Join the rewards club for food lovers and unlock rewards
The Providores restaurant is closed permanently. Here are some other restaurants near The Providores you might like to try.

The Providores

Fusion, International·
££££
·
Silver Award
·

SquareMeal Review of The Providores

Silver Award

SquareMeal award hall of fame 1999-2018 logo badge

The Providores closed permanently on 31 July 2019

Peter Gordon’s double-decker fusion palace is supposed to be fun, and readers confirm that it’s a blast. At street level, there’s the no-bookings Tapa Room (named after a Rarotongan tapa cloth, which decorates the space): this noisy rendezvous is perpetually rammed with crowds who gather for breakfast (brown rice, apple, maple syrup and miso porridge with tamarillo compote, perhaps) and all-day dishes. Upstairs, the eponymous dining room pushes more boundaries, delivering multi-ingredient combos with a little more formality – think smoked Dutch eel with coconut and tamarind laksa, green tea noodles, soft-boiled quail’s egg, girolles and sweetcorn followed by Creedy Carver duck breast with figs, walnuts, grapes, sherry vinegar and membrillo. Every day’s a school day here, so ask if you’re not sure what something is (the staff are used to it) and reserve some time, money and attention to explore the seriously Kiwi wine list.

Good to know

Average Price
££££ - £50 - £79
Cuisines
Fusion, International
Ambience
Cool, Lively
Food Occasions
Breakfast, Brunch
Alfresco And Views
Outside seating
Perfect for
Dates, Romantic, Special occasions, Special occasions

Location

109 Marylebone High Street, London, London, W1U 4RX

020 7935 6175 020 7935 6175

Website

Opening Times

Mon-Sun 12N-3pm (Sat-Sun 10am-) 6-10.30pm (Sun -10pm)

Reviews

Share your thoughts with other diners

Write a review


9 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Anon

27 June 2018  
Creative and healthy cuisine that gives priority to ingredients and their provenance tucked within modest venue. Smart a la carte above and cool tapas bar below. Topped with good and correct service.

Gemma C

27 March 2018  
Amazing array of wines to choose from and all the food dishes are divine. Excellent selection of meats and cheeses alongside some knowledgeable and efficient staff.

Steve B

01 November 2015  
Food & Drink 3
Service 0.5
Atmosphere 1
Value 1
Rude staff
Had a pleasant meal here. Bit overpriced but ok. Then the bill came. On it was a 12.5% Service Charge, which unfortunately, seems to be a tax across London but also a £1 charitable donation, which was marked as optional. Interestingly, it had already been added and the service charge had been applied to it, making it quite hard to decline. As a matter of principle, I decide where and when I donate to charity, so I asked for the £1 to be removed. I had the most incredible response. Edith, the waitress said "so, you don't like giving money to children then?". I had to confirm with her that this is what she had said, because it it astounding that she believes that it is for her to assess my moral position and assume that the £1 I declined to pay meant that I was some sort of mean person. When I asked her why she said it, she did not comment, so I asked for the service charge to be removed. After a large sigh and raised eyebrows, she did eventually do this. What a shame. What could be a nice place was completely ruined by staff who feel it is their role to judge the morality of the public. I do wonder who gets the 12.5% service charge on every £1 donation. I doubt it is the charity.

Simon R

12 March 2012  
Food & Drink 4
Service 4
Atmosphere 4
Value 3
Had a lovely, relaxed business lunch here. Tapas (especially the squid and the ham hock) was excellent.

BoatLady

12 December 2011  
Food & Drink 4
Service 3
Atmosphere 2.5
Value 2.5
I thought it was all going to go horribly wrong when I walked in. We battled through the crowds in the downstairs troughing zone, upstairs to our table booked in a somewhat clinical dining room. The waitress looked slightly askance at us when asked if there was anything other than a brunch menu (no, apparently) and seemed slightly miffed at having to give us time to actually choose the food. The brunch menu seemed to contain a lot of unfamiliar and unappetising plates with seemingly random groups of ingredients. A long table hosted the one thing worse than a rowdy office party: a muted office party. Luckily, it all went uphill from there. The service warmed up and actually was fine (although they did forget to bring the orange juice now I think about it); if you're a bloke, they are very pretty so that might take off any edges! Most importantly the food was delicious. I had some french bread stuffed with banana and nuts and generously heaped heaped with bacon and drizzled with some deliciously sweet syrupy sauce; sounds standard but my description doesn't do the innovative combo justice. One friend had a tortilla made with an unusual panoply of ingredients, whilst the other ordered a very normal scrambled eggs on toast. We finished with what was a reasonably sized cheese plate between the 3 of us. At £40 a head it wasn't the cheapest, but that did include a few glasses of fizz and the food was worth it. Don't think I'll be rushing back but I might run the gauntlet of downstairs if I happened to be in the area.

Lepi H

30 June 2010  
Food & Drink 2
Service 1.5
Atmosphere 2
Value 2
The first thing you notice is the extremely loud music – it's like going to eat at a disco. You end up shouting at your friends across the table – or shouting your order at the waiting staff – despite asking for the music volume to be reduced several times this never happened despite multiple assurances. The food was good, although a bit greasy and there is an annoying money grabbing aspect where you have to pay for things like eggs on toast and separately, charging for eggs and charging again for toast – very bizarre. The selection of teas is quite good although you get half a pot full of boiling water – again, you have to ask for the pot to be filled completely. Nice decor but sloppy service, and they add the service charge in too!

Julio Z

07 May 2010  
Food & Drink 2
Service 2
Atmosphere 3
Value 0.5
My friend and I felt sick after eating an expensive meal at this place. Management was very defensive when I raised the issue. Won't come back.

Joan W

19 June 2009  
Food & Drink 3
Service 3.5
Atmosphere 3.5
Value 3
Providores used to be among my favourite breakfast haunts, but have to say in the last couple of months it has really disappointed. A particular favourite, creamed wild mushrooms and pancetta served on sourdough toast just got stingier and stingier (in quantity AND quality of the mushrooms) until the game was hardly worth the candle. The last time I was there, i ordered a totally a la carte breakfast to have everything served in separate dishes and not particularly warm, either. Plus parts of our group of three's orders were forgotten. The staff are really nice and try to be helpful but appear overwhelmed at breakfast time. When I was talking about it with a New Zealand colleague, he seconded my own experience and recommended a new place nearby. More worrying, having recommended the upstairs restaurant to some visitors and longer term residents a while back, one of my colleagues based in the area commented as well on their strong disappointment with the standard of cooking recently, which is a real shame. The NZ colleague said the chef who had inspired the food is not on the scene as much, and that might explain the fall-off in standards. As someone who has eaten there pretty regularly for the past 2-3 years, I hate the thought that my favourite breakfast spot is no longer the place it was. No doubt it will continue to attract people for its name, but fear it may lose regulars if it doesn't up its act.

Gareth H

07 March 2009  
Food & Drink 5
Service 4
Atmosphere 3
Value 3
Providores is one of the most inventive restaurants in London. I guarantee that you will never see another menu which covers such a variety of ingredients and combinations. Influences are New Zealand, Asian and European. I’ve never had a bad meal there and they always deliver. Upstairs is great for business lunches and dinners, but probably a bit pricey for its positioning. Downstairs is more tapas style and great to drop by unannounced, but can be rammed with people at peak times.

Sorry, you cannot spend SquareMeal vouchers here yet.

Other restaurants we like near The Providores

Taka Marylebone
Marylebone

Taka Marylebone

Clarette
Marylebone

Clarette

Durrants Hotel
Marylebone

Durrants Hotel

Check availability