The Royal Standard
📍 1.0 miles from The Valley
Recent Fan Reviews
Had a baby shower at the Royal Standard in Blackheath and it was perfect 🎉. Everything was done so well, great food, lovely atmosphere, and really nice décor. The staff were super friendly and helpful especially Lanton was an excellent waiter and made sure we had everything we needed to enjoy the day. Big thank you to the team for helping us make it such a special celebration. Would definitely recommend!
Really nice atmosphere. It's wheelchair accessible although the entrance is at the back and the back doors were closed, but locals sprang to the rescue and we were in! Two of us used wheelchairs and it was manageable though for two powerchairs it would be awkward and due to how busy it gets, the staff were not the most forthcoming. The Sunday dinners were as expected. There was pleasant livr music. The accessible toilet was easy enough to get to, though strictly speaking not that accessible, if you're not ambulant and have no carer and you have a chair longer than the q300r, then you can't use it! Plus the throughfare was blocked with a large plant, which is fine if for example you're with friends, are fine talking to the management and don't also have autism. From a neuro diverse point of view it's not suitable because of the windows being at the same level as the tables causing noise refraction. Overall I loved the place and would go again, they just need to bear in mind that if it's advertised as disabled access then doors need to be left open, signage would be helpful and blocking entrance or exit points with heavy plant pots isn't great. Otherwise - see you next time!
Went for lunch with uncle to enjoy the rugby. Had a ok to good lunch. Uncle had the schnitzel which had thickness, crisp and juiciness to it. I had the pie and mash. I had an issue with mine but that was dealt with very well by the team. Food though is rather overpriced for what it is. Most is not home made and just a bit pricy for bung in the oven food. I could understand prices if food homemade - they need to knock a few quid off each dish. Or just make homemade food - it’s a very simple menu so could be easily done. But great service and environment, - sort the food out and it will be fantastic.
Let me start with the good stuff. The parmesan, truffle, rosemary chips are fabulous - the portion was small but we had a lot of other stuff. The Halloumi chips are out of this world; a large portion, crispy on the outside spongy inside, big chips., the calamari (didn't get a picture) was outstanding, not the usual (pig bum) rings, but actual long chip size tentacles. We loved the cauliflower fritters it's quite a small portion but the batter is crispy and substantial. In general the portions on the small plates we had as well as the prices are very decent. We came in November 2023 and were blown away by the food (and service). They said they were thinking of making it a gastropub and I was super enthusiastic about the idea. The food was so good we all agreed to share everything. The pork belly was chewy none of the soft mouth quality you expect with belly pork all (& I mean all) the fat had been removed, It was a bit like eating steak (which I don't like) I think people who usually don't like belly pork would enjoy it. red wine sauce and apple ketchup - both were absent, there was a thin, tasteless gravy instead of red wine sauce, the red cabbage was ok. The cook had clearly not a clue of what crackling is we were served a piece of roof tile masquerading. it's the rectangular bit on top of the food with the little saucepan. When I asked the 2nd waiter to look at it, he wouldn't, but gave us that meal for free. Last year the 'buttery mash' was mind blowing. It was scraped baked potato mixed with butter, super fluffy, literally melt in the mouth. This was watery and lacked flavour yet too salty, no butter taste. Steak and Ale pie - pastry was hard, tooth destroying lid, also quite dry inside the pie case, the filling was about 20% of the inner space, few steak pieces again too salty but otherwise tasteless thick gravy it missed the ale flavour. The savoy cabbage was nice and crunchy but the stalks were too big, so a bit hard - my companion doesn't have the strongest teeth and wasn't expecting the challenge with ordering a pie. See above for the mash and the red wine sauce was seriously unimpressive. Though why you would serve red wine sauce with an ale pie is beyond me, which is why I didn't order it. I ordered the pan fried sea bass with chorizo and peas, sauteed leeks and a lemon, thyme white wine velouté. The fillets were over cooked. I asked what 'ratte' potatoes were and the chef (who is clearly better at making up bullshit terms than cooking) said they were just boiled cut and pan fried. He didn't say they would be covered in cheese. What kind of person serves sea bass with cheese covered pan fried potatoes? The other things were all under the fish, indistinguishable from each other, chunks of chorizo completely wiped out all the other flavours didn't see a velouté just the chorizo fat at the bottom of the plate. All too salty Now the service. When we arrived there was a funny, engaging, helpful man who was charming and told me I'd really ordered enough food - he was right. The stars are for him! The guy who replaced didn't make eye contact, didn't listen. Seemed to be utterly terrified and got really defensive when I said I wasn't totally happy with the food. I didn't dare to say anything else, but I really feel I should have said that we found it all way too salty. The waiter insisted we have the money back for the belly pork as soon as I mentioned the tile When I went to pay he paid me back and gave me the credit for the belly pork. I told him (out of the goodness of my heart) I hadn't paid yet and proceeded to do so. He didn't thank me. I could have walked out without paying the 120 quid and 17 quid up and he didn't even say thank you! Hoping to have racked up some brownie points with the karma fairies...
Good atmosphere. Have been a few times as a recent local. Today I thought I'd try the same burger as I've had before but in a deal for cheaper beer. Not worth it, there was some money saved from the beer, but the downgrade of the burger was far pricier. Don't go for the "deals" is my advice.