Southwark Restaurant

11/09/09

Almost ruined a wonderful evening

by manorest at Citysearch

I was there with 7 friends on Saturday night. As I went to the bar, I was greeted with a "We are at capacity. This is really not a good place for your book club to meet. Make sure that you stay out of the middle lane because of fire regulations." What a welcome! Here I was poised to drop $200 on cocktails. I had literally been there the evening before and suggested that our group (yes all women but not a book club) start our evening there so they could experience a cool place and come back later for dinner and to spend more money. However, I guess Kip the bartender/owner is not interested in cultivating new business. The inappropriate comment, bordering on misogynistic, about being a book club was unnecessary initially then became our joke throughout the evening. After having drinks there, we had an absolutely lovely meal and excellent service at Villa Di Roma, where they treated 8 professional women as potential repeat customers. Sorry Southwark, you have lost my business and future business of not only the women there that evening, but their huge networks of friends who will hear this story again and again. You should be fine with capacity issues from here on out.

07/28/09

NASTY

by QV4Life at Citysearch

Went there early in the week and took a friend out for dinner. She does not drink-17 years sober. She ordered a seltzer water with then dinner at the empty bar. Told we could not sit at the bar since she did not order alcohol--even though i did.

There was one other couple at the bar and and by no means crowded. I was very shocked.

We left and went across the way to Coquette where we had a wonderful experience great service.

I was warned by a friend about this place and now I know not to go.

• Pros: Nice looking bar
• Cons: Rude Staff

06/12/09

Uggghhh! AVOID THIS PLACE!!

by gloriousK at Citysearch

We didn't even get to the dinner. Our waiter was SO RUDE that we left, though it was late and we were starving. Everything was overpriced, and I didn't see anything that interesting on the menu.

It took over 15 minutes before we were served a drink (at the bar), and the bartender seemed to hate us...he kept looking over and frowning at us. He finally came over and spoke to us in a short, peremptory tone.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Rude staff, high prices

08/26/08

Best restaurant in the city!

by yasaminm at Citysearch

I eat out a lot, and am a hugely fussy eater, but I have to say, I have yet to have anything less than a superb dining experience at Southwark. Despite what some other reviewers feel, the portions are the perfect size, and the freshness of the ingredients always shines through in the perfect mix of flavours (none of the cream- and butter-soaked sticky sauces favoured by Ansill or Supper). The constantly changing menu to accomodate the use of only seasonal ingredients, and the creativity of each dish are consistently on the mark. Add to that the incredible cocktails and wonderfully charming staff with their dry, intelligent sense of humour, and the classy yet relaxed ambience, and you really do have the perfect dining experience. I would recommend this place to anyone, and I have yet to take a guest there who didn't love it.

• Pros: great food, amazing cocktails, wonderful staff, beautiful decor

07/05/08

Eat Local

by secondstreet at Citysearch

The menu is simple with mostly local, fresh ingredients. The plates are very accessible compared to Ansill which is more eccentric but equally pleasing. If you eat late expect certain things to run out, evidence of the fresh ingredients.

The bar is also worth a stop; try a sazerac. It's also the only place I have found in the city that sells Junipero gin.

• Pros: Local ingredients, outdoor seating, great bar