Lantern

Recently in the Lantern, service very good, food slighty above average.
Décor very dated, no real heating, just a few portable heaters the place was cold and uncomfortable.
Not sure if I would use the place again based on this one off visit.
Also agree with the other review about payment, a little strange.

First let me say that the food here is, on the whole, great. The best Steak I have had in a long time, quality meat cooked perfectly and the chocolate fudge cake was heavenly (and I’m not much of a dessert gal).
However. the restaurant itself is like stepping back to the eighties, the awful old posh and exclusive eateries from my youth. You imagine women with stiff sprayed hair in furs and jewels having their chairs held by toupeed, moustachioed men in sports coats.
Most people walk straight past here without realising it’s existence and for years I must admit I thought it was a Chinese due to the design of the sign hanging half way up a wall somewhere between Marks and Spencers and Newlook on Whitefriargate.
It’s a tiny little place (seats 20 – 25 perhaps?) with a great big dark wood bar, terrible décor, Greek themed baubles and trinkets adorning every wall, green velour covered chairs, maroon table cloths, paper napkins, naff patterned plates and some sort of weird white cladding on the walls. The music (which was way too loud) was a very strange mix of traditional Greek music, Rat Pack, Motown and European/​Middle Eastern marching band.
The menu is mostly steak and fish with a few Greek dishes (I believe the owners are Greek) and European favourites thrown in; Taromasalata, Moussaka, Château Briand, Duck A La Orange etc
The accompaniments we had to our steaks weren’t up to the same standard as the meat. The roast potatoes were deep fried, the cauliflower cheese and the pepper sauce, whilst both very tasty, were luke warm at best. The cheese and biscuits were ok, although they had run out of Stilton.
They have silver service here, which is nice enough (although somewhat outdated), but slows down the already incredibly slow service: there was a 7 minute wait between receiving our steaks and being served the vegetables. Yes, it is correct to serve from the customer’s left, but not if they are sitting flush up against a wall and have to half get out of their chair to allow for some potatoes to be put on their plate!
Finally, I found the fact that we had to walk back down to the bar to pay for the meal as opposed to having our card taken at the table seemed a bit odd.
I known I have complained a lot, but the staff were lovely and as I said the steak itself was fantastic. It’s one of those places where nothing is awful, but the combined experience brings down the star rating somewhat.