Browns

Great little spot — we popped to the bar for wine and a light bite after seeing a film at the cinema around the corner. The Pinot Grigio was sharp and delicious, and we ordered the truckle of cheese with crackers (very good, lovely cheddar); chips with garlic aioli (very nice, fluffy and crisp) and the chicken ‘lollipops’ (disappointing, cold & fatty). Bar the one off note of the chicken, everything else was great, and I’ll certainly hope to return for a meal in the brasserie when next I’m in the area.

Great looking place but not a good dining experience. Our large group had the full gamut of problems — mistaken orders, steaks cooked poorly and not to requested doneness, items not hot enough, side items missing from the plate. Also, most of the steaks were very poor quality meat — expect much better for 20 pounds.
The peppercorn sauce tasted slightly rancid and was a poor, oily effort to begin with. Especially disappointing given it adds 1 or 2 pounds to the bill.
To be fair, I’m told the fishcakes were good.

Service is not good, although I will come back to try the fish n chips. They did not have any when I was here. The Brown burger was okay. The apple pie was soggy and the custard was too watery. The Manhattan Grill’s Apple Crumb and Custard was much better. I would recommend going there. Just right around the corner. If I find another place for fish n chips, I won’t be back here.

Brown’s can get ridiculously busy during lunch and for happy hour after work. If you’re lucky enough and catch it during a slower time, it’s worth the visit. I love fish and chips, but usually can’t make it through a meal because they’re sooooo greasy. Not at Brown’s though. The fish and chips arrived with a great batter and neither were greasy at all. The only drawback was the extremely small portions of condiments, just a dollop of tartar sauce and ketchup.

My friend and I ate at Browns due to its proximity to the West India Quay Cineworld and the fact that Cineworld Unlimited cardholders get a 20% discount. Result.
I wasn’t sure what to expect but it is usually quite a busy place so figured it couldn’t be too bad. In fact it was actually incredibly delicious made all the better for the fact we got money off. I went for the crab & king prawn linguine which was really nice. The lime chilli sauce giving it flavour without overpowering the prawns. It was quite a small portion though so I would have liked a bit more.
Still hungry I decided to order dessert which turned out to be the best decision I made all day! Their Salted Caramel profiteroles with lime fudge sauce was incredible and a couple of weeks later thinking about them still makes my mouth water. I cannot recommend these enough!
The prices are reasonable anyway but with the discount they are excellent value for money and I’m sure we’ll be returning if we need to grab a bite to eat in the area again.

Great Sunday roast! I had the beef roast and the trimmings were great with it. Very large selection of drinks and the staff were friendly and helpful. I’ve been here on numerous occasions for drinks and it definitely is a nice place to hold happy hours and drinks with colleagues or friends.

I visit Browns regularly because my boyfriend seems to be a fan and as long as you avoid Friday and Saturday nights, they’re more or less empty. It’s also located in a nice area, right off West India Quay (near Canary Wharf).
That’s kind of where the positives of Browns ends. It’s not a proper bar, not a proper pub, and not quite a proper restaurant either. The food on offer is alright, but pricey for what it is. Their cocktails are quite good, but again are pricier than what you’d expect. We’ve ordered wine a few times and it ended up tasting like balsamic vinegar — not good. The bottle had clearly been open for a long time.
I guess my main issue with Browns is that it is just plain bland for what it charges, which is a shame because it’s in such a lovely area. If they upped their food quality a bit or lowered their prices I’d probably give it 4 stars. Until then I’m putting it at a solid 3.

Many visits and many great meals. Tonight we went and ordered and the waiter came back 5 minutes later to say they had no steak left!
«I am embarrassed and extremely sorry. Would you like something else?»
«Well, we might leave and go somewhere else. But we’ve ordered wine!»
«You can finish it or leave it there if you like, and again please accept my apologies»
When it all goes to shit and they still treat you properly, that’s service, and my cap is thusly doth’d. Well handled.

Browns is alright. We used to come here once in a while when I worked close by. Especially in the summer it’s nice because of their big outdoor space in the sun.
The food is standard but good. I mostly had the burger, ribeye steak or fish & chips. My colleague used to praise their special hot dog but I always thought it would be too small for me (and who has a hot dog for lunch?). They serve some good beers (such as Leffe), wine and a few good whiskies as well. Service is friendly but sometimes takes a while when everybody comes out during lunch.
Don’t expect the best, but if you happen to be in Canary Wharf on a sunny day, I would recommend you to go there and sit outside.

Cool for drinkies & brunch.
This is a reliable place for the typical afterwork drinks — downstairs.
Upstairs is the main dining area. It’s a pretty place that has piano music on Sundays for the brunch. Very nice.
Prices are always reasonable, happy hour specials at times, food is fine and so is the service.

I came with work for afternoon tea. It wasn’t a particularly memorable experience. The offer of cakes and scones were fine, nothing remarkable. The sandwiches were sloppily put together and had obviously been sitting out all day as the bread was a little stale on the outside.
It’s not somewhere you’d go out of your way to frequent but it wasn’t necessarily terrible either.

— located at the West India Quay (Docklands) with a great seating area overlooking the dock at the front of the restaurant
— huge seating capacity inside
— service was okay
— Browns House Salad (10.0) was okay, but not too fancy: edamame beans, pumpkin seeds, cherry tomatoes, green beans, beetroot, mange tout, quinoa, bulgar wheat & artichoke hearts (large portion was still not really large)
— Sunday Menue: Sirloin of Beef with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, carrots & parsnips, green beans, peas, red cabbage (16.0) was okay
Conclusion: Nice view, food and service okay, however there are much better restaurants in LND!

Browns is fairly solid. I know they’re a chain, but I haven’t been to any other locations.
Is the food particularly mind-​blowing? No… but it’s not bad. I had a flatbread with chorizo and prosciutto for starter, and the Browns burger for the main. The flatbread was super crisp and was definitely tasty, albeit a little bit too greasy from the chorizo. The burger is pretty tasty, but definitely nothing to write home about. Two patties, piece of cheese, bacon, some manner of slaw, etc. I can’t say anything negative about it, but I can’t say anything outstanding about it either.
I will say that the service was absolutely spot on and super friendly! Like really, really lovely and worked well with our group that increased in size gradually and had a couple restless kids!

I can’t say this is my type of bar, but a nice bar none of the less. However the staff are SUPER friendly. I’ve never felt so greeted without some guy trying to stick his hands on my arse. For British standards of customer service, Browns is WAY above average.
We had some nibbles, and it wasn’t so great. Not that I was spitting it out, but wasn’t ready to have seconds either. The artichoke dip was served cold. It should have at least been chucked in the microwave. But… it’s a bar. Sometimes food good… sometimes not as good. I ate it… i’m a pig! So wasn’t that horrifying. But to my Italian friend who lives on fine dining, it wasn’t good enough for a second bite. The american in me isn’t so picky.
The prices for a glass of wine is a little more expensive that average, but giving the location, to be expected.
I would come again!

This is a typical local banker lunch spot and thusly went here to lunch with a few colleagues. Once seated outside, I immediately remembered being here nearly 5 years ago!
Ordered a cask beer and chose The Browns Lunch & Early Menu with two courses at £10.95. Of course, the menu is rubbish and they actually mean an appetizer and lunch main. I had tried to order 2 different mains (other pubs let you do so). So chose the Escabeche of Mackerel Fillet served warm with olive tapenade and Grilled Fillet of Sea Bass with crushed pea and potato mash, roasted pequillo peppers and a wholegrain mustard dressing. While the food was tasty, they sure dont give you enough of it. There was barely any wholegrain mustard dressing and it was already placed on the sea bass so it was not possible to have extra with the potato mash for example. I must say I liked the Escabeche of Mackerel Fillet the best.
As others have stated, service is quite bad and I was running late for a meeting I had to chair so had to leave my colleagues with the bill. Also, the beer selection on the menu does not actually match what is actually available. This makes no sense.
If you are looking for a cheap meal right on Canary Wharf with outside seating. this is a good place. Otherwise, there is better food in the food courts inside the building where the DLR Canary Wharf station is located.

I’m beginning to notice a trend across all the Browns chain*. And that is shockingly bad service. I arrived at this Browns on Thursday noontime for a reserved afternoon tea. Not surprisingly, they hadn’t prepared for afternoon tea even though we’d reserved for it. Knowing that i had to be back in the office by a set time that would not allow for any Browns slow-​service shenanigans, I thought ahead and decided to just get a glass of bubbly and a cream scone. This was, of course, after a very confused and frustrated ordering process. The server was ill-​equipped to, well, serve us, and her agitation that people in my large party were ordering various things from the menu was clear.
The champagne that arrived for me was flat. Now, I don’t know about you, but if an establishment is willing to serve champagne by the glass, I expect them to serve fresh champagne by the glass. I sent the champange back once the server made her way back around the table, and she was obliging although not particularly apologetic. I was left wondering — how often do they serve people flat champagne? We’re in Canary Wharf for christsake.
The cream scone took an inordinate amount of time to arrive; I’d finished my champagne long ago and wasn’t offered another glass; so I ate it swiftly and left my colleagues behind.
*And by ‘trend’ I mean the two Browns locations I’ve ever vistied.

This place looked so promising! I thought Browns was always one of those places you could go to and get a decent gastro-​pub-​esque meal, but i was very disappointed by my local Browns. I think the first thing i have to get off my chest was bathroom facilities — it was horrible and for somewhere that seemingly likes to present itself and being quite nicely kept there is only one cubicle for ladies and one for gent, the seat was broken, toilet paper everywhere (on a Monday night?!) My worst nightmare.
The waiter was super pleasant and we sat outside by the Quay (a lovely summer spot) and drank G&T’s. For dinner we ordered Bavette Steak Frites £13.95 and Boar Burger £12.95. My burger was very tasty, with a slightly smoky finish to it and succulent served with hand cut chips but my friends steak which she ordered rare (it must have been on one crazy diet before it arrived to our table) was so very tough my friend must have had a hard time digesting it after wards.
Main courses are around £12 — £25, a French/​British influenced menu and there are quite a few Browns around London/​the UK, this one is very spacious and you can regularly find local city folks have a good few-​too many on a Friday night here. They have a good selection of cocktails, i didn’t try one in West India Quay but the one in Covent Garden has Bramble (lovely gin based cocktail) and berry and pomegranate martini’s which are as enjoyable to drink as they are watching the bartenders make.
²⁄₅ Stars on this particular Browns as I’ve been to others and preferred the meals, the drinks and the facilities!

Nothing particularly astounding about this place, but nothing particularly horrid either.
Okay, let me step out of my slightly-​snobby-​North-​London-​shoes. It was what my date and I were looking for – a cheapish place to have a drink and food. The service was absolutely fine. The food was mediocre: I had the pork belly, which was a bit bland in comparison to the lovely mash that accompanied it. Also, the crackling tasted real funny, which is sad because I LOVE Crackling. My date’s burger was well received, no complaints from him. The Chocolate Trifle was good, not what I was expecting. I did love the custard in it.
Considering the only other thing we saw were high-​end restaurants, this was perfectly fine. I’d come back but wouldn’t commute for it.

We regularly frequent this branch of Browns on a Sunday either before or after the movies. Until recently the service had been spot on, however one Sunday lunchtime we visited & the place was extremely busy, and it seems the kitchen and wait staff were overun, because not only did our food take ages to be served and some was missing but the service was appalling and full of attitude. We put this incident down to a bad day — for them and us! I must point out that the food (their fantastic roasts) were delicious and I recommend them for value for money and for being lovely and tasty!
Every other time I’ve come here, and as I say this is sometimes nearly every weekend (!) the service has been wonderful and the food and drinks always fabulous. The setting is nice and picturesque, especially on a nice day when, if you wish, you seat outside. If not, inside is nice and cosy and particularly atmospheric if the piano player is tinkling on the old ivories!
Make mine a Havana or a Coconut Daiquiri!

We had a colleague on secondment living above Browns. Excellent location and a lot of fun.
This meant it was easy to go to Browns after work. Maybe a little too easy!
Anyway the food here is reasonable and the bar atmosphere nice. Like all the places on West India Quay there’s outdoor seating which helps as these places can get super bz with all the worker bees unwinding after a hard day’s work! lol

The food here is actually pretty good… once you get it! I’ve been here a few times during the lunchtime rush at Canary Wharf and the service can be atrociously slow. However, go on a Sunday evening when the place is only a third full and you’ll probably be ok. They have 2 menus that have some cross over, an a la carte and a fixed price one for 1, 2 or 3 courses.
Recently I’ve had the Steak Frites and the Pork Belly. The latter was very good, it cost £12.95 I think.
They also do a selection of Sunday Roasts which aren’t bad either for around £9 — £11.
Last time here I had the Argentinian Malbec for around £17. It was very acceptable.