Norfolk Arms

What a delightful bolt hole for cosy winter lunches.

We had mulled wine, delish dips with bread and olives, and the inky squid seafood pasta which was just gorge. Lots of time for my colleagues to talk, eat, no hurrying; a really lovely setting. Great service, lovely all around.

Snuggled in against the winter weather, I could have stayed all day. Unfortunately I had a train to catch. or I'd be there still.

The food at the Norfolk Arms is excellent: fresh, inventive, unpretentious, reasonably priced and with a wide range of dining options, from snacks to huge meals. There's always a good selection of vegetarian and healthier options too. The puddings are fabulous. There's a good selection of wines and beers. The atmosphere is buzzy, often with University of London academics, workers from the various unions located nearby, and some students. When the Norfolk Arms opened a few years ago, one of the best things about it was the service. The last two times I have been here, the service has been downright hostile: ordered items don't appear, plates are hurriedly slammed down in front of the wrong diner, things appear on the menu which never turned up at the table, and waiters and waitresses barge past customers as if they are in a hurry to be elsewhere. The Norfolk Arms is a really good take on the upmarket gastro-pub, but the management need to get the service right.

Norfolk Arms showed my friend and I one of the worst service experiences I've been exposed to for a long time. The staff (more than two) were blatantly rude. They were clearly not aware that customers should be treated as customers, not unwelcome paying guests. My friend and I will never go back there as a result, despite that fact that one of our favourite restaurants just happens to be across the road and we hoped the Norfolk Arms would be a good place to go for a drink after dinner. Never again. I'm not prone to write reviews, in fact this is my first, but I thought this one was necessary.

The service was truly awful Our waiter was rude, unhelpful about the menu and clueless about wine. The noise in the pub was deafening – the worst I've ever encountered in a restaurant. The food was so-so. I would never go again or recommend it to anyone.

I had the worst experience in this place. I have been treated so bad in a restaurant/pub. We arrived in a group of 8 and wanted to eat and drink. We said down on an empty table which only had 8 chairs – when we asked if we could have two more chairs we just got a NO. Suddenly we got asked to leave as other people arrived. As we said – but we have been sitting here for 20 minutes already a reserved sign got dumped on the table. So we had to stand only to be told off by the waiters that we are in the way. Once we received some tapas we got them without knife or fork. When we for cutlery we got the waiter rolling his eyes at us. This place ruined our evening and I would never recommend it. This place is so arrogant for some reason but I dont know for what.