Mmmmm... Breakfast (Smiths of Smithfield)

Member Name: skittle

Product:	Smiths of Smithfield
Date:	10/01/01 (825 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful Food

Disadvantages: Average Service

I visited Smiths of Smithfield for the first time this morning with a group of workmates I’m unlucky enough to call friends (only joking, I love my team-mates really). We chose this particular place by complete chance, simply because we’d just finished a night shift at 08:00 and wanted a good breakfast very quickly, Smiths is the nearest decent eatery to us, it’s literally just around the corner from our office, so seemed absolutely ideal, and I have to say we weren’t disappointed in the slightest.

First impressions of Smiths of Smithfield are a little hard to remember, as all I can recall is stumbling in very sleepily, wishing that the rest of my team had allowed me to slope off home straight after work (I could hear my bed calling from twenty miles away!) However, after choosing a table and sitting down a rather surly waiter came over. Have you ever seen those comedy sketches on TV where an unwilling child has to be shoved on stage in a Nativity play? Well, imagine a fully grown version of that little boy flouncing grudgingly over to our table and then fix an arrogant scowl to his face, that was our waiter!!! He grunted something which we took to be “would you like drinks” before staring at each of us in turn until we told him what we wanted. He then wordlessly stomped away before handing his notepad to another waiter, putting his coat on and walking out of the front door! Now, I know as a group my team-mates and I aren’t the most attractive of prospects, but I hadn’t realised we were quite as bad as all that. Anyway, whilst we were waiting for our drinks and bemoaning the fact that they wouldn’t serve us with a little breakfast alcohol (apparently it’s only available to card carrying employees of the Smithfield Meat Market at that time in the morning) I had ample opportunity to have a good look round, and I was really quite impressed! I can only give a review of the ground floor of S
miths of Smithfield’s, as although there are several further floors (three I think) we didn’t venture any further than the ground floor this morning.

Smiths of Smithfield is very stylish, but still retains an air of comfort and homeliness, I didn’t feel at all out of place here in my grufty work clothes (think Wurzel Gummidge meets Stig of the Dump) even though we were sharing our table with a couple of very smart Businessmen on a working breakfast. Mind you, that could be just because I was too darned tired to care! There were only half a dozen people in whilst we were there, so the place wasn’t exactly crowded, but I would imagine that it gets pretty full in there at peak times.

The ground floor has a very high, beamed wooden ceiling and because of this the room feels light and airy in spite of the dark décor. In the middle of the room, directly in front of the main entrance, are two long tables with a bench on either side. These are absolutely huge and could easily seat ten or twelve people quite comfortably at each one. Behind these are several sets of tables and chairs for smaller groups. I didn’t actually venture that far into the room but it looked like they would each seat four to six people. Behind these is the bar, with a very impressive array of bottles. I’m sure they put them there just to taunt us! Over the right hand side of the room are several extremely comfortable looking sofa’s grouped together around low tables. We considered the sofas this morning, but eventually decided on one of the long tables as in our near comatose state the sofas just looked far too comfortable and inviting, we didn’t believe we’d be able to stay awake!

Our drinks were brought over by a very friendly waitress who couldn’t have been more different from our original surly waiter. I’m not over exaggerating when I say that she was a veritable ray of light in comparison, w
ell, perhaps I am a little, but do you really mind? Thought not. At £2 for a small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice it was hardly cheap, but it was very good orange juice, and besides, we were easily distracted by our desperate need for edible sustenance!

The menu offered a good selection of all the usual breakfast fare, including the Full English, along with slightly more unusual choices such as French toast, pancakes or waffles and some options that were frankly baffling, for example “wet toast”. I dread to think what that is! Prices range from a lowly £1 for toast to £6 for a Full English Breakfast, which is extremely reasonable for London prices, especially as the “greasy Caf” down the road is only a few pence cheaper. I chose the vegetarian breakfast at £3.50, which consists of a fried egg, baked beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, bubble and squeak and toast. my esteemed colleagues all made different choices.

The food arrived very quickly and was very well presented, but more to the point, not only did it look good, but it tasted absolutely wonderful. If I was on my own I might just have assumed that I enjoyed the food so much because I was exceptionally hungry, but six of us each ate a different dish and not one of us could fault the food, not even my notoriously picky manager who ate one chip at our Christmas Dinner at TGI Friday before pronouncing the food inedible and refusing to eat it! Even the fried eggs were perfectly cooked, which I rate as one of the hardest foods to get absolutely right, my egg arrived sat on a slice of thick buttered toast, it had a supremely glossy white with a plump yolk that was only just runny. My mouth’s watering just at the thought of it! At an average of £5 - £6 per person for both food and drink I really couldn’t fault Smiths of Smithfield at all, I even found myself deciding that the waiter, Mr Surly himself wouldn’t put me off returning!

Th
e result of our visit was six sleepy but incredibly happy and well fed team-mates. The service at Smiths of Smithfield wasn’t the best I’ve ever experience, but the amazing food more than made up for what was lacking in service. In fact, we enjoyed our visit so much that we’ve decided to make Breakfast at Smiths of Smithfield a regular occurrence.!

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