I’m not usually one for hyperbole, but honestly think this the best is restaurant I’ve been to in London. A fantastic experience. Thursday night, looking at reviews, this came out top so we wandered over. The place looked empty and had a limited menu. After some deliberation and questioning if it was open, we went in. It’s not cheap, but what fabulous food and service. The wine was incredible, my wife said the scallops and chorizo were spectacular and my prawns were fantastic. The steak when it came was on a different planet. The Glaswegian gentleman who did everything was attentive and incredibly personable and knowledgeable. 10/10 The reason this is getting 1 star… 1. Everyone reads the 1 star reviews 2. I don’t want it to get too busy. World class

Beautiful food, great wine list, gorgeous quiet City setting, brilliant service. This is my favourite London restaurant. John who owns it is a legend; good fun and down to earth, always makes time to chat. Truly a five star experience.

Real gem, tucked away round the back of Barbican Station in quiet lane. Really friendly welcome and great food. They even adapted some of the dishes for the vegetarian in our group, for example dropping the chicken from the blue corn tostada and the chorizo from the girolle mushrooms with apricots and roasted almonds (looked like added chanterelle as well). The steak was seriously good as you might expect on the edge of Smithfield, and the black rice with cardamom which came with the cod was singled out by all of us as very special indeed. The setting felt extremely relaxed and comfortable - not stuffy, but clearly a lot of effort had gone into the room. And, major plus point for me: we could hear each other speak. This was not some echoing minimalist noise box. All in all a great evening for food and conversation. Brilliant!

Hidden gem. We had 3 courses and glass of wine each, £45pp inc service. Ragu pasta was so tasty, scallops and prawns cooked perfectly and a really light sponge for sticky toffee pudding. Excellent wine menu and great quality at the cheap end! It's really quiet at the moment so felt very covid safe. Really attentive staff.

Fantastic meal. Lovely service with a really friendly waiter who made sure we had our two courses before we had to leave for a show. We all had scallops to start, really beautiful with black pudding pieces too. For mains we had each beef fillet, ragu, and risotto. We all finished the whole lot. The dishes were beautifully and tasty but unfussy and also not expensive. Would definitely recommend. I’ll be going again and taking more friends!

I had high expectations from reviews on Google but I could not be more wrong. The portion of the food was miniscule for the price, it is edible but far from a quality restaurant. We went on a tuesday evening and there were only 2 tables including ours that evening. Staff serving us was great but that was probably the only positive comment I can leave. The portions were so small we left hungry!

My partner and I had a lovely meal at this hidden gem of a restaurant. Great food, very reasonable prices and friendly staff. Well worth a visit!

Delicious food - especially the scallops. Manager host in charge was completely lovely, friendly, warm and welcoming. This is expertise. So glad to have visited, delightful evening and splendid food and wine. Oh, and the sides were no afterthought - they were superb.

Had a great team meal and received great service from Joseph and the team!

We had a great time on our recent trip to London and Bowling Bird was one of the reasons why. There was not a single thing on the menu that didn’t look great, the ravioli was top notch. And the deserts, we could’ve had seconds. One of the greatest parts was a team that cared, from the waitress to the management- everyone was great. The most disappointing thing was that we didn’t get to visit twice. Highly recommend!

Genuinely fantastic. Amazing to find such a quaint place so central. Best steak I have had in a long time, great, personable service and amazing wine. Desert also awesome! Thank you!

This place was really lovely, the food was delicious and the location is amazing, just a couple streets from Barbican or Farringdon. The owner was very patient with us, as we were 6 of us and we couldn’t decide what to eat or drink, and he kindly suggested options and waited for us to decide. The food came quickly and was delicious! The broccoli salad and the fish cake were my favourites.

This is my favourite restaurant in London, tucked away on Cloth Fair just behind Smithfield market. A small, comfortable set of dining rooms; it feels like you're sitting in an old friend's house rather than a restaurant. Now that CrossRail is here you are, at most, two minutes walk away from the tube and yet it feels like you're on a pleasant street in Oxford or York. A lovely refuge from the bustle of the city around. The meat is uniformly excellent - the wine and beer selections extensive, unusual and delicious. The service and ambiance are incredibly relaxed and just 'nice'. You feel like you could sit and chat all evening, no bother. I really can't recommend it enough. Give them a call to let them know you're coming.

Delicious food, the meat was so tasty. Food made with love. The fish cake was fantastic the best I have ever had

2nd visit in as many months. Wonderful uncomplicated restaurant that is about the food and the wine.... Service is impeccable and I love that the chef gets to sit and chat about his creations.

My go to place when I get home after a trip. Simple, great, local neighbourhood restaurant. And an impressive wine list