The Open Guide to London: the free London guide - Differences between Version 3 and Version 2 of St John, EC1M 4AY

• Phone: (020) 7251 0848
• Address: 26 St John Street, London, EC1M 4AY
• Locale: Clerkenwell
• Nearby Tube stops: Farringdon, Barbican
• Opening hours: Lunch: Monday–Friday noon–3pm; Supper: Monday–Saturday 6pm–11pm
• Website: http://www.stjohnrestaurant.co.uk/

Pricy but excellent restaurant near Smithfield Market.

Food

It's all about MEAT. Vegetarians coming here will be very bored. The head chef tends to use unconventional cuts, so don't expect your standard steaks and livers. You'll get things like roast bone marrow, chitterlings, tongue and so on.

For most of the year (I think every month except December) you can order a whole roast suckling pig for a flat rate of �280 to serve 14 people. The chef brings in the pig whole and carves it in front of you. Not for the squeamish.

Still, the vegetable dishes are actually quite good in their own right. I had a really very nice dish of Puy lentils and Swiss chard here, as a side dish to some roast chicken, and I'd have been quite happy to eat it on its own. There is always a vegetarian dish on the menu — things like courgettes with butter beans, or lentils with goat's cheese — but that's one and only one. It does change every day though.

They serve cob nuts when they're in season, if you're lucky enough to order before they've run out :)

The eccles cakes with cheese are very very nice.

Expect to pay between �30 and �35 per person (including wine). Although you can end up paying a lot more than this; our record was just short of �1000 for 14 people (about �70/head).

You can view the menu online.

Busyness

It's worth reserving, but the place isn't usually excessively croweded.

There is a private room that seats about 14 people comfortably — the website suggests it will seat up to 18, but I think that might be a little crowded. There's no hire charge for this (unless you want to have it outside opening hours for a meeting or something).

The quality of the waiting staff varies rather a lot.

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• London Eating