Reviews for The Church Key Bistro-Pub in London, ON
The Church Key has always been one of my favourite London restaurants, and until today, I'd have rated it 5 out of 5. But my... experience for lunch today was not as enjoyable as it has been before. I should say the food was great, as always, and that'sthe main thing. All of The Church Key's menu items are delicious and well-prepared, and they offer a good range of vegetarianand gluten free options. Also, the restaurant's physical space and ambience are comfortable and pleasant. I said these positivethings first because my problem with The Church Key today was not about any of the above, but about the service. For the firsttime, I found the staff unwelcoming and unfriendly. The restaurant had a number of empty tables, we were shown to one I wasn'tcrazy about. I asked for another, one by the window ( always my preference), and of course they accommodated us. But I thinkthey were annoyed by my request, because from that point on the service was inattentive and unfriendly. My companion and I had to wait quite a while for service , even though the place was not at peak busy levels. The server seemed completely uninterestedin us as customers. I kept wondering if we'd done anything wrong, as the same server seemed quite attentive to people at othertables nearby. The person I was with and I are always respectful and nice to restaurant staff, and we were today as well. Inspite of this, both Church Key staff seemed quite cold and uninterested in attending to us. Long after we'd finished and thedishes had been cleared, I had to wait for the server to ask us if we wanted anything more. Finally I had to get their attentionmyself, just to ask for the bill. They never asked us if we wanted anything further, dessert or drinks, or coffee, etc. I liketo think that for some reason this was just an off-experience for us, perhaps the server was having a bad day or something. Buttoday, because of the noticeably inattentive and unfriendly service, I wouldn't give my l Read more
I loved this place. The servers were so kind and friendly. Loved the revealing brick walls of the place. I ordered Lamb Curry... and that was amazing. I paired it with Steam Whistle Beer from their Tap. Overall amazing experience. Whenever you?re in London,this is your must visit place. Read more
Edit: This is our second time here, everything is delicious. Service was great, we really enjoyed our dinner time :)) We really... enjoyed the corn beef & cabbage and venison shepherds pie !! They are so tasty. We also ordered salmon chowder soup which hasHUGE chunks of salmon in it. Absolutely delicious! The jerk beef skewers are also amazing along with the pineapple side dish. Ihave to say excellent service as well. We will be back ! Read more
Awesome service and decent food. A solid 4.5 stars. I was not a fan of the mushroom dip but I loved the whisky duck breast. Just... wish there was more duck on the plate. My girlfriend really enjoyed her ribeye. Wine selection for the reds was great! Read more
We had dinner her last night and it was a great time! Our server Katie was friendly and efficient. The food was great and... generous. The fish and chips were out of this world. Read more
We were desperate to eat after a long trip across the border during late night hours. Happily they were open but the overall... experience was lackluster. The service was the highlight, drinks were good and food was, um, edible? I had the beer and onionsoup which was bitter and just weird. Don't recommend it. Thankfully I also had the caesar salad. It was pretty good andapparently they make their own dressing. Yum. My husband had the fish burger which he seemed to like. The food was generallyoverpriced so maybe go for drinks only? Be aware that they may close earlier than you think so you may want to call before alate night visit. Read more
A very nice patio lunch! We had a bottle of wine, a few appetizers and two mains. A high end flare on "bistro-pub" fare. The... wine selection is just enough. Everything on the menu looked amazing, all of their ingredients are so unique. The staff wassuperb, very diligent and hardworking, not to mention very personable and quick, all covid things considered. We love theirpatio, it's beautiful, the entire space is covered with awnings and each table has an umbrella. You feel somewhat hidden and notlike you are right on Richmond Street. We definitely recommend the Church Key- it is busy at all times so definitely make surethat you have reservations! Items ordered: - New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. - Salmon Wrapped Scallops. - Jerk Beef Skewers. -Ceasar Salad. - Burger with Fries. Read more
I went their for my birthday. The ambience and hospitality was really nice. This little restaurant has that nice warm cozy... feeling to it where you can just sit back, relax and enjoy. For the appetizers we ordered Salmon wrapped scallops and SpanishShrimps and they were mmhhmmmm DELICIOUS!! Drinks were good too. For Entree my husband ordered Corned Beef and Cabbage and Iwent for Pan Seared Trout! My husband just loved the beef entree, my entree was fine too. The sautéed mushrooms on top wereyummy, baby potatoes were finely done but the Trout was way too salty. 1/4th of the trout was bland and the rest as if the saltgot dumped accidentally. But I then had to give up on my trout and I just could not eat it even I tried washing it down with mydrink. Anyways other than that we had an amazing time. Another suggestion would be maybe add a little complimentary spark ifit?s a special occasion. I am not sure maybe they didn?t see the occasion-birthday when I booked but just cuz I loved thisrestaurant I?d suggest adding this as a feature for other customers. Read more