The service was the worst I have experienced in a London bar for a very long time. I will not be returning and would not recommend this very empty bar/restaurant to anyone.

Don't bother.

On entering the restaurant we were seated in a noisy corner. The food was overpriced and not nice. I'm not a generally a fan of anywhere that forces the set menu on you (£30 for 3 courses, £25 for 2) and then makes you pay for all the sides you have to order to make your meal anything more substantial.

The starters were all about the presentation - certainly not about substance, or indeed taste (mackerel and soup). The mains (steak and cod) were just that. A slab of steak and a slab of cod. If you wanted anything else e.g. a few wilted salad leaves or rock-hard, burnt chips, then you paid for it. Not that it bothered the manager when we pointed them out.

Luckily the company we were with was fantastic although we would probably have had just as much fun in McDonalds. And at least you know the chips there wouldn't be burnt.

Service here is truly appalling. We waited about 20 ,minutes to order at which point we were told that two starters were unavailable. WE waited another 25 minutes for the starters to arrive- my quail was raw in the middle and had to go back- it came back five minutes later- frazzled from being stuck under the grill on one side and still BLOODY on the other. Our mains arrived and the sides came five minutes later. I have been here once before and the service was awful then too. I went back because a friend had booked to take some friends out. My heart dropped. The general consensus was that this place is awful- I'm also hoarse toady from having to shout over the club classics that pump from the bar (I like a good club tune- in a club not a restaurant) Avoid this place- go to Trinity across the rd, Or Entree on Battersea Rise- even the pubs in the old time are far better than this. Awful, awful, awful. P.s. disgusting loos too- one of the urinals taped up...

Had an awesome night out last week at Grafton HouseSpend my night in the lovely garden sipping on champagne and cocktails they were yummy!!!There is a wonderful nice good feeling and I will be back again for my summer get togethers with my friends Great location and good food

First time at Grafton House and it was easy to get to . Clapham Common Tube station not far to walk and nice you can be away from the crowds in London

A nice restaurant with a lot of class. We were greeted to our table by Kathryn and we had a starter of English Asparagus and Cured salmon which was amazing with fresh produce.

For mains we had the Ribeye which was cooked to perfection and Grilled Lemon sole .

Compliments to the New Head Chef Dave and his team who are amazing.

We had coffees and then later we decided to have drinks in the bar and they have a DJ Band who plays on a Friday night.

We ended our evening on a wonderful high

I went to Grafton House on Saturday night. We started in the bar where we had amazing Cocktails and then as the night was so beautiful we made our way to the Garden and we had an amazing time what a heaven in the middle of Clapham

A DJ was playing music and all in all we had the most awesome night out

The staff were so friendly and excellent service.

Its is a local we will be returning to again and again

I dont usually write reviews on anything but had a lovely time out at Grafton on Friday. Enjoyed the venue and the music and the drinks. Well reasonable priced and nice atmosphere. Not a bad way to wind down the week

Had a pleasant experience dining at Grafton on the weekend. As we had never been there we were quite suprised at the venue and we left not disappointed. The menu had a lot of nice British produce . The steak was cooked to perfection and the salmon the others ate was amazing. We all had the lemon tart which was one of the best we have tried.

Jana our waitress was amazing. She couldnt do enough for us and we saw the whole restaurant was looked after . We had a lovely experience and we are now booking at Grafton again in the next few weeks

I went to Grafton last weekend to celebrate my friends birthday. We booked a table in the bar area and we were welcomed with smiles . We ordered our cocktails and drinks and the staff were amazing making this night memorable. The atmosphere in the bar was awesome. It was really great

We all agreed that we will return to try out the food menu on our next return.

The worse restaurant experience we have ever had. Oblivious staff. Late food (an hour and a half and starters only were served) and a rude and disinterested manageress. Thank you all at Grafton House for making Mother's Day so memorable. For all the wrong reasons. The only saving grace was the girl on the reception desk, (Katherine possibly?) that seemed mildly embarrassed by it all.

I've been here for a drink but not to eat and didn't really enjoy the place. I live in the local area and eat out at least 3 times a week and would have given it a go had i not read Russell Taylor's comments on here. Now i won't be stepping foot in the place at all. How arrogant. If you want a cracking place to eat in this area, that isn't trying too hard and has incredibly friendly, helpful and nice staff and represents value for money, head to Scoffers. Too many people and places trying to be something they are not in this world, seems Grafton House fits this perfectly with a manager that is too arrogant to offer true service and would rather insult his customers.

Have been here a few times but only to pop in to meet friends for a drink. Recently I tried to book an area for summer birthday drinks in the Garden. Was told on the phone by an extremely rude member of staff called Albert that I could if I wanted to but he'd have to close it at 9.30pm. I pointed out that on the website it said it was open until 10pm. Silence from Albert. I said we would book an area inside then and maybe get there early to have a few drinks in the garden before moving inside. Albert said we wouldn't be 'allowed' to do that and we'd have to ALL stay in our reserved area inside. When asked if he would personally barricade us into the inside to ensure noone stepped into the garden, silence again from Albert. This place needs to get new staff who actually enjoy their job and making the customers happy. It is, after all, just another Clapham bar with no unique selling points.

I booked an area for 40 people at Grafton house on the recommendation of a friend. I phone the day before the party to ask about ordering some canapes, I was told this required 48 hours notice but that I could order bar food on the night.

When we arrived I was greeted with an area more suitable for 20 and half our group ended up propping the bar up. When I then tried to order food I was told the kitchen was shut due to a big wedding happening. This is when I also found out that the garden, which sold the venue to us was out of bounds for the wedding guests. This was not mentioned when i booked, yet they must have known for a while.

When I proceeded to complain as half our guests had not eaten I was told they had staff shortages and that we could get nuts and crisps from the corner shop next door.

We were not happy with this and when we tried to push the point that they should compensate us in some way by providing some wine we were again told it wasn't really their problem.

I found the waitress and manager exceptionally rude and would never go back to this place. For the 30th party it was nearly ruined.

If i could give this place no stars I would. Where do it start? Perhaps best to bullet point:

1. Despite ringing the previous week and discussing booking with one of their staff i was told by a ridiculously snotty waiter that there was no booking. His attitude suggested i was lying, as if this was some sort of super exclusive establishment that one would try and sneak into..... He said he thought he could still find us a table for 5 and surprise surprise took us to an almost empty restaurant.

2. The service he then gave us was appalling. He was rude, snotty and treated my group of 5 women as if we were 17 year olds out for the first time.

3. Having rung the week before and checked that i was entitled to 20% off as i have a members card to the local picture house. I was told that yes, that was fine. However when we got the bill they refused to take this off and when i explained that i had been told this would be ok their female manager said that she was working on Sunday..... Basically she was accusing me of lying about speaking to someone on the phone!

We ended up leaving having been refused the 20% despite having spent £200 in an almost empty restaurant.

Grafton House needs to remember what it actually is and forget about what it is trying to be. It thinks it is Soho House when in fact it's a restaurant in Clapham. I had better service in Pizza Express.

What can I say about this bar..... organised my brother's 30th birthday and had 50 guests and i can't believe the cramped little corner they stuff us all in,

I requested on number of occasions to talk with the bar manager and every-time was fobbed off with a different excuse needless to say in the 5 hours I was at the bar he didn't come to talk to me once.

We order canapes, yet were not provided with tables to place them on.... eventually they provided us with a table.... needless to say when you spend £400 on food I expect to have a table to put it on!!

Jo

HA - i'm going there tonight for my birthday and i am now equivocal to say the least!!

'Russell Taylor' is clearly trying to rehabilitate his gaffe's dire reputation, but even this message seems indicative of the myriad messages all over the web, complaining of the staff's lack of interpersonal skills... and pretension does not revolve around the price of drinks...

it would seem it is 'GT' who doesn't understand the meaning of the word.

Oh well, if you cancel less than 24 hours ahead they charge you £15 pp anyway, so I'll be going there tonight and will come back with the verdict.

the odds are against us seeing as it looks as though every decent review of the place has been written by a paid member of staff! GULP.

A couple of friends and I went to Grafton House last weekend and we had an absolute fabulous time.

As the sun was out, we sat in their garden for a few hours, enjoying fantastic cocktails. I must say, the garden is brilliant, as it is at the back of the building, you are not sitting right next to the main road with all the noisy traffic.

I have not been there recently, but since I have now discovered the garden at Grafton, that's exactly where I be at the weekends!

Had an awful, rushed and over priced meal on New Year's Eve. The food was exrtemely poor quality and very small portions. The waiter that served my third attempt at a chocolate fondant was friendly, but it didn't make the evening any better.I see Russell Taylor recommends highlighting problems to their staff. I'd recommend not waisting your breath, they were unhelpful and even rude when we reported our camera stolen......'Grafton House prides its self in having friendly and efficient bar and floor service.'!!!!!You've got a lot of work to do there.

Fine if you don't like the person you're with: get them to fork out for the overpriced drinks and you won't hear a word they've got to say all night. I hated it: pretentious, trite & poor bar service

Very nice venue if you are having a serviced meal I would imagine but we had a special event there last week and it was absolutely awful. No atmosphere, expensive drinks, extremely slow service, they ran out of some platter plates and Southern Comfort (after ordering one round and a few platters). Our one guest who had a kid waited so long for a plate of chips that the one bar staff even offered her his chips on a plate to feed the child...

Eventually settled the bill and moved up the road to a decent bar to continue the event.

Definitely not a place if you have a group of people who are looking for decent service and a fun atmosphere, great if you are the quiet husband and wife with a kid type and want something chilled and uneventful.

Went there last friday for my 27th b'day. Nice and lively vibe all night. Nice change to the war zone on the high street.

I couldn't disagree more with the opinion that Grafton House Restaurant & Bar is just popular with beer boys and stag nights. I go there with my female work colleagues and old uni friends all the time and we always have a great evening.


The staff are fab, very friendly and the cocktails are delicious. There is a always a real mix of clientele drinking there, and we've definitely never seen large groups of drunk guys causing trouble. And as for the fact that locals hate it - my friends and I live in the area and nobody we've spoken has ever said anything bad about Grafton House Restaurant & Bar at all.

Grafton House Restaurant & Bar is too loud and full of beer-boys on stag dos. Grafton House Restaurant & Bar is someone else's idea of a smart bar. No wonder the locals hate it!

I recently ate at Grafton House Restaurant & Bar with my husband and child and we all had a wonderful time. We were a little worried as this site had said that the restaurant didn't accomodate children but they were extremely helpful.



They have great access so getting the buggy in was fine and although they don't have a children's menu the staff were more than happy to make a smaller portion for my little girl. I would definitely go back to the Grafton House Restaurant & Bar!

Recently went to the Grafton House Restaurant & Bar for my friends 30th and had an absolutely fab time. We didn't have a sit down dinner, but ordered lots of little plates to share amongst us all. They were so good I reserved a table to go back there this weekend. The cocktails were fab too and I thoroughly recommend their Recovery Cocktail which goes down a treat. The Grafton House Restaurant & Bar is definitely a place to try out.

Recently visited Grafton House for my sister's birthday brunch, though it had a great, friendly atmosphere, amazing smoothies (perfect hangover cures made with fresh juices, mint, berries etc) and a willing and smiley server who actually seemed to enjoy his job as opposed to most waiters in London.

The roast dinners went down a treat as did my eggs benedict. Grafton House has a clean, relaxed environment with simple yet filling and pleasing food. Seemed ideal for both groups of friends meeting, couples or even families - an all round thumbs up! Must also mention the best sticky toffee pudding I have ever tasted - go for it...

Grafton House has an impressive chic layout and the staff are very inviting, and service is very efficient. I thought Grafton House had s great atmosphere and would highly recommend anyone goes and enjoys cocktails by the bar...It makes for a classy evening out!

Grafton House is a fantastic bar and restaurant in Clapham Old Town! The jazz on a Sunday is the perfect way to spend the rest of the day chilling out after Grafton House's amazing Sunday roasts! Love the menu and great cocktail list.

I would highly reccommend the fillet steak and ginger pig risotto. Would have great pleasure in reccommending Grafton House to anyone.

We drop in to Grafton House regularly and have done since it opened a few months ago. I have to say that I have been really impressed every time with the service, food and atmosphere at Grafton House.

Twelve of us had dinner at Grafton House on Saturday night and the service and food was fantastic. Most of the table had steak - the meat is out of this world! I can really see why they are always so busy. A restaurant of Grafton House's quality is something Clapham needs - especially with so many awful restaurants on the high street.

Well, quite a surprise to see a place of a calibre like Grafton House hit Clapham Old Town. Relaxed, unpretentious, friendly service complements a superb food menu and great wine list. The only downfall of Grafton House was that we had to wait 25 mins for a table. Lesson learned - book in even on weeknights...

Grafton House was exactly the sort of venue we were looking for when we had out-of-town visitors on Sunday night. Live jazz, good cocktails and a good food offering. We didn't intend on staying for dinner at Grafton House but couldn't resist a delicious lamb shank with creamy mash as the rain pattered down outside. Brilliant experience!

I like Grafton House, the resturant has some of the best food & service in Clapham, the staff know their wines and will go out of their way to please. Our waiter was a real professional, knowing what he's talking about and does so with real passion.

The food at Grafton House is brillant and has got to be the best value in clapham when looking at the service and enviroment you are eating it in. It has the ability to be quite relaxed in a formal looking environment, an extremely hard thing to pull off for any restaurant.

The lady that served us at Grafton House Restaurant & Bar had a huge attitude problem, looking at us as though we were insulting her when we asked for a few portions of the Eggs Benedict to split between us as a starter. This alone took over half and hour to arrive, but admittedly, was well made.

My father ordered the poussin, only to have regular chicken on the plate. When he queried this, the arsey waitress didn't know what he meant, and it took him speaking to 3 members of staff to get the message across.

This little ordeal got our waitress' back up clearly, and she did not manage a single smile the entire time we were there. Then I had to explain that when I ordered a king prawn pasta dish, there should be more than one single prawn in it.

We were treated like a nuisance from start to finish, with attitudes on the staff far exceeding their job's warrant. Grafton House Restaurant & Bar was generally a terrible place, with arrogant staff, bad food and very, very shoddy service, if any. The bill had to be asked for 3 times even though we were at the time, the only table eating food there.

Visiting Grafton House Restaurant & Bar was a massive mistake which I will not be repeating, and I urge others not to either. Awful!

Grafton House Restaurant & Bar is a chilled out bar at pub prices. It's a good alternative to the old town pub scene.

The Sunday roasts at the Grafton House Restaurant & Bar are the best I've had in Clapham. I was chatting to the barman and live jazz nights are being planned for Thursday and Sunday. I'll be going back for that!

Grafton House Restaurant & Bar is refreshing for the old town, although slightly out of the way and a little stuck up.

The bartenders are good and the cocktails created with style. However, when going to the old town, I would prefer an old pub, with comfort, not style.

Grafton House Restaurant & Bar is a little stark and formal for a local drink but too far out for a trek and not really worth it when you have amazing bars in the centre of London that are more worth the travel.

Not sure where to start as Grafton House Restaurant & Bar was so bad. General comments:

Had to go to the bar twice just to get a menu (allegedly has table service).

Was told there were no burgers. There were, as everyone after us ordered them.

Food took an absolute age to come and was cold and poor quality.

Drinks we ordered never came.

Had to ask 3 times over a period of half an hour to get the bill.

I expect slow service in a busy, understaffed restaurant. Not in a half empty one like Grafton House Restaurant & Bar was. Fed up of this kind of sloppy service in not cheap places. Note to management: Stop taking customers for granted or you will go the way of many other Clapham eateries, down the drain.

I've been to the Grafton House Restaurant and Bar a couple of times and had totally different experiences each time! I'd say that Grafton House is very hit and miss, perhaps my good experience was a bit of a fluke?

The quality of the food at Grafton House is always good I'm just not so keen on the decor. Grafton House Restaurant & Bar is a good place to take your friends though I'd say.