ICA - Cafe Bar in City of London, Westminster

Visited here on Sunday 30th October with family. The food was fantastic. Started with oysters (which were amazing) cream cheese with tomato on toast, cod cheeks and langoustines. Followed by pheasant pie, fish pie, bone on rib with delicious chips. The setting is beautiful and the staff very attentive. Highly recommended 👌

Dos de nosotros comimos aquí. Decoración básica Estrecho. El personal es lo suficientemente agradable pero demasiado serio. Comida escasa pero cara. Un "pastel" era un plato de salsa que contenía un par de trozos de carne y una zanahoria con masa en la parte superior. Sabroso pero un insulto a los 17. 50 El vino era muy potable pero caro para lo que era. No visite esperando un almuerzo barato. Supongo que la cena es aún más cara.

We were a group of 7, the service at Rochelle Canteen was absolutely excellent, friendly and attentive but never over the top. The food was delicious, we all had starters and mains, and were so impressed we went for pudding as well. The fish soup was really excellent, and as for the blood pudding, what a triumph. The Rhubarb and meringue was very good too. Thank you for a fantastic evening!

We had an hour to spare pre movie and it was pouring with rain so decided to abandon our plan to venture into the heart of theatreland to eat. Rather reluctantly decided to eat at this restaurant expecting salads and sandwiches. We were very pleasantly surprised and had an excellent meal. Service was friendly and welcoming. Decor a bit tired. I wouldn't hesitate to return.

Nos reunimos para almorzar en este restaurante del centro de Londres. Encontramos el restaurante en un entresuelo con un ambiente básico y frugal, la decoración es sencilla y fría, que podría mejorarse fácilmente. Buena comida con amigos con codorniz y entrantes de caballa ahumada, ambos muy buenos. Para los platos principales, el ganso y la chuleta de cerdo fueron los favoritos nuevamente, tanto buenos como las papas asadas. Para el desierto el membrillo y la manzana crumble fue excelente. En general vale la pena una visita.

Read the reviews from the critics and Both Rochelle establishments always get great reviews so my expectations were high. I was disappointed as the food was fairly basic with little or no originality or technical skills. I guess if I can cook it at home and better than the place I am eating then not good. The wine situation was confusing as we could only buy carafes rather than bottles of the burgundy, to this day I am not sure why? The waitress from Canada was good. The chairs needed the cushions which were available.

Njce location but very poor value : of our group of 5 : 2 ordered the girole rainbow chard and pearl barley: scant mushrooms but even less pearl barley and so very watery; 1 ordered fish stew- no fish to discern at all, just mussels in a fish sauce; 2 ordered venison shepherds pie - at £17 each would have expected it to come with some accompaniment : it did : 1 picked walnut in a ramekin but no vegetables at all ; we asked for bread to help substantiate the meals: there were five of us : we were brought 6 slices of bread . As we were leaving we passed by a table where kitchen staff were having their lunch - sizeable proportions and plenty of sides - we wished we worked in the kitchens. We eat out regularly in London and this area but this was not value for money by either food quality or portion size- have read other positive reviews and am wondering whether we were just very unlucky, in a parallel universe to other diners or if this is nay just be a culinary case if the Emperor’s new clothes ?

The 'breakfast' tea used for their tea bags is of a very poor quality. The tea in the tea pot was well stirred, and allowed to stand/brew. The tea was so weak it hardly had the 'strength' to come out of the spout of the tea pot. At the main entrance I asked if the ICA had a comments slip/card for visitors to complete - they didn't - so I complained about the tea to them.

Great vibe, tasty well presented food. Love the trailing vines and ‘secret garden’ feel. Look forward to another visit.

下調べでウサギとか鳩とか期待して行ったのですが、その日は無く・・・（メニューは日によって変わります）ウズラのローストを頼んだのですが、これがすごく美味しくて！スープも見た目は悪いですがすごく美味しかった。ミートボールも美味しかったです。何と言ってもデザートのチョコムースオレンジピール入りが最高に美味しかった！全て美味しく、お店も子連れでも大丈夫でした。次はショーディッチの方にも行ってみたいです。

Cannot believe how good this place is. Every dish, from the white peach salad to courgette main to dessert of chocolate mousse with orange cream speckled with praline was delicious. Even loved the elderflower and mint beverage - refreshing. All tucked away in what feels like a cozy den on the Mall.

We were looking forWard to trying this and find it pretty good. However for my dairy free / gluten free friend there was only one option which was not that exciting (artichokes). If you do want to try it and don’t want to travel out far to the other one it’s a nice option for an easy diner in the city.

Great lunch here recently. Light and airy ambience, friendly service, simple-ish but great food, reasonable prices (especially given the area). I imagine I will be back often!

A really excellent meal - monk's beard, grilled quail, rabbit and chocolate tart - with friendly, very competent service. All at a reasonable price for the centre of London. Thoroughly recommend

It's not easy to find an affordable and delicious dinner in London. But we've just found it. Rochelle Canteen ICA at the Mall just gave us a memory. Wonderful and hearty food, lovely wine and perfect service. We had a glass of good champagne, nice olives, radishes & cod’s roe, purple sprouting broccoli, pig's head croquettes, turbot, cheese and ice cream. And it was such a wonderful dinner. Unfortunately we forgot to ask for the waiter's name - all we know was that he came from Elba but he gave us great advice on wine and food. What would be a restaurant without an extraordinary waiter? Well, we'll be back!

In the ICA is this contemporary modern British restaurant with a short but tempting menu. The food is fine, but just. Wine choice is also OK. The atmosphere is like the name implies a bit well canteen-like. But the prices aren't. Expect to pay at last £50 per person with wine and tips.

In a very touristy part of town it is hard to find somewhere not over the top for lunch. This small cafe is mostly made up of tables for two, bright, light and white decor without over powering music. The menu is short and simple with a mixture of small plates £8-10 and larger dishes £17-20. The menu has some interesting ideas on it. Still or sparkling water is served limitless for £1 per person. 12.5% service automatically added. Some parties were ordering 2-3 smaller plates between them. The mussels were delicious. This place is tucked away, delicious and reasonable value if you choose sensibly.

I genuinely didn’t expect such great food but was very impressed! Highly recommended and service fabulous too

Tucked away beyond the bookshop and up to a mezzanine level, the setting is simple and casual. Which makes the shout-out-loud deliciousness of the food an extra special treat. Four of us at lunch on a rainy Saturday afternoon, watching a horse and carriage rehearsal on The Mall, while eating perfectly cooked dishes such as polenta with violet artichokes and mushrooms, chicken and ham hock pie with buttery crispy pastry, and pork loin with aubergine and chilli. Kind and friendly staff. A delight.

Este lugar sin pretensiones justo en The Mall fue recomendado, así que reservamos para cuatro para el almuerzo. Acceso a través de la entrada de la librería ICA. Servicio amable, espléndidas opciones frescas en el menú, con muchas opciones para veg / veeg. No es para nada exigente, precios típicos para la ubicación. Incluso nos invitaron a ver una visita de Estado (Países Bajos) que pasaba por The Mall, debidamente adornada con banderas. Sin duda volveremos.

Had a terrific meal at Rochelle IGA. The restaurant is a bit hard to find but well worth the effort. The service and decor are casual but very friendly. And I thought the food was outstanding; simple, flavorful, well executed and reasonably priced.

Es un lugar muy informal dentro de la librería ICA que sirve una deliciosa comida británica elaborada con productos frescos. La sandía, queso feta y menta era un aperitivo notable, y la ensañada ensalada de cangrejo era increíble. El hombro de cerdo estaba hecho de carne de buena calidad y sabía tan bien. El brille era muy fresco, bien frito con piel crujiente. Estamos contentos de haber tenido un postre incluso cuando estamos tan llenos después de dos cursos. La blackberry gelatina era tan especial con el helado y el merengue fue absolutamente maravilloso. ¡Estamos contentos de haber venido aquí!

Había leído cosas tan buenas sobre el ICA Rochelle que tal vez las expectativas eran demasiado altas. Lo que obtuvimos fue un almuerzo con muy buena cocina y una cocina realmente mediocre y algunos pedazos intermedios también. La estrella era un tazón de gazpacho increíblemente bueno, incluso mejor que el que obtienes en la Rambla de Soho, que está diciendo algo. Otros entrantes eran tan - entonces, como un plato de rábanos y hummus. Los platos principales eran una auténtica mezcla: maravilloso, excelente cordero y un plato vegetariano mediocre de garbanzos, berenjena, una especie de hoja verde increíblemente resistente y una cucharada de labneh. Esto era aburrimiento en un plato. Los pudines variaron desde un posset de limón bastante excelente hasta un puré de fresa y grosella muy exagerado. Hay algo bastante extraño en una cocina que puede producir una cocina extrañamente desigual. El servicio fue bueno, y tuvimos una excelente botella de rosa. La factura llegó a alrededor de 46 por cabeza con el servicio. No muy buena relación calidad-precio.

Me llevaron a Rochelle en el ICA por mi sobrino como regalo de cumpleaños. Él es un gran admirador de su cocina y a menudo va a su otro restaurante en Hoxton.

Un día precioso @ICALondon: para ver la fabulosa fábula feminista @ponoc_intl y el famoso forense @ForensicArchi, casi arruinado por la descortesía en el café / restaurante. ¿POR QUÉ #artgalleries y #artmuseums hacen tan mal la restauración? ? ! ? ? ¡Y llevarlo como una insignia de honor! ? ! ? ! ¡DE QUÉ SE TRATA! ? ? ! ? ! ? ! (Perdón, pensé que era @TripAdvisorIT)

Esto es algo de un tesoro escondido. Es dentro del instituto de arte contemporáneo, lo que significa que si hay una exposición (y por qué no debería haber) tienes que pagar una entrada de un trozo de la libra antes de que puedes pasear su por qué al restaurante. Esto es suficientemente justo, ya que llegar a ver el arte en exhibición, ya sea antes o después de su comida. El restaurante es en realidad un espacio agradable y relajado, no se parece en nada a lo que uno piensa de una cafetería. El servicio es amable y todo lo que podíamos pedir. Los platos que situó de buenos a excelentes. No creo que haya tenido mejor y la vieiras chapuzón cod roe fue algo que quieras pedir una y otra vez. Sé que platos cambian con la temporada, pero creo que siempre hay algunos excelentes platos a mano. En general, una experiencia que no se puede fácilmente perder.

El ICA es un producto bastante estrafalario de la década de 1950, un templo al arte contemporáneo detrás de una fachada con columnas en una especie de exterior georgiano. El arte expuesto fue tan pretencioso e irrelevante como siempre. Pero, en cualquier caso, fui aquí con la intención específica de visitar la sucursal de Rochelle Canteen, que recientemente y prolijamente llenó el espacio del entresuelo sobre el bar anteriormente conocido como el propio café y bar de la ICA. A juzgar por las exhibiciones, si este lugar todavía fuera administrado por la ACI, los menús habrían estado en alemán y se presentaría un consomé de concreto premezclado con anuncios de sitios nucleares en el centro de Iraq. Afortunadamente ahora está dirigido por el dúo de Melanie Arnold y Margot Henderson, siendo esta última la esposa de Fergus Henderson de la calle. La fama de John "Nose to Tail Eating". No es sorpresa entonces que algunos de calle. Los propios vinos embotellados de vino y champán de John están disponibles como acompañamiento de las delicias de un menú relativamente compacto, del que elegí sopa de espinacas seguida de zanahorias y puré de ternera, una versión contemporánea de la carne de vaca hervida y las zanahorias. Las codornices, la mejilla de buey y la tarta de nueces servidas en un enorme plato parecido a una oreja gigante parecían estar cayendo en las mesas contiguas. Mientras probaba un ron decadente y helado de pasas que debería llegar, pero el gran Fergus mismo hirsuto en su marca de raya diplomática. Dado que este establecimiento es el lado femenino de su propio establecimiento, tal vez debería ser rebautizado calle. ¿Vaquero?

En la búsqueda de un restaurante con comida excelente y, fundamentalmente, con cojines sillas reales opcional poco como detalles extra, más que el temido taburete de bar, que tenga en cuenta otros restaurantes, son imposibles para algunos para administrar, Rochelle Cantina ICA propuso. Todo lo que comimos estaba delicioso con la cocina con ingredientes realmente bueno. La parrilla codornices, perfectamente preparado con una rara vez encontramos, bellamente vestida, adecuado ensalada era excepcional y creo que es el mejor que he probado. Tanto los budines que teníamos eran muy bonitas. Tuve una gran negroni. El servicio era una maravilla.

Lugar está escondido dentro de la ICA. No ver ninguna señal para encontrar el lugar.

I highly recommend this fabulous restaurant! Where to begin? the broad bean, fennel pecorino starter was wow....the lemon sole incredible!

El servicio era muy lento (los camareros están bien pero la cocina es lenta).

Warmly greeted and seated at a convenient table for a family group incl a high chair.

Had dinner here after a movie , foods good the Beer was even better, good quality all round, next time I think I'll try there selection of teas. check it out

I returned to the ICA cafe with some trepidation as I remember going there about 10 years ago when the food was unexceptional to say the least. How things have changed. I had a really excellent light lunch with a good choice of small dishes...

A fist floor haven at the ICA is the Rochelle Canteen...oh, if all canteens were like this! It is simple...

Have wanted to visit Rochelle canteen for years so pleased to find they have taken over the ICA restaurant. Delightful...

This is a cafe and restaurant. Do not pass it by. If you are interested in fresh, tasty and original food. Come here. We had bread and oil. Plus main course. Cuttle fish , stupendous. Brill and leaks. Plus veg and salad. All beautifully and lovingly presented. Not too expensive. £40.0o for two.

Realmente disfrutamos de la variedad, frescura y presentación de la comida para un aperitivo antes de la cena de lo que es el teatro necesariamente un menú bastante concisa, especialmente la placas Mall", que teníamos todo 5, además de algunos otros y lados, las raciones eran perfectamente decente. Personal más destacado fue la berenjena, el aguacate, pollo a la parrilla y 2 Bowl buda, alerta el elemento 'baguette' del plato caballa ya que bastante se hizo cargo y nos fuimos la mayoría de los PAN. Servicio de bar era amable y los precios no están mal para el centro de Londres, especialmente cuando aprovechando la oferta de cócteles martes. Todos habíamos duda volveremos - ¿por qué no probarlo?

El primer piso de la ICA, donde el café es extensa, está siendo la reconstrucción. Afortunadamente, el café sigue funcionando y todavía hay muchas mesas y sillas. Incluso mejor, el magnífico servicio y la calidad del café (teníamos una pantalla blanca y un capuchino) ha sido afectada por las obras.

Nos fuimos a la ICA Café y Bar para tomar bebidas y aperitivos - gran ubicación, buena selección y buen servicio. Lo recomiendo.

Buona selezione di bevande e piccoli spuntini.

He descubierto recientemente las Galerías Mall y lo que hace que el descubrimiento aún mejor es la deliciosa comida en el ICA. Una visita allí para el almuerzo después de la última exhibición de arte. Muy, muy razonable y las ensaladas más innovador y delicioso que he probado nunca. Muchas gracias!

Close by to Whitehall, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square and perfect place to meet for quiet conversation and a drink

We wanted to like this place. But the food and drinks are at best mediocre, they managed to produce bread and hummus which was inedible, quite an achievement, and then seemed entirely indifferent about it. You're near Soho, go there.

A friend took me to this small, cafe entering off the Mall and through the arts shop. A dozen or so small tables are clustered in front of a long bar where staff may address you after they have finished their conversation. The menu is short, imaginative and reasonably priced for central London, and the food lived up to expectations - hot and tasty. So I wouldn't go out of my way, but if you're in the area then a worthy alternative to the usual chains.

The ICA Cafe and Bar is accessible if you pay £1 for day membership, or free if you qualify for Concessions - which includes Seniors.In return you gain access to a real oasis off the Mall, with high quality catering and service, and a peaceful atmosphere. But don't tell everyone . . .

When visiting the museum it's a nice spot for a break. Good selection of drinks and small bites. Nice decor, it is located in an art museum after all. Comfortable with nice staff

Unusual atmospheric place right next to the St James Park. We walked in there accidentally and found out unusual installations of contemporary art for free. There is a small and cosy cafe and bar there where you won't get much but nice atmosphere. It's definitely worth to visit the place.

Good place for an after-work drink. Substantial and reasonabley priced snacks for meaties and veggies. good nuts and nibbles too. Quite a hidden location...I've worked around this area for years and still forget it's there. Whacky art... started by Roland Penrose and others (see Farley Farmhouse) to introduce modern art to the Brits. An uphill struggle in the 50s. So go and find it! On the Mall but very reasonable!

This is a friendly cafe, convenient for a quick lunch or coffee situated on the Mall just along from Admiralty Arch/Trafalgar Square and St James Park. You wouldn't know that there is a brilliant cafe in here. The salads are excellent and it's a great place to sneak out for lunch if you want a different type of venue in the Centre of London.

Service varied depending on who you got. Same chap first time was lovely, then when asked to change a Scottish note to use in the tube machine (some machines don't like them) it took a lot of convincing, bizarre. The chai tea was lovely in heavy iron teapots & good value at £2.50. The coffee on the other hand similar price but not very hot - nice coffee but took an age for him to make. Later popped in & had to wait (although they could not miss me stood in front of them) for the staff to have a boring conversation about forks before I was acknowledged & spoken to? Carrot cake was lovely though. A nice relaxed atmosphere. The food looked very good although menus were not on the tables - missed out on lunch as I had only noticed bland overpriced sad looking salads & sandwiches in an open self service fridge. So could do bette, could do worse. Will go back & try the burgers that looked good.

Buzzing, bohemian bar with interesting looking snacks on offer. Just what you would expect from The ICA. A great place to gather pre-film, gig or lecture.

The reason I love this place is that it's close enough to the city centre (moments from Trafalgar Sq) but tucked away that you need to know about it to find it. So typically you'll only be sharing it with other creative types. And if you're like me, you'll find that inspiring. And you'll never be disappointed with the range of sweeties they have on hand. Well-baked goods too. There's also a well stocked bookshop selling titles you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

The cafe is in a nice open space. Reasonably priced drinks. And good food on offer. The menu isn't extensive but it's good quality. Nice burgers. Good platters.

If you are coming here for a drink, then there's very little point as there are much better bars and pubs in close proximity. You are basically drinking alcohol in a noisy box - but you pay extra for the cultural prestige (!)

The cafe is a really nice space (light, airy, split across floors) and they have a surprising range of alcoholic drinks. Having to pay £1 for ICA "day membership" reduces the pressure to keep buying things if you're just sitting around. Coffee tasted good - nothing spectactular but did the job.

We found the starter and main course too salty, which suggested that neither course was freshly prepared. The soup took a long time to come, and then the main course arrived at the same time! On top of that, the prices were quite expensive for what we got. They need to review the content of their menu and their level of service if they want to improve the appeal of the cafe.

Small, and very busy. I love the ICA, and it's great to have a nice cafe in the building to pop into. The burgers are nice, and the food is pretty good value overall, but I wouldn't make an effort to go unless I was going to the ICA anyway.

I have known the ICA as an events location for over fifty years (yes, 50 years, since 1964) and loved it, was a member for many years when living in London, met my wife there. And I enjoyed eating there, sometimes it was really good, but yesterday evening I had a meal there with family members, and it was not just bad, it was awful, the worst I have ever ever eaten. I really should have complained, and instead nightmared about it. Gnocchi with vegetables, that looked like and tested like a can of mixed vegetables and a can of gnocchi had been opened and heated together, poured on the plate, and decorated with a few green leaves. Yuck! In compensation, we drank Saxons beer, now that was really good. But I may never go back to the ICA again, I used to think of it as my "club", situated as it is in London's clubland, there are much better places like Tate Modern, where I am a member though living out of London.

We found this space very pleasant, relaxing and good value in central London. We only had a draft cider each so can't comment on the food. We went on a Tuesday so didn't have to pay an entry fee to the ICA.

The cocktails were a huge disappointment. Not entirely convinced any rum made into the mojito as it just tasted like minty soda water. Rubbish and won't be back.

We visited the ICA on a Saturday afternoon. The entrance was chaotic (which should have told us something) and it was not possible even to view the café without taking out a 'one day membership', but the guy taking the tickets said that this would give us a 20% discount in the café, so it seemed fair enough. We queued to get the tickets - got to the front only for the lady at our till to be asked by her colleague to check the details of someone else, so we had to wait whilst she did that.Got the tickets, proceeded to the tiny counter of the café/bar. Immediately noted that at 3pm on a Saturday they had precious few cakes, and the ones they did have were displayed - uncovered - on the counter, for all to sneeze over. We then noticed little flies creeping about on the chocolate cake. It took an absolute age to be served, and when I asked for 2 peppermint teas, the girl was reduced to washing up cups before she had enough crockery to deal with this.I then produced my ticket to request my discount, and was told that this only applied to 'proper' memberships. I pointed out that this was NOT what we had been told only a short time earlier, and the girl serving me was very nice and tried to check the situation with her colleague - however, said colleague was not nice at all, refused even to contemplate my query, and made derisory comments about people trying to claim discount when they were not entitled to it, then turned her back on us. The girl serving us was apologetic but clearly harassed, as it was obvious that there were not enough people serving and that it was also difficult for them to work efficiently in the small space they had.I gave up and we managed to find a table, but the whole place was horribly noisy, the tables were not clean (the staff were clearly too rushed to attend to this), and the experience was far from pleasant.On leaving, I took the discount issue up with the door and reception staff, who were at least helpful and said that we had been given the wrong information, for which they apologised. I can accept human error, but the treatment we received from the woman who appeared to be in charge of the café was unacceptable. This added to the poor hygiene and general chaos of the café meant that we left in poor humour and would definitely not recommend this place to anyone. I was really disappointed, as I had read good reviews of the ICA but I feel they must have been written some time ago. Needless to say the building was full of people trying to outcool one another; all I can say is, they are being taken for a colossal ride.

In general, this is a great place to meet arty friends in central London without spending a fortune. On M-Th, it's generally a great experience, with friendly staff. The soup and olive bread is great. and wine is great.On Fridays and weekends, it can get a bit busy, with not so great service. But its great value for money. And nice environment.

After are very bad lunch experience at Tate Modern we tried a second museum restaurant.We only ordered soup but this was the best soup I have eaten in years. The soup was accompagnied with large portions of olive bread.Liked it very much.

Freezing cold (no heating, inappropriate for winter), very limited menu (only 3 uninspiring range of sandwiches), expensive for what it was and plasticky tables - altogether a bleak offering. In short, don't bother. This was disappointing as I used to come here in the 1970s when it was much bigger and better. Since the ICA is considered a cool arts venue the management would do well to revisit how catering is organised here.

We visited here when we had half an hour to wait in the area. All a bit average in terms of choice - standard fare of muffins, brownies and the like. Reasonable coffee. Service a bit slow and fitful. OK for a quick visit or to meet up with colleagues but not for any special occasion.

Mitten in London, nur wenige Schritte von den Touristenmassen am Trafalgar Square, verbirgt sich das Institute of Contemporary Arts hinter einer unscheinbaren Holztür. Eigentlich beherbergt das Museum zwei kleine Galerien mit wechselnden Ausstellungen, zwei winzige Kinosaale und einen Bücherkiosk, aber dazwischen liegt auf einer Empore die Bar, an der man je nach Uhrzeit auch etwas zu Essen bekommen oder einem DJ zuhören kann. Vor langer Zeit gab es mal einen getrennten Raum für Speisen im Erdgeschoss und die Bar für Getranke auf der ersten Etage, aber bekommt man alles an der gleichen Bar. Seitdem die quitschbunten Kacheln an den Wanden wieder verschwunden sind ist der minimalistische Stil zurückgekehrt, der diesen Raumen sehr gut zu Gesicht steht. Die Speisen wechseln immer mal wieder und die Preise sind sehr sehr unterschiedlich, es lohnt sich vorher in die Preisliste zu schauen, die man auch online abrufen kann, WLAN und WC gibts kostenlos. Wenn man keine Lust auf die hunderttausendste Starbucks-Filiale oder eine der schaebigen Touristenfallen hat ist das ICA der sicherlich beste Ort zwischen Buckinham Palace und Big Ben.Im Gegensatz zu früher braucht man keine Eintrittskarte oder MItgliedschaft mehr, um das Cafe betreten zu dürfen, wer trotzdem Member wird kann dafür unter der Woche auch das Studio nutzen, eine Mischung aus Atelier, Archiv und Geheimversteck.

A quick visit with a former colleague for an after work drink. It was busy, service was a little slow, for one round it seemed far too slow but that is often the way. We drank beer and some excellent merlot, Californian as it turned out. Not cheap but not too bad for the area, My colleague especially liked the music and atmosphere.

I had a bad experience here trying to order a simple cup of Earl Grey tea, which was charged to me at a pound more expensive than stated on the menu. When I queried this, the manager first responded by grunting, then rudely explained that specialty teas, such as the Earl, were a pound more expensive. On pointing out that this was not mentioned in the menu and that I had in fact been charged for a pot of tea the manager laughed.Overall we had an awful experience here, and it's way overpriced.

went there twice the same week, both times at around seven in the evening, never got serviced. There are guys dressed in black uniform who see you come in and sit but who will ignore you as long as they want for whatever reason. Both times I went to the bar to ask for a beer...just to be told that the guys in black would come to my table. Both times the place was almost empty! Each time I waited about 20minUpside: this place has to be the only FREE HIGHSPEED INTERNET connection in London. Free for real, no need to sign up or anything. Bottomline is that you might not get serviced but you will have a chance to update your apps, check your mail or just navigate if you own a smartphone device.by the way the picture in their website is not even from that place...

The Cafe Bar at the ICA has been under the wing of Peyton Events for some years now but this is the first time I had eaten there under "new" management. The physical appearance of the Cafe Bar area does not necessarily show the ICA at its best (if you are after the Nash architecture, look outside and on the upper floors), but it is good enough and for London there is plenty of space, espeically on the lower level. On the day we were there, service was good, not perhaps exceptionally fast but then the food was clearly cooked to order and worth the wait. We had a home-made burger with salad and a pasta dish, afterwards a cappuccino - the ICA always seems to do these well. Cost-wise, a little more than you would expect to pay in a cafe but then this is central London just off Trafalgar Square and you do get much more peace and quiet than in a local chain cafe, for not a great deal more. Care has been taken to create a reasonably priced and varied menu, and the ICA Cafe Bar can be recommended.