As the name suggests, this restaurant Vingt Quatre is open 24 hours a day. The menu offers a mixture of proper restaurant food (mainly served before midnight) and things you can eat at any time of the day or night, including beans on toast, eggs Benedict and hot chocolate. On Friday and Saturday nights it can get very busy so you may have to queue. The restaurant also has a non smoking area and outside seating is provided on the pavement.
VQ
British Restaurant in Chelsea
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5 / 10 from 5 reviews
Address
325 Fulham Road
Chelsea
London
SW10 9QL
325 Fulham Road
Chelsea
London
SW10 9QL
Telephone
020 7376 7224
020 7376 7224
Cuisine
British
British
Other Branches
Longshot Ltd
Longshot Ltd
Region
Chelsea
Chelsea
VQ Picture Gallery
All In London Review
Comfortable non-stop dining on the Fulham Road
Past closing time, the options for the night-owl reduce drastically: a few late night bars, kebab shops, private members’ clubs (if you are minted), dubious lock-ins at your local, and that’s about it. I remember a 24 hour milkshake bar called Tinseltown in Farringdon that clubbers used to go to, and more recently we’ve seen the high profile opening of Duck & Waffle in the Heron Tower on Bishopsgate.
But for 17 years now VQ (Vingt Quatre - geddit?) have been ploughing their furrow through those long and lonely London nights, feeding and watering a mix of people that should really be in bed. At least that’s my guess. I wasn’t going to get at up at 4 am just to check out their wee-hours clientele, so we went at a far more civilised hour in time for brunch.
The reason it is not better known across the capital may be due in part to its location, deep down the Fulham Road just along from the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. (Indeed, they offer 20% discount to NHS workers. The friend who came along with me is in the Met and I am informed that if you are on a night-shift this place is a lot more appealing than the local Esso garage.) But it seems well-known enough in the locale. I’m told there can be queues out the door late at night - no reservations are taken after midnight.
The place has had a recent refurb, and it’s perfectly comfortable and welcoming in a modern diner style sort of way. There’s a mix of wooden booth seating with red leather trim, canteen-style long tables in the back room, and functional and minimal grey furniture along the side wall. The bar has asymmetric beaten metal and a bar with mirror panelling, and the walls are adorned with large photographs picturing colourful local scenes: a couple waiting at a bus stop, one wearing a horse’s head; a tattooed man reading on a park bench, etc.
The menu varies according to the time of day, or night, the nocturnal menu being slightly scaled back (and slightly upped in price) with a small cover charge in addition. The breakfast menu is available 24 hours a day so we decided to plump for something from that.
My friend’s Egg Royale with salmon hit the spot, and my five-a-day smoothie was light and refreshing. Kedgeree, however, was a let-down. Never the most exciting dish visually, VQ’s effort just looked like homogenous creamy yellow rice with a poached egg on top. Initially, I thought the chef had actually forgotten to put any fish in at all. After a forensic examination with my fork I did manage to find a few small flakes of haddock, but it was a derisory amount, especially for a dish priced at £8.95 (a hefty £9.95 on the night menu).
Coffee was good quality; they make that neat swirly fern pattern in the foam of a flat-white that usually indicates they know what they’re doing, according to my coffee bluffers guide. And we were given shot glasses filled with Smarties on the side, lovely stuff.
I don’t want to be too harsh on the place because of one disappointing dish. VQ has been going strong for nearly 20 years and you don’t do that by not giving your customers what they want. I’d like to return and catch it in a different light, ideally at 4 am when there is no outside light at all…
Reviewed by Matthew B
Published on Sep 12, 2012
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It doesn't have to be a greasy doner or whatever's left in the cabinet at Sam's Chick'n 'n' Ribz.
This round-the-clock diner has been offering comforting dishes like eggs Benedict, kedgeree, chilli con carne and croquet monsieur to local night owls for almost 20 years now. They have a 24 hour alcohol licence, and NHS workers benefit from a 20% discount (it’s just down the road from the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital).
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Beer-around-the-clock...
This diner has branches near Tottenham Court Road and in Chelsea, where it's been going for almost 20 years. There are all kinds of spirits and cocktails on the menu, however after 11pm you have to order food with your booze. Choose from filling dishes like Full English breakfasts, baby back ribs, fishcakes and hotdogs.
User Reviews
KTrain
Oct 22, 2012
Great food, great atmosphere and the best service I've come across in London. Would definately recommend it and the best thing is it never closes!!
liam PLY
Oct 20, 2012
Highly recommend a visit here, Great food, Great service and a wonderful all round experience....I chose the kedgeree and was the best choice I made all day. I left feeling a lot happier than when I went in, a sign of a great eaterie. Thanks VQ you made my day :)
Raphael Essoo-Snowdon
from London
from London
May 2, 2012
Ordered the Buttermilk Pancakes off the menu. What I ended up being served was microwaved packet pancakes – you know, the supermarket variety, with caster sugar and blueberries for extra dazzle. They were hard, and tasted like god-awful, like they'd been microwaved twice.
Name: Raphael Essoo-Snowdon
Location: London
Name: Raphael Essoo-Snowdon
Location: London
Anonymous
Mar 11, 2010
Absolute garbage.
The food is horrible and expensive. The croque monsieur is the worst cheese and ham toastie I've ever had. It was stodgy and full of cheap processed cheese and thin watery ham with a serving of rocket on the side that was clearly a few days old.
When I complained to the waitress, she completely ignored me. When the manager finally came over, he had an attitude of if you don't like it then you can leave. A really arrogant and ignorant individual.
The place is over priced and then they have the cheek to put both a cover charge and a service charge onto your bill.
A place well worth avoiding.
The food is horrible and expensive. The croque monsieur is the worst cheese and ham toastie I've ever had. It was stodgy and full of cheap processed cheese and thin watery ham with a serving of rocket on the side that was clearly a few days old.
When I complained to the waitress, she completely ignored me. When the manager finally came over, he had an attitude of if you don't like it then you can leave. A really arrogant and ignorant individual.
The place is over priced and then they have the cheek to put both a cover charge and a service charge onto your bill.
A place well worth avoiding.
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