Overview

Giraffe is a restaurant chain, serving delicious food at reasonable prices and offering a wide ranging menu. This review is about their step free branch on the Southbank which is in front of the Royal Festival Hall at river level. Fabulous location on the wide promenade adjacent to the River Thames. There is outdoor and indoor seating. I'll often go there with friends, and I am not sure why I haven't done a review before as dining alfresco here, enjoying the food and ambience is one of my favourite things to do in London, plus its great proximity to the BFI and attractions on the Southbank. When I eat here I feel I am on holiday, its just got that nice vibe.

Transport & Parking

The nearest railway and tube station is Waterloo. However, not all tube lines there are step free. I travelled by bus southbound to Waterloo Bridge and then walked down the slope to the Southbank.

Access

The terrace and indoor restaurant are both step free and on the ground floor. Depending which direction you approach the restaurant you might notice a short flight of stairs leading down to it first. However, facing the restaurant there is a step free path on the left hand side. There is plenty of seating, so even if busy you don't usually have to wait long. There is free standing tables and chairs on the outside terrace. Me and my crutch can usually get through the tables to our one without much effort. There are large, manual doors to the indoor restaurant. There is also indoor seating which is both freestanding tables and chairs and some sofa booths.

Toilets

The accessible toilet is at the back of the restaurant. There is a small lip over the threshold, see photo. The toilet is clean, tidy and well maintained. There are grab rails and an emergency cord which reaches to the floor. I have marked the score down for two things, both of which I raised with staff and was being looked into as I left, so hopefully resolved soon. First was the light kept going out. It would come back on if I moved, but it did it about 8-10 times while I was in the toilet for a couple of minutes. The timer obviously needs resetting. The accessible toilet also had a drop down baby changing facility and on my way out I told the person going in with their child about the lighting, and they said they would going into the non disabled toilet as the lights going out would probably freak out their child. Second was the number of large bins. There were 3, 1 by the toilet and 2 by the entrance where the baby changing facilities are. It made it very difficult for me with my crutch to reach the hand dryer and it limits the turning space for wheelchair users particularly as the accessible toilet is not a very generous size.

Staff

Staff were welcoming and helpful. Service was fantastic even when it started to get busier.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

This is a lovely spot to eat on the Southbank. It's accessible, has a good selection of food, helpful staff and a lovely ambiance. It's a good place to escape the busyness of the Southbank and relax. Highly recommend.

Photos