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Post by Phantom of London on Nov 20, 2019 18:13:14 GMT
See that the Kitchen in the National, where I was able to get a good wholesome meal for a reasonable price, is now gone and been turned into some gaudy burger joint, it is hideous, knife and forks and plates now gone, with food served on paper on a tray. Missed a trick though, with a road outside they could have turned the National into a drive-thru. (Kidding)
They have moved coffee and cakes by the disabled toilet and if you want a cup of tea, like I used to enjoy with my meal, costs £3.30.
Bitterly disappointed at both these backward initiatives.
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Post by showgirl on Nov 20, 2019 18:49:15 GMT
Yes, I was concerned to find no mention of the Kitchen on the NT website and a visit then confirmed my fears. So now there's nowhere within the NT to buy lower-cost (not cheap), relatively healthy food and with a reasonable choice. Burgers and chips are available in so many other locations so it seems an odd decision; also, those NT regulars who don't want that type of food or to pay more now have no option but to go elsewhere.
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Post by alece10 on Nov 20, 2019 19:03:41 GMT
Dont they have anyone at the NT doing market research? Cant see the NT audience wanting burger and chips.
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Post by Phantom of London on Nov 20, 2019 19:12:29 GMT
I agree on both points.
Burger and chips, mainly consisting of bread and potato, for the chips, which are easy to fry in 4 minutes. So looks like the bean counters have been at work, or should I say I wish they had!!!
Both of the above are high in carbohydrates, so awful choices if you are diabetic. Also being a non meat eater, the old kitchen had great non meat dishes and remember on another thread raving about there Fea and Watermelon salad.
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Post by n1david on Nov 20, 2019 19:21:38 GMT
Burgerworks is described on the NT website as a "pop-up...in Kitchen Café" so hopefully it's a temporary try-out and if it's unsuccessful, Kitchen will be back (or more likely they'll try another "concept")
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Post by Jon on Nov 20, 2019 19:24:14 GMT
Burgerworks is described on the NT website as a "pop-up...in Kitchen Café" so hopefully it's a temporary try-out and if it's unsuccessful, Kitchen will be back (or more likely they'll try another "concept") Probably pizza. |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Nov 20, 2019 20:31:35 GMT
Head to M&S buy picnic fodder and booze and then consume in the Nash. I've done it for years.
Beat that Noris!
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Post by lynette on Nov 20, 2019 20:38:47 GMT
Dont they have anyone at the NT doing market research? Cant see the NT audience wanting burger and chips. Ahem, you don’t say. |
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 20, 2019 20:51:23 GMT
The new Burgerworks still does many of the same dishes they did before, just with a wider range of burgers, and they still have plates and real cutlery! I had their mushroom avocado toast only yesterday, and that’s been on the Kitchen’s menu for donkeys years.
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Post by intoanewlife on Nov 20, 2019 21:58:45 GMT
Head to M&S buy picnic fodder and booze and then consume in the Nash. I've done it for years. Ditto...though I do Sainsbury's, their ham hock sandwich is to die for x |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2019 23:25:46 GMT
Head to M&S buy picnic fodder and booze and then consume in the Nash. I've done it for years. Beat that Noris! I'm cheap. I go to Tesco outside Waterloo. £3 meal deal. Done. Just walk back through the station to get to the Southbank. |
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Post by showgirl on Nov 21, 2019 5:19:34 GMT
I'm even cheaper as I always bring my own rolls and fruit for theatre days and eat them in the NT foyer if necessary, but sometimes - especially in cold weather - I'd prefer something hot and to have a change. Soup with bread was always a great option (provided the soup wasn't blasted mushroom), and I recall having a wonderful main of meatballs and rice, never seen again, but the ubiquitous and unhealthy - and also not that easy to eat with dignity in a public place - burgers and chips, no.
Plenty of alternative and more suitable outlets nearby, eg the RFH cafe, Wagamama, EAT etc - but a pain for patrons and a loss of income for the NT.
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Post by vdcni on Nov 21, 2019 8:19:49 GMT
If Kitchen was bringing in a lot of income at the moment then presumably they wouldn't have made this change.
Hard as it is to believe there will be people going to the National that go to Giraffe or Pizza Express first who would happily eat a Burger.
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Post by TallPaul on Nov 21, 2019 12:46:56 GMT
Head to M&S buy picnic fodder and booze and then consume in the Nash. I've done it for years You weren't there on Saturday, were you, sitting on one of those Moroccan style round seats with your shoes off? 🙂 |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Nov 21, 2019 13:12:19 GMT
Head to M&S buy picnic fodder and booze and then consume in the Nash. I've done it for years You weren't there on Saturday, were you, sitting on one of those Moroccan style round seats with your shoes off? 🙂 Fraid not. I was on the razzle in Haggerston |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 13:23:31 GMT
If Kitchen was bringing in a lot of income at the moment then presumably they wouldn't have made this change. Hard as it is to believe there will be people going to the National that go to Giraffe or Pizza Express first who would happily eat a Burger. Happy to admit I’m one of them! I’m tired of looking at menus for restaurants and needing a dictionary to decode them. I’m tired of seeing weird concoctions of foodstuffs no sane person would ever put together. Give me a burger or a pizza and I’m happy! Sadly, though, this development coincides with a time I’m not really visiting the NT... |
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Post by lynette on Nov 21, 2019 13:28:08 GMT
We went to the Terrace between the Brilliant Friends and we were disappointed. We had been a few years ago and enjoyed it, small tasty dishes. But this time, they were poor. I won’t give a detailed food review but I wouldn’t recommend and it came to to decent amount too which they seems to accumulate without us noticing.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Nov 21, 2019 13:52:18 GMT
I’m at the Kitchen/Burgerworks right now having lunch. A very nice vegan tofu salad, in a proper china bowl, with knife and fork from the same cutlery stand that’s always been there.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 17:26:53 GMT
I’m tired of looking at menus for restaurants and needing a dictionary to decode them. That's probably why so many people in restaurants are looking at their phones. "Cavolo Nero? That sounds exotic. Oh, it's cabbage." |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 22:55:38 GMT
I’m tired of looking at menus for restaurants and needing a dictionary to decode them. That's probably why so many people in restaurants are looking at their phones. "Cavolo Nero? That sounds exotic. Oh, it's cabbage." And no such thing as gravy these days. Just ‘jus’... |
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Post by showgirl on Nov 23, 2019 5:09:45 GMT
And the NT was guilty of another mysterious fad: serving food that wasn't soup in bowls rather than on plates, making it hard to eat, especially if it required cutting up, which it generally did. Bowl presented on plate: no problem, tip the food onto the plate and ditch the bowl. Bowl only: liable to overbalance and spill its contents when you actually try to start eating - grr.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2019 23:50:43 GMT
I feel your pain, showgirl. I once ate at a Japanese chain restaurant with foodie friends. As a picky eater, just about the only thing on the menu I could face was chicken breast in what appeared to be chicken noodle soup. Said dish arrived in a deep bowl with a fork and a spoon. Then the fun began.
Should I spear the entire chicken breast on the fork, dredge it out of the soup and chew round it while letting the soup run down my chin? Hmm, wouldn’t score any points for etiquette.
Eat the soup first and grab the chicken when the soup levels dropped? Hmm, chicken would probably be a bit on the cool side by then.
Spear chicken with fork and attempt to hack bits off with a blunt spoon, while the soup levels rise and slosh over the top of the bowl? Yep, I’ll probably have to go for that...
Fast forward 20 mins and I’m leaving the restaurant hungrier than when I got there, and thoroughly teed off into the bargain.
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Post by Phantom of London on Nov 24, 2019 0:08:07 GMT
I’m at the Kitchen/Burgerworks right now having lunch. A very nice vegan tofu salad, in a proper china bowl, with knife and fork from the same cutlery stand that’s always been there. Menu certainly changed since last time I went. On a side note, like the Burgerworks, the canteen at work has gone the same way, which is run by the awful company Soxedo, their meals either consist of burgers, wraps or baguettes now, rather than wholesome meals they used to do. The profit margins seem to be higher with bread based dishes, so is the sugar, there is equivalent of 22 teaspoons of sugar in a baguette. No good at tackling the national obesity crisis and my diabetes, also being a non meat eater makes it tricky, but hey the profits are much better. |
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Post by andrew on Jan 24, 2020 12:36:59 GMT
Another update. Without any real cosmetic or structural changes BurgerWorks is now 'counter'.
"Featuring Burgerworks, kitchen, campfire pizza"
So kitchen is sort of back, burger works is still sort of there, and now there's pizza. The coffee stall remains unchanged.
In what I think is the most upsetting news, The Green Room is closed. I know it wasn't exactly the finest Michelin star affair, but it was pretty cheap, relaxed, and possible to get a table in for a pre-theatre, and sometimes I even went without the theatre being involved at all. I emailed to ask what happened, and the only response I got was that the building had been handed back to coin street builders. Not sure if this was the NTs choice or not, potentially it wasn't making enough money.
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Post by n1david on Jan 24, 2020 12:54:50 GMT
In what I think is the most upsetting news, The Green Room is closed. I know it wasn't exactly the finest Michelin star affair, but it was pretty cheap, relaxed, and possible to get a table in for a pre-theatre, and sometimes I even went without the theatre being involved at all. I emailed to ask what happened, and the only response I got was that the building had been handed back to coin street builders. Not sure if this was the NTs choice or not, potentially it wasn't making enough money. When I read this it brought back a memory I had that the Green Room was only intended to be a temporary space. I can't find a relevant reference from the NT now, but an article covering its winning of an architecture award talks about it being a temporary structure with a 5-year projected lifespan - I think it was only ever intended to sit there until permanent plans were developed for the site. coinstreet.org/the-green-room-wins-new-london-architecture-award/The article states that the final stage of the building scheme will be on the site of the Green Room: Edited to add: here's another article from Nov 2014 which talks about a five-year lifespan, so I assume it has just been handed back in line with original plans: www.hot-dinners.com/Gastroblog/Latest-news/national-theatre-to-open-new-restaurant-the-green-room |
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