The Happenstance in City of London, Westminster

* Nice Place to Enjoy Food & Drink * Next to St Paul's Cathedral & Underground Station

The service and decor were excellent. We’re not fussy eaters at all, but unfortunately, the food and drinks were not satisfactory. The white wine was not chilled, both fish dishes were too salty, and only half the mussels had something in them.

Thank you for providing The Happenstance for our Day 2 wedding celebrations. It was the perfect space for exactly what we wanted.

Had a great event with colleagues here. They have a nice drink and food selection. Special mention to TJ who worked behind the bar who was absolutely lovely. He had a great energy all night and made us some fantastic and unique drinks. Definitely contributed to the success of the evening - thanks TJ!

Hosted a couple of guests here. Very poor service. Tea pot came without a tea bag - my guest poured her tea and realised it was just hot water! Coffee was average. No effort made with the presentation of food. Overall would not recommend as a breakfast venue.

Very nice atmosphere in an awesome location!

Came for a colleague's Leaving drinks. It's a nice, lively bar right by St Paul's. Good atmosphere. Biggest gripe: Small bar area - and not enough staff serving pouring drinks at peak after-work drinks time. You easily wait ages behind a group of women wanting X number of intricate cocktails when all you want is a beer on tap. Speaking of, they didn't have any ale or IPA options on tap. Food was decent

Really really awful coffee. I had very important guests and we ordered Iced americano on a hot day. It was just so bitter and sour (in a cheap way) and i witnessed they were making it from the cheap “ready made” iced drink and just mix it with weird syrup and ice. It was just inedible to the point that it was really embarrassing to my guests but i could not send it back as it was just so awkward to do so, and i knew they will be using the cheap ready made coffee again even if i complain. And yes they charged me £12 for 3 awful coffee. Such an awful experience i will not visit again even though i work so close.

Lovely location, poached eggs were fantastic as were the chicken and waffle. Good atmosphere, relaxed and casual.

we could’ve easily walked out and not paid. It took nearly 10 minutes to get someone’s attention to pay 5 mins of that was at the bar stood but ignored ! then a service charge was added if 12.5% you could do so much better people! high price for poor service.

We have had many big family birthdays at Happenstance over the last 10 years. We had my mums big birthday here on Saturday 3rd August and it was wonderful. We were given our own personal space in the restaurant for a number of hours, staff were very attentive and food was great. Thanks for another memorable birthday!

During my recent visit to this establishment, I was impressed by the excellence of the service and the quality of the cuisine. The servers were simply perfect: attentive, courteous and very professional. Their attention to detail and friendliness greatly contributed to making our experience memorable. As for the cuisine, it was simply divine. Each dish was expertly prepared, with rich, well-balanced flavors. I recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a fine dining experience in London.

I attended a lunch meeting with Premier Christian Radio (WomanAlive magazine). We had our own room and were very well looked after by the staff. Food was excellent. There was a good vibe about the place too. Will certainly visit again!

Loved our meal here last night. I hadn't looked at reviews beforehand because we just stumbled upon it as we were walking and it looked welcoming. The food was faultless, so tasty and fresh! Our female waiter was polite and friendly, that is always a good thing! I recommend the vegetarian sharing mezze and the rainbow salad (but order a side of flatbread as you'll want that to soak up the lovely sauces! I also had the halloumi on the side 😁)

We had a celebration for 70 people at the Happenstance and it was perfect. We were given loads of support and advice in planning the evening, the food and service was excellent, and the venue is beautiful. Highly recommended for large functions!

Overpriced and understaffed. No craft beer available on a Friday evening

Service is really slow and overpriced drinks

Invited to this place for a working lunch. Good food and really good service from the two female waiters assigned to our room.

Beautiful place to look at, do not go if you are hungry or expecting any kind of service. Waited 15mins without even a look from the server. 15mins with absolutely zero service. Truly abysmal

Just another one of those places in the city. Nothing too bad nothing remarkable

Burger was overcooked by a mile, wagu sausages, I should not have bothered. Not good enough and will not return. Outside space nice for lunch and dinner.

I had a fantastic time here. Emma was so lovely and suggested I scan the QR code to place my order, which was super convenient. I could take my time ordering, and the food was incredible, especially the delicious one minute steak. The side dishes were flavorful, and the cocktails were amazing. It's great that my colleagues have also enjoyed breakfast here. I'll looking forward to going back and your breakfast menu; it's definitely a place worth revisiting! Thank you for great service, good food and lovely atmosphere. Will be back soon

Great for an after work drink or bite to eat. Nice friendly crowd. great staff/service. Really enjoyed being there.

Outside seating area, nice staff, good service, busy city atmosphere

Terribly slow service, further slowed down by the fact you are instructed to scan a qr code to find the menu and then order through that. I had to go up to the bar three times to order when the qr code system failed, chase for drinks which took thirty minutes, and chase for food for my party of six. This was a Friday lunchtime about 12.30pm. Food is nice, portions small, and price point does not reflect the self serve nature of the venue. Has gone downhill in the past few years.

Just awful food. Service not great but really the food is shameful.

A very pretty place, but the meal was not good at all. Tomatoes not fresh, the steak was overcooked even though I wasn't asked to cook it. No taste and way too expensive. I do not recommend because for the price the quality of the meal does not match! Only the Burger was good

Food very average, no beer available, staff etiquette unprofessional, lack of management!

Amazing service from our waiter Emma who made sure we were looked after and was extremely polite 10/10 would go again

Great place to have lunch with friends in the heart of London. Fantastic location just round the corner from St Paul's.

The manager was extremely rude, walking up and down on his phone whilst he was the only stagf on the floor. We waited well over 30mins after our main meals were taken away for him to ask us if we wanted dessert menu or more drinks, this didn't happen and as a result I had to leave the table to approach him whilst he was busy "plumping-up cushions". He delt with the situation horribly and told me that it was my fault we waited so long and that if we wanted dessert menus then it is down to the customer to ask for them. On his awful and unprofessional response I asked for the bill and we left immediately.

Absolutely abysmal service. Came to book a table in person for Sunday roast and specifically asked if it is available. When ordering at a table for 3 we were told only 1 plate is possible. The table next to us asked for a roast and was provided a plate. Only giving one star as zero isn't possible. Additionally Atmosphere is very cold as there is not double door and the door is kept open at times. Perfect restaurant if you want to throw away money.

First class in every way. Superb location, great staff and good food! Atmosphere was warm, busy and friendly. Very reasonably priced dishes that were served by lovely staff!!!

Worst experience ever. We booked a table for 11 people for Friday 15th of December with pre-booked Christmas menu and we gave £10 deposit each when booking. I fell ill and tested positive with covid on Wednesday the 13th, and the friend who was managing the booking immediately sent an email asking for my booking to be cancelled. It was more than 48 hours before our dinner and no one ever replied. When my friends went for dinner on the Friday, they were charged for my dinner as well - the restaurant team insisted that it was too short notice cancellation. There is no cancellation policy on the website - where on earth 48 hours is too short notice to cancel a meal? The mistake was their side as they didn't read the email, and instead of apologising with us about that, they insisted and made us pay. They'll never see me in their restaurant- not only I was home ill with covid, but I also had to pay £45 for a meal I didn't eat. Ridiculous.

Really nice venue and great location. The tables were pretty. Unfortunately there wasn’t much by way of vibes, staff were polite but service was extremely slow and some orders were wrong despite there being pre orders. The staff didn’t come over particularly happy or experienced and somehow the vibe was just a bit dead. They could have been a lot more welcoming and lively. Main was nice but as a person who doesn’t eat pork or mushrooms and has a nut allergy, there was nothing that I could choose without asking for adjustments. Every vegetarian doesn’t eat nuts and mushrooms and every meat eater doesn’t eat pork! The ox cheek was delicious. The cheese cake didn’t taste as though it was fresh and needed a bit more base but was presented nicely. Overall it was good, could have been better. But we had a nice time anyway.

Christmas work dinner. This was probably the worst dining experience I've ever had. The restaurant was rammed with at least 4 other work dinners and the staff were clearly unable to cope. They only had 2 people serving at the bar so the queue for drinks was out the door. The food was AWFUL! It took 2 hours for the starter to arrive despite everyone pre-ordering weeks in advance. The food was cold, bland and the portions were ridiculously small. -I had soup for starters. The portion size was so small that i could see the bottom of the bowl. When I asked for bread I was told after a 10 minute wait that the kitchen was too busy???? - Mains- I had the 12 hour braised ox cheek.......this was basically a sickly stew with a few pieces of questionable meat. Many of my colleagues got the turkey Christmas dinner which was cold and beige. We were told beforehand that our booking was until 9:30pm but our desserts still had not arrived by this time. Many people from our party had to leave without dessert. I complained to a member of staff who managed to get our desserts out to us at around 10pm. No apology or any sort of compensation. We all left hungry and disappointed.

Lovely birthday lunch! Really looked after us. Delighted to discover that this company supports the Maggie’s charity, which is currently supporting our family - win, win!

Fantastic staff. Definitely worth a visit

Christmas party 2023. Sat down at 18:30. Main didn’t come for TWO HOURS. When it arrived it was cold.

Dylan facilitated a lovely evening for our large group, with multiple orders and drinks.

Dylan was absolutely amazing. Looked after us from start to finish and made the entire evening! ❤️

What positives did I have from this place? The lady at the bar was pleasant. Apart from that, we had a table of 7 and were never asked a single time of 2 1/2 hours, how the food was or if we wanted more drinks. Didn't even provide water for us. Watched them spill 3 drinks over the table next to us. Then their roast dinner was definitely out of a microwave. Was easily the worst I've eaten in 30 years. From there, they got the bill wrong 3 times. As we were waiting to pay at the table they then told us we had to get away from the table, to seat the next people, the table hadn't even been cleared yet of plates and glasses. In the men's bathroom only 1 tap works. Lots of people in blazers running around doing nothing, while a couple of service staff in aprons try and cater for everyone.

Food and service is great. Dylan served us today, he was absolutely wonderful! So attentive, very hard working and lovely front of house skills. Will definitely come back because of the great service!

Pretty good food in a cliche but cozy ambiance, with straightforward service

Good London restaurant, great service team and delicious food. Worked well for a dinner for 15 people. Recommended.

I was expecting much better after reading intial reviews. The Goan (chicken) Curry was appalling and the naan bread that went with it had little taste - I’ve had better at local pubs! My partner’s fish and chips was ‘okay’ and the beetroot falafel starter was well presented and tasted fine - a pity what followed! The wine was nice though.

Private room booking. Decor and the room in general was spectacular. We loved the additions of the blankets and cushions. The room was well sealed off and it even contained a TV which a plethora of shows one could watch! Service was great. Couldn’t fault it. It was the food however which was the disappointment. The starters were lovely, would recommend the calamari. I ordered the goan chicken curry and rice. The curry wasn’t really well flavoured and the rice had hard (undercooked) grains within in. The steak my friends ordered had to be sent back as it was described as being medium, but was clearly well-well-well done! The churros were over fried - super crispy and didn’t have the soft centre one loves in a churro. I would return for the starters and drinks, but not the mains unfortunately. Didn’t live up to expectation. 10/10 service and ambience though.

Rude and dismissive, even by London standards.

Maksym makes the best bloody Mary's in the whole area 5 * just for his mixing skills

Would avoid next time. Nice decor but the portions were so tiny we could not believe that that was it at first! Very expensive and we still had to go elsewhere to have another meal

Great friendly service. A nice place to relax with friends and colleagues. Food was perfectly acceptable.

I went with my partner for a cup of coffee, the ambience is nice and it feels really cozy inside. It wasnt really full today and there seemed to be plenty of staff but the service was really bad. After waiting for a while with no one asking us what we wanted I had to to try to get someones attention as it seemed like they forgot us. We ordered 2 cappucinos, the presentation of it with hearts on top was great however the coffees tasted burnt, we drank it anyways with some sugar to mask the burntness a bit. When it came to pay the bill someone left us the bill and no one came back to take the payment. After a while I ended up standing up and searching for someone to take the payment. Like I said, there were plenty of waiters and not alot of customers inside and the service was still quite slow.... the restaurant has alot of potential, it just needs to train its staff better.

Very comfortable, welcoming place. Felipe was awesome, great service and recommendations. Would highly recommend if in St Paul’s area.

Pop in for an early supper and drink. Duck salad is definitely going back for.

Have been there for lunch and had the vegan winter salad. The portion was tiny, this is the smallest bowl of salad I have ever been served in my life, there was a teaspoon of every ingredient. Presentation poor, tasted really bad, butternut squash was uncooked, the sauerkraut was just some pickled cabbage that was off and had to spit out. I was quite shocked actually and ate some of it as was hungry but it’s honestly the worst meal I have EVER had out, isn’t anyone ensuring the menu and presentation are decent? Lucky I had some chips from a colleague that sort of saved the day. I would not recommend anyone goes to this place, overpriced poor quality food. Shame because it looks cute outside/inside.

Spent some time enjoying the festival that was going on, and decided to find somewhere to chill for some food - on initial glance we ignored this restaurant as it didn't look like it would be child friendly, but a quick confirmation that they had child menus (and that the kids were happy there was something they liked) and we were shown to a table. Kids wanted inside, and we had a nice table in a corner with lots of comfy cushions. Food and drink ordered fairly quickly and it didn't take too long to come. Recommend the duck salad. It was very nice. In fact we all enjoyed our meals. The kids meals also came with a desert, which made them very happy! The service was very good, and happily disappeared to get the kids more ketchup when they needed it! A nice place, wasn't overly expensive (especially for London), and if visiting the area again would certainly consider coming again.

Staff charging difference prices for the same drinks. Didn’t refund the full amount when corrected. Will not return again.

DON’T FALL FOR IT!!! The outside area looks so pretty BUT it is very misleading. Restaurant wasn’t busy. It took them ages to come around to take our order ; I could see 3 of the waitresses ‘busy’ relaxing chatting outside. Their menu is extremely poor! We ordered the calamari - it arrived cold. We then ordered the chicken curry, which was plain rice with a curry sauce with almost no sign of the chicken. Our waiter tried very hard to make me pay the service charge on my bill saying it is compulsory! I was going to leave him a cash tip and more than 12.5% required on the bill but his behaviour and the service all together made me change my mind. Never again.

It felt like they were racist. They told us the bar was closed before it’s closing timings. There were predominantly white customers. So not surprised there. We showed them the opening timings stated on the internet. They still denied it. Even though there were people inside drinking.

Decent meal food was good n the view from outside is beautiful

Awful place. I got food poisoning from their chicken skewers. Service was terrible too. Never again

Dylan our waiter was fantastic. Really enjoyed our evening.

Lovely sharing plates at the Happenstance, Dylan made us feel so welcome and was very attentive. 10/10 after work eve

Fabulous location in St Pauls. Friendly staff. Would highly recommend. Food was delicious. My Gaming Table had a roulette table set up for a wedding reception .

We have waited for an hour to get our food it’s the worst restaurant I’ve ever seen

I'm completely unimpressed by this restaurant and very disappointed by the food. I had beef, roast potatoes, vegetables and Yorkshire pudding and it was cold, the plate was tepid. I might as well have it straight from the fridge and eat it cold. The service itself was okay and the atmosphere was noisy. I wouldn't come back here again. It felt like Weatherspoons.

We visited the old location a few times in 2013, when we were living in this area. It was an oasis to relax. The new location is fantastic, with a superb terrace.

Had lunch here. aesthetics were nice and was a comfortable venue to eat. Food/drink nothing to write home about and i guess is just standard £25 for a burger and beer that you'll get in london. Staff friendly and attentive.

Only place I’ve ever been completely ignored by both the bar tenders and the waiters.

The food was rubbish and so we’re the drinks. The waiter was lovely but it’s still pretty awful; onion rings were soaked in oil and cold. The chicken was severely overcooked and the cocktails tasted like kerosene and grapefruits!

The service was so bad that I can't even rate it - it would be a zero from me. We only got water half an hour after being seated - having asked numerous times on a boiling hot day. The food (mediocre at best) took an hour to arrive. No one bothered to check on us. Would not recommend.

When we were seated we waited over 15 minutes to place an order. Instead of waiting longer I went to the bar to order our drinks. Even then we was made to feel that we we was an inconvenience. I had to ask to place an order for food and even then it seemed a very bad atmosphere between the staff which I instantly picked up on. Waited ages for our food and even the dishes we ordered came 15 minutes apart when it was just a starter order of three different dishes for two people. Definitely wouldn’t recommend and won’t be coming back. Only positive was that the food was nice

The lady who greeted me at the front was very rude when I first approached I was told they were not taking walk ins even though there was lots of available seats. So I then proceeded to book online, which said lady didn’t give me the option for, I took my own initiative. When I walked back and said okay I’ve now made a booking online. The same lady sighed rolled her eyes and marched me inside to sit down … I did not want to sit inside and she would have known this if she had offered. When I said I would like to sit outside, again the same bad attitude sighs and stormed outside placed the menus down and stormed off! No words spoken! Food took ages to come out and came out ten minutes apart even though they were all sharing starters. Waiters never returned to ask if we would like any more drinks when we had finished our first ones. I had to go and find someone to take our order and point out others were waiting also. We chose not to stay for more drinks and left due to timing issues this place has. The location and place is very beautiful but that is the only positive.

Really wouldn't recommend. Came for a big group lunch. We'd pre-ordered and still had to wait an hour for the starter to arrive. It was difficult even to find a staff member to bring us drinks. There was then over half an hour between starter and main and another hour between main and dessert. I've given the staff an extra star as they did give us a discount as compensation, which we had to ask for, but I never heard one person apologise for the delay. The food, when it arrived, was excellent though.

Delicious Sunday Roast and fish pie. Have been here many times before on working days for drinks and hamburger

Truly awful. It’s the evening of Friday 2nd June and the place is deserted while nearby pubs are packed. It’s no surprise as the attitude of one of the bar staff absolutely stinks. He cares as much about his job and customer service as much as Maggie Thatcher cared about the miners. Avoid!

Sat for over 10 minutes and nobody cared to bring the menus

We had to wait 20 minutes to get one drink in the mostly empty bar. Another 20 minutes passed by the time we manager to order another pair of drinks which we never got served - instead we got the bill handed to us after another 20 minutes of waiting. Absolutely wouldn’t recommend.

Hosted a Bridal Shower here, the staff were so attentive and helpful. Food was good and lovely atmosphere.

Unless you have a lot of time, avoid this place. We managed to get 1 drink per person in one hour. The waiter has forgotten complete about our second round of drink and brought the bill when getting eye contact with him.

Ambiance was cute so we gave a try! First sign to walk away was how empty it was on a Friday night. Service was so slow and the food had no taste. Calamari was chewy. Frozen fish sticks are better than the Seabass and the Steak had little flavor, was chewy, and had a weird smell. Ended up sick afterwards. Maybe just stick to drinks if visiting.

Really rude lady by the door. I expected a bit of modals from a place like that and more with those prices. 20 minutes wait for a drink and the bar was empty

We were seated outside after 20 minutes of no service we had to beg for service ordered a feta and watermelon salad as a main £11.95 30 minute wait it was more a side dish serving enough as a childs meal 4 pieces of slimy watermelon no self respecting chef would have allowed this dish to leave the kitchen trying to get the bill took 15 minutes there is something seriously wrong with management to allow this to happen money was refunded for the salad do not recommend

Comfy, decent coffee and great bruschetta!

Good evening literally just came home was A very long day hospital appointment we decided to try your restaurant Biggest Mistake we walked in lady with pink suit white top black hair plumping asked if we could get seat she looked around by this time place was empty she took us over with rudeness .then we looked menu briefly we were waited by black girl she was incompetent we ordered our food it came wasn't the best looking fish and chips but we were hungry we ate warm food we were not asked if we needed any thing or if our food was OK.manager just looked then I finally her eye caught called her over nicely explained situation if looks could kill I be dead She was mortified I asked for bill then finally I went up to her again at bar paid ..I walked away she rudely said to My daughter omg ..how dare you ..disgusting behaviour ..rubbish food may look fancy next time I will macdonalds ..absolutely worst place we have eaten.

Service needs improvement. Food was ok.

The worst service ever - I’m never going back. NEVER BOOK FOR A CORPORATE EVENT! IT TOOK 1.5 HOURS TO GET THE FIRST DRINK!!!! We had to ask for service 7+ times. I booked some work drinks with a private area outside. Firstly 2 strangers were in the area when we arrived then we found out a huge party had been squeezed in next to us which was spilling into our area. Then the staff kept going to the party next to us and completely ignoring us. When we eventually got a drink, the espresso martini was the worst we’ve ever tasted and weird/watered down. We left after the first drink and went somewhere else. Truly disappointed with the unprofessional treatment and wish they’d just told me they couldn’t accommodate us when we booked and put the deposit down.

Unfortunately quite basic food at exorbitant prices, even for central London. The plate attached was £20!

Lovely place with good food and great service. The location of the restaurant is well situated near by St. Paul’s.Lovely decor and ambiance. Staff is very friendly and warm. Worth to try.

Lovely place food and drinks! We will definitely return🌈

Lovely place and an amazing service.. Very recommended

I was here last Thursday for a business meeting combined with a spot of brunch. We were shown to our table and not long after that our orders were taken. I ordered a no bacon breakfast sandwich was meant to be served on sourdough bread. When it arrived it was just normal white bread that you buy in a shop! In between was maybe one or two slices of no bacon. We were £5.95 for this and feel it was a complete rip off. Also one of us had a vegan full English and again for the best part of £12 it was no worth that money. Then when it came to paying the bill we were hunting high and low for our server and gave up after a while and went to the bar to pay. All in all a huge disappointment.

I was not impressed. The cocktails were good and there was a good selection but the service was just awful. I visit restaurants and bars frequently as part of my job and this was some of the worst service I have experienced. Seriously, go elsewhere and you will have a lot better experience.

Lovely location opposite St Paul’s, and decor is gorgeous. Four of us arrived and stood for several minutes, all staff that were around completely ignored us, and when we did get someone’s attention and we explained that we wanted to sit outside, we’re told that he didn’t know where we should place are order as ‘the rules change everyday in this place’. We persevered and went to the bar, only be to ignored again by another staff member, she kind of half acknowledge us at one point but carried on with what she was doing, in the least I would expect her to say that she wouldn’t be a minute and be with us, but nothing was said. Another employee eventually arrived, didn’t apologies for the wait, he served us our drinks, but there was certainly no manners etc when we paid. We then sat outside, where the furniture is lovely, nice cushions, blankets and ambient lighting. We used the GR code at the table to place our food order. After waiting for over half an hour one of us went to see where our order was. We had only ordered dessert and coffee, and they weren’t particularly busy in the restaurant. They had no knowledge of our order, even though we had paid online and had confirmation. Again, no apology came and the desserts turned up eventually, which weren’t worth the wait. Overall a very negative experience and I get the feeling that they are just trading on the stunning surroundings that the restaurant offers. The staff clearly have no passion and I was disappointed that, even though the manager was aware of our wait etc, he never came out to offer an apology. I certainly won’t be returning.

Nice place. Food and ambiance were both good.

Great venue. Well decorated and nice atmosphere. If you are having just drinks and the place is busy, you may be asked to stand at the bar and leave the tables free for diners. I was meeting a friend for drinks on a busy Thursday evening, but told the staff I was having food, just to have a table. We ordered a series of starters which were excellent!!!! (halloumi sticks, sweet potato fries, chicken skewers). 10/10.

Appears that although hours are listed till 23:00 service actually stopped at 22:30

Team night out with colleagues, with set menu and choices made in advance. Nice venue, lovely table/chairs and setting. However, the food and service was overall pretty inconsistent. Calamari starter good, chestnut hummus pretty much just mashed chestnuts with a difficult texture and not much flavour. Steaks generally ok with only one sent back. Desserts similar with one very odd pineapple/chilli combo. Service was friendly but felt understaffed. OK overall but I would have been very miffed to have paid for it with my own cash!

Love this place. It's very beautiful outside and inside and the service is just excellent and so friendly. Food is very good and the cocktails just superb! I reccomend it very much!

It was a busy evening on our visit, and admittedly there was a large party present, but even given the size of the venue it meant there wasn’t a lot of space available for adhoc visits, despite being welcomed in. Fortunately service at the bar was fast still and the staff are observant to be as efficient as possible. The vibe throughout wasn’t necessarily the friendliest though and that could be enough to favour elsewhere in the future…