Chiltern Firehouse

Wow! Beautiful place, food, people, ambiance, service! One of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to hands down. Our server, Joanna was fabulous. Great recommendations, very knowledgable about menu items. We started with cornbread made with bacon grease served with a chipotle butter. Also has two bottles of excellent New Zealand sauvegnon blanc. Our appetizers were grilled octopus, oysters and burrata cheese. Everything was amazing. The seasonings really come out in the flavor, unbelievable. For entrees, I had the monkfish, daughter had halibut and husband and other daughter had the pork. All dishes were works of art and simply incredible. Our desserts also were to die for. We shared a key lime pie, a chocolate fish and a mandarin sorbet. We got a tour of hotel and rooms after dinner which was lovely. Great bar and intimate feel, highly recommend this place!

A friend couldn’t make her dinner and gave us her booking and oh my goodness what a treat that was! The service was impeccable, the atmosphere was great and the food divine… Highly recommended

The Chiltern Firehouse is possibly my favorite restaurant and club in all of London. The interior is warm and provides various nooks for private conversations. The entire building and patio are meticulously maintained.

Wow — food, service, wine, ambiance, pretty people…
Great experience and one of the better culinary spots I’ve visited in Europe in recent years. Everything was spot on from the fried chicken snack, to the ravioli with truffles and fresh peas, to the grilled imberico. The polenta with buckwheat and truffles was one of the best things I’ve ever had. Service was over the top — very friendly and professional.
If you have the expense budget and you appreciate fine food this is a must visit in London…

Amazing. Yeah, that good. Gorgeous building, cozy & warm interiors, & warm & professional staff. Nice buzz, but not too noisy. We had an excellent table, thanks to AMEX Concierge.
Food? Uh huh, yeah. Foue gras w/​bacon & fig jam: GTFO. Braised oxtail: Seriously GTFO. Grilled asparagus: dang! And whatever that amazing chocolate concoction pie was: kill me again with chocolate.
Our waiters were amazing, personable, and very professional. Wine list was terrific!
The reason for only 4 stars? We had to wait for 15 mins for our table at the bar, but there aren’t enough bar tables & the area was small. So we kept getting bumped into or (nicely) asked to move a bit, as staff went back & forth. Also, the fries were limp. No excuse.

I’ve been wanting to come here for a while so I was really looking forward to the experience. I ordered an appetizer salad as an entre as I wasn’t expecting many vegan options so that was fine. Our table ordered a few bottles of wine to share and we had a really great time. Chiltern is definitely more for the experience (the décor is beautiful and the staff are amazing) than for the food but most of my friends thoroughly enjoyed what they ordered as well. Glad I got to come once but I’m not sure if I would come back.

This review is for the lounge — just lovely. My favourite place to dance into the early hours.

Nice restaurant.
The decoration is very nice.
The service is very fast and incredible.
The food is more English than international.

Despite the hype, food doesn’t deliver the goods. Drinks were well made however. That said a table in the garden is nice to dine in.

Great food in decent portions and in a really classy setting. Get the bacon cornbread and the crab doughnuts — they’re a must! Amazing staff and wonderful eggs florentine too… Tourists eyeing our food and speaking loudly were a little less amazing.

We sat at the chefs counter and watched them cook! It was a great experience. All the waiters were very friendly and attentive and the food was wonderful. We got the rib eye, roasted cauliflower, bacon cornbread and watermelon ricotta salad. All was delicious but I absolutely loved the salad.

Having been to CF for drinks I was really looking forward to eating there, and was not disappointed. We were seated on the patio which is much nicer than the dining room which can feel a bit cramped.
Starters: the best oyster I have ever had in my life, crab donuts, bacon cornbread, and a watermelon goats cheese salad that were all delicious.
Mains: most of our group had the lobster noodles, I went with the pork. You know that moment when everyone likes what they are eating so much they stop talking? We had one of those.
Perfect weather and lots of rosé helped but it really was a great meal.

Booking: Either the mass panic bookings of 2014 have passed, or I was one of the lucky ones that didn’t seem to have a problem getting a table for Dinner at Chiltern Firehouse. Was offered a place at the Chef’s Counter on the phone, which I took (and recommend you ask for!).
Arrival: Staff were friendly and courteous, and we grabbed some champagne at the bar while our table was being readied. Apart from quite a few Russian oligarchs, the bar was wells stocked with 12, 18 and 25year Japanese whiskeys, and some decent champagne options.
Searing: We were originally sat at a normal table, but pushed correctly to be placed as booked at Chef Counter. CC is a little less formal, and requires sitting on a high stool with less leg room; so if you have a long leggy date (in a dress or otherwise) you may want to save it for next time. That said, it’s the best table at the Firehouse; watching the speed and precision of the appetiser area, with the giant meat grill & smoking each behind, was a great conversation piece. The chef’s ears perked up while we were chatting about what he was doing, and gave us a taste while explaining everything. The man was insanely busy, so that small gesture was truly special.
Food:
+ Crab Donuts have a well earned reputation as a ‘must have’. Only three of them but delicious.
+ Streak Tartare: a late summer sun sat on the tartare, that you beat into each other to give a very rich dish. The Firehouse hot sauce, a smoked spicy apple flavour, was insanely delicious. I would literally buy bottles of it alone.
+ Calamari: now off the summer menu, it was still delicious, fresh and not even remotely rubbery.
+ Main: credit to the waiter, he recommended we share the day’s special of 300g Wagu beef with a wasabi-​yogurt sauce and rocket salad (possibly as it was also £78). We paired it up with the Maple-​Bourbon Sweet Potatoes (which is a mash, not fries). All I can say is the beef was succulent and tender, perfectly medium-​rare; but the sweet potatoes mash– my god. Nearly too sweet, but I was licking (secretly) the copper bowl it arrived it (which is straight from the hot plate, so watch out). More. I wanted more.
+/​-​Dessert: Key lime pie was lovely. The hint of bitterness was exactly what was needed after the rich meal. My companion had re fudge cake; a classic, but didn’t blow me away. Tastes differ I guess!
+ Wine: Glass of Pecorino, my choice and the waiter’s favourite (being Italian).
+ Service: solid and attentive. Waiter recognised me from somewhere else and told me at then end of the night, which was nice, and didn’t mind having a conversation that didn’t make you feel he was being nice for the sake of tips.
— Other: exit later in the evening is out the side entrance by the hotel, though a franky dull corridor near the hotel area, into the side street. Just… Why? Makes you feel you are being turfed out into the gutter.
Secret suggestion: find the smoking area past the toilets with the lipstick all over it. Meet some celebs. There are other bits, but unless you are a master class blagger or engine celeb, g’luck :)

This place has a reputation for being the place to see and be seen, but while the environment was «active», it seemed overall fine and not overly pretentious. Really nice European classic environment with a fun bar, great multi-​level seating and some unique spaces. Really nice. Also seemed to have a front patio that would be a great place to eat (weird that nobody was out there after about 7PM).
We had a private party (in a nice, if snug, dining room at the front of the restaurant) and the food and the service were really amazing.
While we didn’t order, per se, we were delighted with an assortment of courses from across the menu…
Bacon Cornbread: Um, delicious.
Cauliflower Florets: Seriously savory. Really great.
Crab-​stuffed Donuts: Not the best… seemed to struggle to go together.
Fried Chicken: Seriously amazing. Really, the best bite we had all night.
We thought we were near done at this point, but way more to come:
Firehouse Caesar: Yay anchovies!
Steak Tartare: Mix it up first, then eat. Great flavors. So rich. Wow.
Mullet or Cod Crudo (can’t remember which): Light and flavorful
Gnocchi:
…and the mains:
Monkfish: We were getting late in the meal and had a lot of this. Really amazing.
Lamb (I think it was the lamb…): Decent, but not amazing. Obviously forgetful.
I have a huge pet peeve about restaurants serving a very limited set menu for larger parties, so great that these guys gave us a really comprehensive and varied tour around their menu. Much appreciated.
One critique is that the whole thing could have been salted a bit more. Other than that, really a perfect meal. Kudos to this place for not letting food quality slip given the reputation.

To say it’s hard to get a booking is an understatement. I had to wangle a reservation from someone in the know for me and my friends.
PROS:
— You might see a celeb.
— The bar waiting area is very nice.
— The starters. The Venison Sausage Rolls was flavoursome and tasty. The Crab doughnuts. Now these were raved upon by many upon research and they are OK.
— They have some lovely house wine (so much so we continued to drink another bottle after)
— We sat at a table but the area where the chefs cook you can sit at.
— The Garden as you enter. Sat outside after eating and enjoying over hearing conversations amongst the rich.
— It’s situated in a lovely area of Marylebone. Right opposite one of my fav places to unwind (Monocle Café).
CONS:
— The tables all feel a bit too tightly compact to one another.
— It all feel a bit stiff. Maybe it feels like the place to be seen rather than a place to go eat well. And I really couldn’t wait to dine at somewhere Nuno Mendes was head chef.
— The eggs Benedict. Biscuit instead of muffin. I really would prefer a posh English muffin than an American dry biscuit. Disappointed to say the least.
— The Lobster Scrambled Eggs. Was horrible in all honesty. One way of ruining an expensive ingredient with one of the most simple. Avoid.
The problem with places like this is that the ‘buzz’, ‘hype’ and ‘reputation’ sometimes proceeds itself. And for those prices and mark up it is not worth it in terms of value. Unless of course you saw David Beckham or some world star perhaps… ;)

The menu at this place is one of the most «american» in London. It has a ton of healthy options, really good salads and fresh fish when I was there last week. I enjoyed the appetizers the most. The beef tartar was well done, with the right balance of flavors and the right cut. The key lime pie was out of this world and so innovative, it was a shell with a creamy filling and ton of flavor.
I love the ambiance of this place and some of London’s finest agree too. On my last visit, Zaha Hadid was there with a bunch of people.
The service was perfect.

I confess that even though I read mixed reviews of Chiltern Firehouse and didn’t really have high expectations of the food, I still wanted to go in the hope of meeting Kylie (Minogue) there. Alas it was not to be and I left sans Kylie as a new bff (her loss obvs).
Firstly, the staff they hire are all gorgeous and friendly. Our waiter had the most beautifully perfect set of teeth combined with a great French accent that we all couldn’t help but gaze into his lovely smile. And our Sommelier was just charming. The wine she helped us choose was a perfect match to our food.
The food was a little disappointing. I ordered the crab donuts, steak tartare, and Grilled Iberico Pork for mains. Crab donuts were okay but surprisingly not very much crab. Steak tartare was definitely the highlight as this was served with a deliciously spicy smoked sauce that made the raw beef sing. Iberico pork was very disappointing. While the pork itself was perfectly tender and tasty, the accompaniments were a green, sour, slushy mess and did nothing to enhance or compliment the pork.
For the price we paid, I wouldn’t rush back in a hurry.

What can I say? This place is on another level. I love that it was a former firehouse, adds so much character! It is a trendy hotspot with incredible service and sensational food. Hands down one of my favourite dining experiences.

This was in my top 3 meals of all time. We were on vacation visiting my brother who works in London and he recommended we go to Chiltern Firehouse for our Thanksgiving dinner.
We were extremely lucky to get a reservation through a friend and it was definitely worth the ask! That night they had a Thanksgiving themed menu with the best sweet potato mash I’ve ever had. But the crown jewel of the night was our sommelier who went above and beyond bringing us different wines to taste, and obviously we obliged and ordered the bottles because his recommendations were impeccable.
If you get a chance to dine here I promise you won’t be disappointed! The service and ambience was very refreshing, especially since it’s such a hyped scene.

It’s sad that i wont get to eat at Viajante ever again. I was told that Nuno Mendes had moved here with a new concept. My last trip through the UK and it’s my first meal in town after a long ass flight. My hotel isnt ready so i get on the tube and lo and behold the station i need is closed. Ive got a large backpack and jacket and as i exit the next station to circle back and then walk a few K its getting hot. Of all the times in London for this to happen.
I walk to the streets and finally get there. Im shown to a space that is looking right at the pass. Perfect. Ive been up for 20 hours and can finally settle. It turns out my server is an ex Dinex guy and worked for Daniel and his mix of restos in NYC. Good start. Im watching as they furiously plate and cook, and expedite. This is a furiously busy kitchen. I then meet Sebastian one of the sous chefs and he’s talking about his time traveling, cooking and finally ending up at Chiltern. He makes some suggestions and im on my way. For some reason there’s a mix up and someone approaches with a Bloody Mary. Ive been up way too long but im sure i didnt order it. But What the hell i said id take it anyways if it didnt belong to another ticket. I dont generally like them but realized after how excellent the first sip was that ive been drinking sub par ones for who knows how long. Score.
My food starts coming out and a couple of older dodded up ladies sit near me then start complaining about how they want a booth and were disappointed in that thats what they shouldve had. My server takes it graciously and says he’ll talk to the reservationists. They are moved soon after. Thank goodness. Dont think i could have dealt with that. I have a chat with my server and he says the place has become somewhat of a hot spot and that people come to be seen and watch. As someone who’s here for a Michelin starred chefs cooking, the best seats are at the pass! Soon a gentleman is sat next to me and we agree on the same topic. Turns out he’s just as obsessive with food as i am and is a regular here. I recommend the carrot dessert which is unusual, complex and ultimately delicious. We are now food allies.
Aside from the carrot dessert, the beef and veggie hash and the dry aged burger and fries are fantastic, comforting and have their own delicious twist. Service was excellent and as someone who is not famous and was treated very well. I think having a rapport with the kitchen also helped greatly but when it’s about the food, that’s how you focus. I guess if youre a scene person, just dont act like those ladies…