Smiths of Smithfield – London
I’m a huge fan of meat. There are few meats that I haven’t eat and even fewer that I would refuse. I tried vegetarianism in 2001. Worst day of my life.
I’ve been to Smiths before and enjoyed it greatly. Smiths stands before Smithfield Market and plies its wares on four floors. Basically it gets more pricey the higher you go. We went for the second floor as a well cooked casual meal was what we were after. Inside Smiths it has a kind of slaughterhouse/S&M feel to it. It was a warm day so we eschewed the lift and walked upstairs where we were greeted by a friendly waitress and seated near the edge of the room.
The place was buzzing and this was midweek. The staff looked harried and rather over stretched. Our orders were taken reasonably promptly then it all sort of went quiet. We ordered a duck salad to start, mozzarella and tomato bruschetta and the gravlax. About 15 minutes later the food came out. Portion size was a little mean but everything tasted just so. Well flavoured and cooked.
School dinner like Salt Beef
Our mains took another 30 mins to arrive. We ordered salt beef, chicken with lemon and garlic and the ribeye steak. The chicken priced at 14 1/2 pounds (don’t ask, this is how they price things) was delicious but meanly came with no vegetables at all so we had to buy jersey royals and green vegetables for a cheeky 3 1/2 pounds each. When they came they were as hard as rocks so were sent back. The staff took the price off the bill. The meats themselves were really good but the accompaniments let them down. My ribeye steak was cooked to perfection but the chips that came with it tasted a little stale as if they had been kept warm a long time. My friends salt beef was apparently delicious but looked a bit school dinner to me. School dinner in a bad way.
We skipped dessert and coffee to have it instead back home. We felt a bit flat after the meal. Its a very exciting space and atmosphere but the service just couldn’t keep up and the main courses could have been better.
Score 6/10
Eating across the North South Divide 
Good Review, haven’t been to Smiths for some time. I’ve eaten on the top floor once, very nice space – full length glass frontage down one side overlooking the rooftops towards St Pauls, quite posh. Food was good – but not amazing.
Eaten on the next floor down a few times, coupld of times it was good – a couple of times indifferent.
To be honest, it’s a bit hit and miss for food – but an excellent place to go for a drink! Very good atmosphere – buzzing.