Riverside East (Stratford)

We recently held two large Christmas parties at the Riverside east of approximately 100 people at each. The team were fantastic, communicating promptly and clearly with the with the organiser. They were very responsive and friendly, especially Cian and worked with us with our budget and requirements. The venue has fabulous views and created a festive atmosphere. We have asked the attendees for their feedback, which has been summarised below: The chicken dish was generally well received; several guests said they “enjoyed the food.” However, the vegetarian main - served as a whole roasted cauliflower was widely viewed as underwhelming, bland, and not very festive. Some guests also found certain meats overly salty. On the first lunch, service was slow, with a long wait for mains of over an hour; on the second lunch, the venue improved pacing to around 50 minutes for two courses plus tea/coffee. Multiple tables reported mains arriving lukewarm/tepid by the time they were served. Opportunities for Improvement: • Menu & Dietary Range: Replace the whole cauliflower main with a more festive vegetarian option (e.g., nut roast with full trimmings) and add pescatarian choices; ensure mains are served hot. • Service Capacity: For large bookings, increase kitchen/front of house capacity or stagger service to avoid long gaps between tables. • Acoustics & Layout: Reduce table sizes and spacing to lower noise and improve cross table conversation; consider music volume adjustments during service. • Coffee Service: Ensure milk availability with tea/coffee at the end of the meal. Riverside East is a strong choice for festive gatherings, with a welcoming atmosphere and an engaging group experience. To make it great for large corporate lunches, the venue should tighten up service timing across all tables, improve acoustics for conversation, and refresh the vegetarian offering. Attendees I enjoyed the friendly venue and the overall vibe.

We enjoyed a delicious roast with bottomless fizz and unlimited Yorkshire puddings here today. Moni who was our server was lovely, very attentive and great with the kids. Moni and Nick the manager were always making sure that we we were ok and asking if we needed anything else. The food was delicious. Myself and two children had the roast chicken and my husband had the roast beef. Everything was cooked to perfection and the Yorkshire puddings were huge! The restaurant itself was bright, airy and clean. It wasn't too busy which suited us perfectly. The toilets were clean too which is always a plus. We enjoyed our first visit to Riverside East and will definitely come back here to eat next time we are in the area.

I work nearby and decided to stop in for lunch. I ordered the Moving Mountains burger, and as I was placing my order, the server reminded me — almost pointedly — that it’s vegan. I replied that I am vegan, and that’s exactly why I chose it. After waiting about 25 minutes, with others who ordered after me already eating, I went to ask about my food. The same server couldn’t give me an answer and had to check with a colleague, who seemed confused about the vegan burger order altogether. At that point, I decided to ask for a refund. They apologised and said they were busy, but honestly, the service was poor — especially considering everyone else seemed to get their meals promptly. Hopefully my refund comes through, but overall, a disappointing experience. I popped round the corner to Gordon Ramsey's restaurant and got a lovely vegan burger and fries in the end.

We had such a delicious dinner here! Everything was a delight, from the Parmesan croquettes to the perfectly cooked steak with peppercorn sauce, and finishing with the zero-waste bread and butter pudding. The staff were all super friendly too. I can’t wait to come back for a weekend brunch or roast!

The quality/price ratio is pretty bad, I went there for brunch and spent more than £12 for literally a £1 worth of food (see pic). While the "Bacon Benny" was a delusion but good, the Brulee French Toast wasn't even cooked properly, it was burned at the top and uncooked in the middle. The atmosphere is quite nice and cosy but it's totally not worth spending 💰 for the food they serve.

We went to this restaurant for our Christmas lunch. Disappointing all around. The slow cooked beef would have needed a lot more time to achieve the melt in the mouth advertised. Dessert (Berry Pavlova) was better. Staff seemed stressed and overwhelmed with the number of people to serve. A colleague said her vegan main of cauliflower was just that - cooked cauliflower with nothing much added. I don’t think we will be going there again.

Such a great addition to Stratford. Had a lovely lunch in the cafe and headed outside for drinks in the sunshine. Staff were super friendly, well priced and lots of options to choose from. Looking forward to my next visit!

Not usually one to leave a reviews but I hope this is helpful. The venue is great, it’s in a lovely setting and is really well fitted out. Given that, the service is really really bad. We waited for ages to order drinks (which came wrong) then order food (ended up going to the bar for it) and then ordered some further drinks which were put on our bill but never came. There were 5 wait staff behind the bar having a conversation, on their phones etc. and then about 3 tables worth of people in the venue desperately trying to get their attention. It feels like they just really need a manager somewhere to remind people that they’re at work.