Forty Five Kensington Casino & Restaurant — Local services in London

I go to The Mint for the poker. Great comps, dealers, supervisors and there's always a friendly atmosphere.

The food used to be very decent and well priced, but has been in steady decline for some months now. They've lost or replaced their chef, hiked up prices, stopped the buffet which was very good for the money and are now mostly serving expensive microwave meals with little or no fresh ingredients. I ordered the Thai vegetable noodles with chicken skewers. The vegetables were sodden and tasteless and the chicken was incredibly dry. I asked for them to take it back. For £10 it was a joke and I wasn't happy to pay it.

The waitress was understanding about the situation and sympathetic. She passed on my complaint to the hospitality manager who asked her to tell me to go down and speak to him - this was after sheepishly putting his head round the door to overhear a loud conversation about how terrible the food is now!

The food was left for about three hours ( not the waitress' fault as it was awaiting inspection apparently!? ) and I asked three times for the HM to come upstairs to the poker room speak to me to resolve the complaint. I was repeatedly ignored and it wasn't helping my mood or poker, which isn't without its flaws as it is!

I eventually found him lurking downstairs and so I relieved my frustration and had a go (it wasn't pleasant! ) He explained that the reason he didn't come up to see me was because he didn't want to disturb the other poker players whilst they were playing. It's not the worst excuse, but at no point was this explained to me and I still don't feel that I should have been inconvenienced. He should have come to me! It's much more likely that he didn't want others to chip in as well as the food has been an issue for a while now. No real apology and no refund. I later spoke to a floor manager who apologised and offered £10 credit. Nice bloke.

This really didn't need to escalate in the way it did, but I imagine they'll become more and more finessed in dealing with complaints as the general consensus about the food is that it's * awful now.

EDIT on 12th June: my complaint was escalated to one of the duty managers who apologised for the situation and offered me a free meal. Ever the opportunist, I opted for an 18oz rump steak, 3 sides and a nice glass of wine....

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!! I have to agree with the below - Incompetent management and a lousy head office. A place for the homeless as they only want those customers who do not play or play minimally and only come to attend special events/celebrations/entertainment for a cheap night out. You will notice on special nights that the casino is full of people but the gaming area is empty. This is because they have banned and chased away all customers who win, on the excuse of their obligation to awareness of money laundering, but they conveniently do not ask those who regularly lose. As soon as you win well they will ask you for personal details - like bank statements and will claim that you are losing a ridiculous amount of money - which is not true. The truth is that they would not even know how much you are losing as they would only know the value of the chips you have bought in. Not the value of the chips you have cashed out. You would expect management to know their client well enough and investigate thoroughly before passing on his sensitive details to their head office. Their so called head office are nonsensical and stubborn. They are unapproachable and you have to really find a way of getting through to them. When you do, you again will encounter someone providing you with robotic answers and not clearly answering your queries. They will never call you back. Something worth noting is that management or head office will never provide you anything in writing!!!! My advice -, if you are asked, do not show these people with any of your personal details as they quite frankly will not know how to interpret/handle any of the information you provide.

This place has naturally become a ghost town. Had friends who recently visited and claim that they will not visit again after spend nearly 20 quid per head on a horrible...

This has to be one of central London's best-kept secrets. The ladies on the front desk were very warm and very complimentary. Coats were taken care of which was a very nice touch. We were then greeted and seated by the waitress who was also very nice, warm and welcoming. I liked the fact that the restaurant was very accommodating and modified the menu slightly to our needs. Already at this point, it was a 10 out of 10 service then the food came, food did not take long to arrive and was piping hot. The presentation and taste were an easy 10 out of 10 also. We ordered the Seabass, mashed potatoes, baby potatoes, burger and fries, drinks Rose and Cocktail, and ended with hot chocolates. The food was cooked very well and I will return for the steak next time. The restaurant is located next to a small Casio hall which also helped to create a very pleasing atmosphere. Personal thank you to Denitsa who took care of us the whole night. Denitsa is a great member of staff and knows how to provide great service. Thank you If you are looking for a nice spot with great food that's not overpriced then I would highly...