Porters English Restaurant, Covent Garden, London

This place is a bit of a tourist trap and I think the food’s a bit over priced, but if you like pie and chips then is the place for you.

The last time I ate here I had the roast beef and yorkshire pudding and I have to say I’ve had better roast dinners; unless I had an overwhelming craving for pie and chips I propbably wouldn’t rush back.

I went here for a pre-theatre meal, so I went when it wasn't very busy.
The upstairs is pretty cramped. There is a separate bar area, but you can only fit about 6 people in it.
We sat downstairs, which I would recommend as there is more space and you don't have a constant stream of people walking past to and from their tables.
This is not haute cuisine, it's pie and chips..or fish and chips if you like. It is all tasty and I thought the wines were of excellent quality. I think people expect too much from this place. It's a tourist trap, like all the places around covent garden. The locals (like me) know better and cheaper places, but it's CONVENIENT and a good meeting place pre-show.
The fast service at 6pm meant we did not have to worry about missing the theatre show start time (7:30pm). So it's fine by me.
Oh...the syrup sponge and custard was to die for...I would go back just for that.

Good fillet steak, great Zinnfandel Ravenswood red wine, and a nice chocolate fudge cake. That's all you need, I guess.

Comedy heavy handed staff and great pie and puds

went to porters on a saturday night with 5 friends, and was told there was a 20 minute wait. no worries. 20 minutes turned in 30 minutes, turned in 45 minutes, turned in 1 hour. we kept asking the server when we were going to be seated, and the answer was always soon. 2 hours later, we were finally seated. no apology from anybody. i spoke to the server after our meal to voice our displeasure, and was told that "it's saturday night at covent garden, what do you expect?" i emailed the establishment to tell them how displeased i was, but was essentially told sorry, but not really. never again.

I have no idea how anyone can give Porters 4 or 5 stars let alone 2! After my experience and of those in my party and by the looks coming from the unwitting tourists around me I feel it is my duty to rebalance the issue and to warn others.

Porters may have been a trailblazing ideology 30 years ago but today it offers shockingly poor value for money and actually does a disservice to British cuisine, an embarrassment actually. £12 for a pot of pastry with a measly gravy filling and some side potato! The sausages were unremarkable too and at the same price; even Tesco offers better quality. Or how about a side order of bland frozen vegetables? I must say that the red cabbage seemed good, but it was the only dish out of 6 that stood out for me; or maybe I was just relieved!

It is now 2010 and there is far better quality (let alone value) food to be had from supermarkets to farmers markets. This place is a dinosaur, you can tell from the sticky, dusty and gloomy décor. The marketing blurb keeps going on about its pies but I can pay half the price and have a far more pleasing pie meal at somewhere like the Square pie or the S&M chains. Instead 3 of us paid over £80 on 3 dry, unappetizing main dishes, a couple of side dishes and a bottle of wine. No starter or dessert! I could see a large family of visitors from the US with a British couple trying to work their way through a mound of frozen chips and pastry in silence.

This place is basically cynically living off past pretence and milking the tourist trade to the detriment of the image of British food. Shame on this place. It needs to reinvent itself dramatically or hopefully close

This is one of those places where you go for one thing and one thing only. PIES PIES and PIES. If you want the best Puff Pastry on a great British Pie then you will not fail to enjoy your time here. Mix that in with a great range of British beers. There is one that tastes and smells of honey which is just delicious.

Loads of seating, so even at busy times they should be able to squeeze you in.

Traditional english fayre. Unpretentious,fresh and well presented. Great service,and good location close to Covent Garden. Ideal for a quick luch or pre/post theatre dinner. Special price set menus are great value,and if you are vcelebrating they will decorate the tablefor you with balloons etc. You can book online,and the staff on the reservations dept will get back to you quickly and confirm the details for you.

Porters English Restaurant which is owned by Richard Bradford. Lord Bradford is of course part of the English establishment himself and as a Peer of the realm he will lose his hereditary right to sit in the House of Lords . But one can, however, ensure a seat in his restaurant by contacting one of his staff and making a reservation.

The decor in the restaurant is really very different.I suppose the only to describe a combination between an English drawing room and a practical, down to earth inn. The dark brown furnishing are brought to life by the well decorated walls. There are lots of pictures of Covent Garden as it was in the days of the fruit and vegetable market.

The food served here is only traditional English fare. The menu consists of things like Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding, Steak and Kidney Pudding, Homemade Faggots, Spotted Dick, Trifle. There is absolutely no danger of leaving Porters hungry,as the portions are huge. Here they serve onlyfresh British meat and vegetables. One wonders if the bananas and ginger in Lady Bradford's Banana and Ginger sponge puddings were grown in England!

While I was studying the menu I drank a delicious glass of white wine, English of course. My choice of starter was Brown Onion, Ale and Cheddar Cheese Soup. While I was waiting for it to be served I started to worry that my soup would be to heavy. I need not have worried is was not, it was warming tasty and very comforting. I did not taste my companions' Smoked Haddock and Leek but they both assured me that it was delicious.Steak and Kidney Pudding was the next dish I was presented with. The steamed pudding part was light at the top. Not the heavy suet pastry we were forced fed at school, thank goodness otherwise my waistband might have popped. The meat was done to perfection and the kidneys, gravy and hit the right spot.

Richard Bradford knows his wines and the list is well chosen and well priced. There is a choice of beers if that is what quenches your thirst.
Back at the table my party of guests enjoying the Faggots andSalmon and Prawn Fish Cakes, having tasted them I understood why.

There is a good choice of puddings, the sweet variety not the savoury.
The prices offer value, they are reasonable with all the starters at £2.95 and main courses at £7.95 except for the steak. Puddings are £2.95 and there is a fixed price menu at £16.50 inclusive of a half bottle of wine, tea or coffee and a tip.

Though I'm not a big fan of traditional English cuisine, this restaurant did ring the bell for once. Very good food, I must say. Restaurants can never be cheap but this one is a clever choice if you want to indulge yourself at a very reasonable price. Booking is highly recommended. It's better to arrive before your booking time, then have a drink at the bar and move on to the restaurant.

Not long after I had finished the starter, my main course arrived and it looked magnificent, I really loved it. The staff were polite and helpful. I didn't like the chairs very much as they're not very comfy. And I didn't have a chance to find out what's that hanging car on the ceiling supposed to mean.