soon as you sit down you can feel completely at ease; you know the food will be great, it's not too noisy, and the bill won't break the bank.

I'm sad and a little disappointed after our second visit here. Brought the girlfriends parents here and it was a let down. Food was delivered luke warm and the menu was dull and uninspired.

The nice, light interior with high ceiling, looking very stylish, is very inviting. The downstairs seems quite cosy but the ground floor gains by having a skylight and big windows letting in a lot of light.

I was going to have the set lunch menu but decided to go for the Sunday roast as I saw it pass by. It turned out to be a very good choice with a good filling portion of perfectly cooked beef roast with Yorkshire pudding, carrots, roast potatoes and spinach with a generous helping of gravy.

The dessert was polenta cake, lemon verbena foam and blackberry sorbet. It was all nice but to be honest I was expecting a bit more, especially the polenta cake was missing that little bit of extra.

Unfortunately the service left a lot to be desired. Very lacklustre, seemed quite disinterested in taking orders. The food almost made up for it, but just almost.

I will be coming back again to try the other dishes and hopefully the service will be better that time.

i sampled there food at the taste of london.
great set meal prices. not too dressy but casual

there is a special taste of london offer of 2 courses for £18 at the moment
you can have woodfired pizzas or more high end meals like cote de boeuf for two with truffled chips

Another good performance from a slick Ramsay Empire operation. Good food, nice surroundings and very pleasant and professional service all around. Plus a free view of the goings on in the kitchen and plenty a helping of dark red allure.

My (French) brother in-law was very impressed with everything, and summed it up best by saying (and I loosely quote and translate from memory): “I could not fault the service, which was much better than we typically get in France. And the food was so close to fine dining, and so well executed, that for the prices they were charging it was extremely good value for the money.”

I agree, and would recommend the York & Albany if you want a good semi-casual place to hang out with friends or your partner for a few cocktails, wines by the glass and/or some good, simple, well prepared flavorful food.

It’s great to see another high end bar / restaurant in Camden. The problem with this place is not the food (we sat opposite the open kitchen and the chefs looked very on the ball), the problem is the staff. Generally the service is good, but on a few occasions we waited half an hour for a cheeseboard and about twenty five minutes for the bill. I thought Gordon Ramsay Holdings prided itself on staff quality - not sure at the Y&A - and there’s plenty of them (sometimes way more staff than customers on a quiet lunch time). Go once for the experience, not sure if you’ll go back. The bar is good and the cocktails are the best in the area! Our waiter told us how expensive he thought our drinks were, not sure that’s the best sales technique! All in all, a place with great potential that hasn’t been fully realised yet.

Eleven of us went there after the theatre last week. The place was full but not noisy - just a congenial buzz - and I thought “What credit crunch?”
We were led to a room at the back with a long table (or several put together) in the middle. Service was prompt. Our orders were taken as we had drinks. One friend had heard about their famous pizzas and wanted one but it was on their bar menu. No problem at all. So a few of us ordered pizzas too. The rest ordered from the ala carte. I had a starter of grilled squid and chorizo. Beautiful mix of flavours. The main of steamed halibut with smoked ham hock and celeriac broth was also delicious. The portions were just right. A few deserts were shared between us as we were too full. The bill, including drinks, was very reasonable considering there were so many of us.
I will be back.

Really pleased to see that this lovely old building is being used after so many years. Beautiful stylish decor, large bar area serving cocktails, beer, wine, table service. I have eaten in the restaurant upstairs twice and the food has been great (about £100 for 2 including drink at the bar and nice wine at the table), so a nice “treat” place to go.

There is a Deli attached next door which sells pizzas, oils, marinades, cheese, meats etc. You can also order a pizza at the bar (and other bar snacks).

Forgot to mention that on both occasions, we were given an amazing “free course” of warm chicken liver parfait and melba toast - it was to die for.

Great meal, bad service.

I was taken by a friend to this wonderful restaurant which opened late last year, another string in Mr Ramsay’s bow. Unfortunately the experience was ruined by the Staff being to busy to remeber the wine we had ordered, my friend had to get up from the table to go to the bar to ask for the wine after our starters had been finished. We then had to wait for 25 minutes at the end of the meal for the bill! Teh then has the cheek to add 12.5% service. They were happy to removed this in the end, but we had to make a fuss.

The food an ambiance were wonderful, but the service let it dowm.

After waiting well over a year for this place to open (lots of renovation), I’m very impressed. Treated to a lunch here by the parents (we managed to get a reservation finally, keep trying!) and was wonderful. Simple, stylish decor and a very interesting building with plenty of glass, even in the ceiling! Has a biggish bar area wher you can just go for a less formal meal and a drink.

For lunch, the 3 courses for £18 sounded too good to be true. But each course was beautifully prepared and absolutely exquisite. They brought a warm chicken something or other (like a liquidy pate) for free, while we waited. I didn’t like but others thought was divine. My smoked salmon was a generous slice of fillet, red in colour, salty and like nothing I had had before. Next, my cod with mussel and saffron sauce was delicate and perfectly balanced. And the pannacotta was simply divine.

And the food on the a la carte looked amazing too - all very simple but I bet was amazing. That trip is saved for a date (with him paying naturally).

Fantastic edition to the Ramsey stable, and poppers were off the menu! Ho ho. The set lunch was priced at 18GBP for 3 courses, which was great value considering the quality of the food. Wine and the various trimmings easily double it though, which makes it more of a luxury trip. I had parma ham with chicory and preserved pears to start, followed by a lovely roast lamb on puy lentils, and a sublime vanilla pannacotta to finish. Ambiance is good, fairly simple decor, jeans are fine, but trainers probably aren’t. Highly recommended.