RestaurantsLondonLambethSE1

survey result

Summary

£62
  £££
3
Good
3
Good
4
Very Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“Excellent food in a leafy setting, especially on a warm and bright day” makes the elevated café at Lambeth’s Garden Museum “a complete go-to” for foodies in the know. George Ryle, the chef who co-founded it to great acclaim in 2017, left after five years to return to his native Yorkshire, but the kitchen has barely missed a beat under his successor Myles Donaldson (ex-Noble Rot and Anchor & Hope among others).

Summary

£64
  £££
4
Very Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

The “fantastic food” is in a very different league to that of most museum cafés, in this attractive space off the gorgeous courtyard of Lambeth’s Garden Museum, where former Padella chef, George Ryle, is responsible for “fresh and interesting cooking” with an Italian accent. But not all the typical norms have been neglected: there’s also “delicious coffee and cakes”.

Summary

£57
   ££
3
Good
2
Average
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Off a “beautiful open courtyard”, the ambitious café of Lambeth’s Garden Museum is “well worth a trip”. The “fresh, seasonal cooking” – both “well-executed classics and more unusual, interesting dishes” – is prepared by a kitchen headed by chef George Ryle, formerly of Padella.

Summary

£46
   ££
3
Good
2
Average
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“A light and airy space” overlooking a “simply lovely garden” – the pavilion at Lambeth’s Garden Museum is an oasis of tranquillity in a grungy part of town. The three-year-old venture operates as a full-on restaurant for lunch and dinner; and its “ambitious, unpredictable, mainly seasonal menu” is “well executed” by chefs Harry Kaufman and George Ryle, who know their chops after stints in St John and Padella respectively. “Service can sometimes make you feel a bit of a nuisance for asking for attention…”

For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).

Have you eaten at The Garden Cafe at the Garden Museum?

5 Lambeth Palace Rd, London, SE1 7LB

Restaurant details

No dress code
25

Prices

Traditional European menu

Starter Main Veggies Pudding
£9.30 £24.00 £0.00 £7.00
Drinks  
Wine per bottle £28.00
Filter Coffee £3.00
Extras  
Bread £4.00
Service 10.00%
5 Lambeth Palace Rd, London, SE1 7LB
Opening hours
Monday12 pm‑3 pm
Tuesday12 pm‑3 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm
Wednesday12 pm‑3 pm
Thursday12 pm‑3 pm
Friday12 pm‑3 pm, 6 pm‑9 pm
Saturday12 pm‑3 pm
Sunday12 pm‑3 pm

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