Commuter-style dining doesn’t always have to involve a Ginster’s pasty and a can of Stella. Waterloo Bar and Grill’s proximity to the station means you can easily grab a good meal and still catch the 21.07 back to Woking.

The Venue
Located opposite Waterloo Station, this busy bar and dining room is as bustling as it gets on a cold, February evening. A light and airy (and often packed) bar opens up past a glass-walled cellar to a more secluded dining area. Smartly decked out in mellow yellows with dark wood trappings and mirrored walls, it has a nice contemporary feel. As the majority of the clientele are from nearby offices, large parties as well as smaller, more private affairs are easily catered for.

The Atmosphere
There is no doubting that much of the Waterloo Bar and Grill’s popularity is down to its proximity to commuter central. While the bar is filled with a younger crowd, in the restaurant the mainstay clientele is seemingly middle managers in for a steak-softening appraisal, where ties are loosened, whisky’s drunk and cigars are surreptitiously taken out the front. The staff are friendly and nicely efficient.

The Food
The menu is short and sweet, with a handful of starters that include tea-smoked salmon (£6.95). A smartly served turret of hot smoked salmon comes with a rather bland horseradish cream and a wedge of dense potato bread. The char-grilled squid with chermoula (£6.50) arrived minus the chermoula, but in a generous nest of peppery rocket salad with a spicy, balsamic dressing and a showering of overpowering parmesan. While the squid is tasty and well cooked, the cheesy, peppery leaves entirely overpowered the dish.

From the grill, the wild boar burger (£9.50) is a real hit and, at under a tenner, good value for money. A deliciously moist patty of boar is topped with smoked cheddar and chilli jam, and encased in a soft, sweetish bun - and it's tasty to the hilt. The 10oz rib steak (£22.50) certainly looks impressive as its glistening char-grilled slab swamps the plate, but the cut seems all wrong and rather than being a nice, tender steak, it's disappointingly gristly.

Desserts include essential crowd-pleasers like brownies and sticky date puddings. However, the deep fried jam sandwich (£5.50) is crying out to be tried. A single, tea party sized triangle of brioche jam sandwich is dipped in batter, fried and topped with vanilla ice cream. Despite such promise, sadly it’s doughy and flavourless. The carpaccio of pineapple (£5.50) however, is very good. Shaved slices of refreshing and sweet pineapple are served with a good lemon sorbet and a creamy panacotta flavoured with Malibu.

The Drink
As a bar and grill, the drinks options are endless. There’s an extensive cocktail list with Martinis starting at £6.20, while a classic Champagne cocktail will set you back a slightly lofty £10.25. The wine list offers some good, solid vinos from around the world. The house white (£14.50) is a nice example of a dry French white and arrives perfectly chilled. With most bottles around the £20 mark there’s plenty of wallet-friendly options to up the game a little.

The Last Word
While the Waterloo Bar and Grill offers no real culinary surprises, it is what it is. Which is a good, staple dining option a mere hop and skip from Waterloo Station.

venue information venue map view london review user reviews (2) image gallery (4) venue hire book a table