When not at the theatre (or even before or after) I’m often looking for stagey places to eat or drink to complete my night out. I decided to check out The Piano Works in the West End to see if it would fit the bill!

In term of location, if you are out and about in the West End it couldn’t be closer! For those that know the West End it is right next to The Gillian Lynne Theatre which also makes it less than a 10 minutes walk from the Prince of Wales Theatre, the Lyceum, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, The Shaftesbury Theatre and a few others.

From 5pm up until 8:30pm they had a live pianist and singing waiters then from 8:30 onwards there is a live band. Both of them take song requests and for musical theatre fans like me there was plenty of musical theatre/pop crossover. To make a request there are plenty of slips on your table which you just complete and the staff collect up for you…. and to get your fast tracked you can tip the waiters.

I had decided to pay a visit for both dinner and drinks. On a Friday night there is happy hour from 5pm-7pm which meant that the entire drinks menu was 50% off Our waiter even kindly gave us a 10 minute warning so we could get a round in at the cheaper price before happy hour finished. Long time readers of the blog will know I am a cocktail fan so of course I decided to sample some of their cocktails. Most of them were priced between £11-£14 meaning that during happy hour I could get them for £5.50 – £7.00. The cocktails were all made fresh and the waiters seemed to genuinely care if you liked what you ordered.

Food wise there was a good selection for both starters and mains. We opted for chicken goujons (£9) to share to start and for my husband a full rack of ribs glazed in Jack Daniels sauce, fries and salad (£30) and for me herbed rare tuna steak with sweet potato wedges, sushi rice, samphire and mango salsa (£24). Often in bar/restaurants where food isn’t always the focus the food can be a bit hit or miss but this was far from the case at The Piano Works. The ribs were huge and the tuna steak was delicious so I would recommend if you are heading there to get food whilst there. There was also a good range of vegan choices as well as a selection of bar food if you don’t want a full meal.

The Piano Works was busy when we got there but not uncomfortably so, however enough to create an atmosphere. There was also a big range in term of clientele, from couples to large groups of friends. I would defiantly return with a group of friends, especially for pre-theatre food and happy hour cocktails.

To find out more about The Piano Works or to book a table visit their website here.

In the interests of transparency I was gifted my trip here however like all of my reviews my thoughts are honest.

If you like this you might also like my review of Hadestown, Frozen and Cabaret.