text: We had quite a mixed experience in Blackfriars. Much like Gardener's Cottage and Timberyard, this place has been getting a lot of positive coverage for their commendable approach to sourcing and commitment to local produce, which is excellent news. \n\nUnfortunately, their dishes are a really mixed bag in terms of the quality and, in particular, the balance. Too often, there is one or two too many elements at work, making dishes quite frustrating. The idea of making their own black pudding, for example, is tremendous, but it's just not very tasty, which is a huge shame.\n\nThe restaurant is quite stylish (we only briefly looked in to the bar, which looked fairly similar) and the waiters and waitresses are lovely, but it has some way to go before it's producing dishes that are really going to impress.\n\nSo overall, we said: \"Blackfriars has some work to do to improve how the various elements of their dishes come together. There's no reason why they can't do that, though, given the quality of ingredients they're sourcing, so I look forward to seeing how things progress. For now, the place is smart and the service very good, but the food is very likely to divide opinion.\"