I love this restaurant, it's my favourite of the south. The food is always great, the service even better and the staff are always very welcoming and friendly. I don't understand why some people give it such a poor review, I've never had a bad experience there, not once!

I was really surprised reading some of the reviews below, I could not have had a more different experience at the Exhibition Rooms. A friend and I stopped in for a late Sunday lunch yesterday afternoon and found the service was friendly and efficient, the waitress asked us as soon as we sat down if we'd like a jug of ice water, without the usual having to ask. We had the Sunday roast (one chicken, one pork) and it was excellent - crispy roast potatoes, well cooked meat, excellent vegetables all served in a gravy that had actually been seasoned properly (very hard to find in a lot of places these days). I'd definitely recommend the Exhibition Rooms and I will most definitely be going back there again.

Very surprised by the negative reviews having experienced nothing but good service, value and excellent food on the many occasions I’ve had the fortune to visit. This is by far the best restaurant in the area with wonderful food, tasteful décor and if you’re on a budget I’d definitely recommend their steak Tuesdays!

A hidden Gem, amazing food, great little bar and staff very friendly and chatty! highly recommend a visit.

Ate here on Saturday night and was really impressed with this restaurant in SE19. The food was very impressive almost west end, but without the cab ride home.

I had the steak tartare, cracking and they had the guts to serve with a raw hens egg, stuff the red tape. I think I'm old enough to make my own mind up if I should eat a raw egg or not. Good on them. Then I had the sea bream really tasty. All in all not bad not bad at all. Not surprising really as I found out nearly all the chefs are ex Harvey Nic's. A real gem.

Went to The Exhibition Rooms on a recommendation of a friend, don't know what took me so long to go there. Service was friendly, food was excellent and it was full on a Tuesday night, I am not surprised considering that you get a rump steak, chips, salad and a glass of wine for £10.95. My Boyfriend had the steak( perfectly cooked) and I had the salmon and we both had the most amazing chocolate fondant for dessert. Will definitely be going back soon

We went to The Exhibitions Rooms on 13.03.10, lunch time for my Birthday and also a for Mother's day treat. Not happy, Shoddy service, totally ignored by the 3 staff that were on the resturant floor. Waiter seemed to think that not using a pad and pen to write down our order would impress us, however, the wrong starters were served to two of our party and we had to wait 20 mins for it to be rectified.

The Main course arrived and the Pork belly was very nice, however the steak was chewy, hand made fries soggy and all mains turned up cold. The Saturday Lunch menu is £10 for 2 courses and £13 for 3 courses, which is extremly good value, but if you have to complain about 2 of the courses is it worth it?

Frankly it is a place where I will never set foot again.
I ordered a foie gras and chicken boudin blanc dish. When it arrived, they said, here is the "boudin blanc". I asked where the foie gras was and was told it was inside. Fair enough. So I tuck in, and surprise surprise it is really dry and very "chickeny". So i asked where the foie gras is and the waitress said the mix inside was 40% foie gras and 60% chicken. i point out there is no foie gras in that boudin and she tells me she trusts the chef (i.e. basically I am lying). Trust me, there was no foie gras in there. At 40% you would at least taste it!

Passing on that, we had ordered partridge. It arrived looking nicely pink, and by that I don't just mean pink in the middle, but raw! Burnt jus, bland sauce on top and it makes your most horrid mail meal.

Don't bother...

Love it, great food, great service, a well run bar restaurant that deserves to do well. If in the area, give it a go.

Visited the Exhibition Rooms for the 2nd time !st last November, 2nd this week and both times the service was great and the food was excellent. We will definitely be there when we are next in the area

Got to agree with the other comments. The service is awful!
I don't go for the 'you should be grateful to eat here' approach.

Give it a go and find out for yourselves.

James

Sigh......
Was really looking forward to this meal, but V disappointed. On arrival, we were shown to our seats by the most misearable of waiters ever. The tables for 2, along the centre, get a terrible draft everytime the door opens for people to go down to the bar. As it was cold and raining, we both were wearing long coats with scarfs. Mr happy took my wifes, then walked off, leaving me standing holding mine, so I hung up my own coat, and joked about it, with my wife. We were then given the menus but offered no drinks, so had to grab the waiter 5 mins later to order them. (there were only 3 other couples in the restaurant at the time). Once we got the wine, we were offered bread by Mr Happy, which we took, but then realised we had no side plates. We ordered the mackerel as sounded lovely from the above review, and love mackerel in general. It was strangely bland and full of bones including part of the fin. My wife's was the same. The beetroot was anything but sweet and the cabbage overpowered even the fish. Considering it is a filleted piece (supposed to be) I was not impressed with having to continually spit bones out. By this time, Mr Happy was sitting on the floor 10 feet away folding napkins. I then decided to cancel our mains, as it was all so disappointing, and didn't want to waste another £50. When I asked to cancel the mains, I was very surprised that we were not asked why or what was wrong. The whole experience was rather weird and strange. The restaurant's decor is very nice but the layout is not that great, with some tables right on top of each other. This isn't surprising being that it is small, and trying to maximise covers.
Maybe it was just a bad night, but you should be made to feel warm and welcome from the moment you arrive, not perplexed and disappointed.
We crossed the road and had or mains in Joannas, and were most happy with the professional and welcoming reception and great food.
Such a real shame. :(

The place looks great and was a welcomed addition to the Crystal Palace. But I have never experienced such rude service in my life.
This place will be closed within a year unless they sort out their attitude.

I was recommended the Exhibition Rooms by a friend and although I don’t usually travel very far from home in Clapham, I was so pleased we did because it exceeded all expectations. The food was fabulous and the best meal I have had in a long time. The decor and atmosphere gives you a real wow feeling when you walk in and we were greeted by very friendly staff that were very helpful.
The cocktails we had after our meal were awesome and the perfect way to finish off a great night. I will definitely be going back there!

Tonight we visited ER. When we booked the room last week we were shown a plan of the room and asked to select our table. We chose a table near the window. When we arrived tonight, we were shown a different table and were told it was not possible to book the table near the window as four people could sit there. Were we being called liars? He did not say any more to us but left us to sit down.
The food was lovely, the waitresses very attentive and helpful and the music good. The man on the door was arrogant, looked like it was beneath him to put my coat and umbrella away, although he had offered. When we were leaving I asked him where my umbrella was and he pointed to the stand (which I had not noticed) and said 'In there somewhere'. Customer service needs to be vastly improved at the door. He put a damper on our evening. We will not be going back.

I have been in London for approx 7 yrsd and eaten at some of the top resturants, namely Kensington Roof Top Gardens and The OXO and neither can match The Exhibition Rooms for quality and price! Sure it may not be set in the West end or along The Thames yet for Price, Atmosphere and Food Heaven I would whole heartedly recommend The Exhibition Rooms to any and everyone i know! Favourite dishes - Lamb and TWICE COOKED PORK! Awsome!!!

The decor is lovely. The staff friendly and efficient. The atmosphere warm and welcoming.

But the main thing is that the food is fantastic. I've had the Venison on one visit and the Burger on another and both were full of flavour and delicious. The Burger is one of the best I've had in London.

I've been to a lot of the restaurants in the triangle, and this is an immediate challenger for the title of the best in Crystal Palace.

Over expensive, Over rated, Very Vulgar decor.

They need to realise this is Crystal Palace not the City / West End / C Wharf.

For food there are numerous resteraunts on the Triangle and Bars to suit all tastes so why pay £3.60 a pint ?