Eat Out London!The Footman
The Footman, Mayfair
One of the oldest pubs in London, the Footman has been in place since 1749.
Originally called The Running Horse it was frequented by the footmen who were in service to the households of Mayfair.
As the fashion for footmen dwindled, one bought the pub and named it after himself.
Often the source of the best gossip, the pub soon became well known.
Formally known as The Only Running Footman we are a three floored pub and dining room still catering for the people of Mayfair and beyond.
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The story behind one London pub – The Only Running Footman ...
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The pub was once called the Running Horse and frequented by the footmen who were in service to the households of Mayfair.
After The Great Fire of London many streets were clearer and the need for a running footman lessened, although they were then employed as house servants.
King Charles I’s household accounts record the payment of 2/- (10p) paid to a footman to run from London (presumably Whitehall) to Hampton Court.
On the 3rd July 1663 Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary: ‘The town talk this day is of nothing but the great foot-race run this day on Banstead Downs, between Lee, the Duke of Richmond’s footman, and a tyler, a famous runner.
The pub’s full name is actually ‘I Am The Only Running Footman’ and has been the venue for many a historic London pub crawl, treasure hunt, mystery tour and even a novel by American detective fiction writer Martha Grimes.
The Footman
REVIEW: The Only Running Footman, Charles Street, Mayfair - The ...
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Last week alone I was dining in Mayfair at a new Pizza restaurant, sipping on cocktails at Sketch and this week – checking out local gem and gastropub, The Only Running Footman.
Easily one of my favourite things we ate here was the Devon king prawns served on crushed ice and some awfully good home-made Marie Rose sauce for dipping.
The lamb dish, along with those prawns were definitely the star dishes here at The Only Running Footman.
This dish wasn’t the problem – it was the warm dark chocolate pudding with chocolate sauce and honeycomb ice-cream.
The Only Running Footman is a fabulous gastropub in Mayfair which has lots going for it.
The Only Running Footman, Charles Street, London Restaurant ...
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The Scottish hand-dived scallops were juicy, light and succulent, and came served with a fine contrasting piquant tomato sauce.
It was a generous helping, with a delicate nutty taste accompanied by a wonderfully creamy mushroom sauce.
For pudding, there were six choices, including white chocolate and hazelnut parfait with passion fruit coulis, and apple tatin with cinnamon ice cream.
We tried the bread and butter pudding with vanilla ice cream, which was all it should be: moist, creamy, and filling, total comfort food to fortify against the cold and dark winter’s night outside.
Apparently The Only Running Footman has two personas - busy and bustling at lunchtime, calm and dignified at dinner.
The Only Running Footman | Londonist
This pub has been voted by our readers as one of the best in Mayfair.
Previously named I Was The Only Running Footman, it's hard to imagine this pub being able to exist anywhere but Mayfair.
The mildly intimidating front doors look like they'll admit you to someone's hallway, and if you're brave enough to try one you'll find a quirky little pub split in two.
Half of the floor area is given over to restaurant-style tables, the rest is a regular pub with a few seats around the front bay window.
A peculiar pub, pure Mayfair.
The Only Running Footman restaurant review 2008 September ...
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Bread was made from scratch, a choice of slices of either nice plain white bread with good texture though a little lacking in salt, or a brown bread with raisins that worked less well.
This had decent pastry and the idea of pears to balance the richness of the goat cheese was a good idea, though adding strawberries as a garnish was a step too far (13/20).
I had a pork belly with red cabbage, which looked grim even as it arrived.
If this is really how the chef thinks cabbage should taste then I have serious concerns, and this dish was out of character with the rest of the meal, which was quite decent.
At a cost of £112.78 for two starters, one main course, a vegetable side dish and a decent bottle of wine (and some water) this is hardly a bargain, even in Mayfair (main courses are around £20).
The Only Running Footman Pub Charles Street Mayfair Central ...
Nestled in the heart of Mayfair, just off historic Berkeley Square, The Only Running Footman is an elegant pub serving true British grub, with a First floor fine dining restaurant for a finer and more formal affair.
The service is warm, friendly and always attentive and this London pub carries an authenticity mixed with modern gastronomic flair.
The Only running footman also offers a chefs table where you can book an evening with friends to have your own chef cook for you in the upstairs room or even attend the popular cookery class, perfect for team and corporate events.
The Only Running Footman
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The Only Running Footman is a gastropub and restaurant based in Mayfair and close to Berkeley Square gardens.
From the outside The Only Running Footman certainly looks like your typical London pub, and true to form was suitably crowded with office types out for post work drinks, however the upstairs restaurant provides a relaxed and friendly environment for diners.
For my starter I had the Seared Diver Caught Scallops, Butternut Squash Puree, Black Pudding and Buttered Sage.
The scallops were cooked to perfection, with the black pudding and butternut squash puree complimenting them brilliantly and the deep fried sage adding a delicious salty crunch to the dish.
Overall, The Only Running Footman provided a delicious, if not slightly business orientated, dining experience.
The Only Running Footman: A wonderfully welcoming pub...on one ...
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Bare, scrubbed wooden tables are set with little tin boxes of sauces and cutlery, while a huge blackboard lists such fare as half-pints of prawns, grilled sardines, lamb's shank shepherd's pie, and Bakewell tart.
Executive chef Jeremy Hollingsworth, who cooked with Marco Pierre White for six years, has put together a menu that suits the mood, with lots of big-man food that runs from foie gras terrine to char-grilled rib of Aberdeen Angus for two, interspersed with more girly dishes such as scallop and crab sausage with champagne sauce.
Lunch kicks off with grilled sardines (£6.50), the three of them beached on a splashy bright-red Virgin Mary sauce, with a hillock of chunky avocado salsa, and a more unusual starter of Neathercleave farm snails, laver bread and duck-fat toast (£8.50).
* Scores: 1-9 stay home and cook 10-11 needs help 12 ok 13 pleasant enough 14 good 15 very good 16 capable of greatness 17 special, can't wait to go back 18 highly honourable 19 unique and memorable 20 as good as it gets Downstairs: breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.
The bar pumps out drinks downstairs; the kitchen, duck confit, lamb shanks and roast guinea fowl upstairs.
Only Running Footman | Bars and pubs in Mayfair, London
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A well known Mayfair pub and dining room just off Hay's Mews and around the corner from Berkeley Square Gardens - as prime Mayfair territory as a local boozer's likely to get.
This, though, is a little smarter than most pubs, with plush leather banquettes, swathes of well-buffed woods and chandeliers crafted from antlers.
Dishes range from poshed-up pub grub such as Kashmiri chicken korma and beer battered haddock with 'proper' mushy peas to more refined restaurant fare, such as pan-fried lemon sole, char-grilled côte de bœuf and grilled lamb cutlets with a cassoulet of aubergine, courgette, swede and butter beans, served with a mint jus.
The wine list includes new world options but relies mostly on big-hitting regions such as Burgundy, Piedmont, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, Margaux and Rioja.