St. John Bar and Restaurant (London, UNITED KINGDOM) ★★☆☆☆

St. John Bar and Restaurant has raised eyebrows of foodies from all around the world ever since its grand opening in 1994. The former smokehouse turned restaurant was a pioneer in the concept of "nose to tail" eating that specialized in offal and unusual cuts from pigs including pig's ears, intestines, pig's tail and so on. 

This unique-concept restaurant is not only a yearly fixture in the Michelin guide but is also picked year after year as one of the World's 50 best restaurants by S. Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.



After a short walk from Farringdon Station, the legendary white walls of St. John was finally in sight!

My first look at the restaurant's dining area reminded me of something from my school days - my highschool cafeteria. The simple all-white settings and the black lamps hanging from the ceiling, well they looked all too familiar as if I have been here before. 

But when I settled down a bit, I realized that it looked more like a clinic. Even the all-white outfits that the servers were wearing gave me a feeling that they were medical staff !



I had a quick look at the daily menu. The signature bone marrow was there for the taking but since I am not a big fan of bone marrow, I opted for another house specialty - roasted middle white.

The middle white (or pork belly) was a fairly good start. It had the crispiest skin to go with a pretty good fat to meat ratio.  



However, my main course abruptly provided a disappointing ending to an otherwise promising lunch.

My decision to pick something other than pork turned out to be a poor one as the braised hare was absolutely bland and tasteless.

Definitely not the kind of quality I would expect from a top rated restaurant that was so highly touted by so many different sources.



Food Rating: 5/10

Price: £££

Address: 26 St. John Street, Clerkenwell, London, UK 
Closest Tube Station: Farringdon
Website: www.stjohngroup.uk.com/smithfield
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 41st (2011)