Sea Lounge — Restaurant in Mumbai

Poor Service left a terrible taste in our mouths.

We attended high tea for the Christmas special event. I would start off by saying 10/10 on view and ambiance, but the service was extremely appauling considering the relatively steep cost.

It started when trying to contact the lounge about questions we had concerning the Christmas high tea. We sent a message via Facebook, and was not answered. We got a response from an email a week later with only the most basic questions being answered. We were extemely uncertain how the high tea would work, what it would cost us and what was included.

When we got there, we were informed of the price (3,500 INR) and was told that everything was included in the cost. We were seated at a nice table with a view but were extremely unclear how and when the high tea would commence. We waited roughly 15 minutes before a server came by. He asked us if we wanted any coffee or tea, we asked about how the tea worked and he seemed to get annoyed and just said, "the buffet will start soon".

He returned with some tea a few minutes later and then we did not see him for another 15 minutes. We eventually saw people meander up to the buffet so we walked up and started getting some food. There were no menus to explain what tea was available, what was included and what was not.

In the 2 or so hours we were there our server came by about 4 times. He and others in the corner avoided eye contact with us, and we had to struggle to get him to come by or clear our plates. The only time they seemed to care was when the manager came by to check on the staff.The bad service was not universal, we were able to get the attention from some of the waitstaff on the other side of the resturant and they were extremely pleasant and helpful.

When it came time to get the bill we again had to aggressively vie for our waiters attention. The bill came with a nice surprise that the sparkling water was not included in the high tea. Three 300 mL of sparkling waters cost us 855 INR (~10 Eur), which in and of itself was not huge problem but did sting a little on top of the poor service. Being informed of the extra cost for water would have been nice, especially considering on the bill we were charged specifically for the drinks and food seperately (see attatched bill).

All in all it's a total shame, we were looking forward to having a nice Christmas eve break and I feel that the ~100 Eur price tag for the event was not meritted for the quality we recieved. I have had far better service at other smaller cheaper places (albeit with a worse view) , I would not risk the chance of...

Now this place is where you must have to visit while visiting Gate way of India. So let's start from the fresh. My cab entered into the premise of The Taj and stopped at main gate where the well dressed guards opened the door and welcomed us. The we entered into the hall which was as same as I saw in a movie. A big hall full of rich people and peaceful ambiance. This hall is the reception of the hotel. We met a staff man who directed us the way to the sea lounge. Then we started going there. We crossed a gallery full of old times photos of the celebrities visited there and then we opened a gate. What we found inside is a big sized staircases as same as I saw in the titanic movie and the moment was like ... OOMMGG.... we clicked pictures there.. and then we headed to the first floor at the entry of sea lounge. The receptionist wrote our details and then took us to the dining. The air conditioned area was a little crowded so we demanded to go to the non-ac area. The area was as same as the ac area and we were fully comfortable there. No one was sitting inside that area except a movie director discussing about a romantic scene for his next movie over his phone. He was not at all disturbing so we found a full peace and space there. We saw many celebrities there. Now is the time to order something. Waiter gave us menu which was looking an invitation card for a wedding.. lol.. OMFG.. look at the price.. I gave a brief look at the menu ... Almost every thing was costly ( more than 3 thousand ) except drinks. Every drink there cost only rs 500. I ordered a cappachino and my mate ordered a blue lagoon drink. The blue drink was soo tasty and full of crushed coconut .. and the cappachino was... was... was.....bitter obviously. So I added 3 sugar sachets. Even sugar sachets had a mark of The Taj. Surprisingly the waiter served a plate of cookies which was complementry..Look at the window what a beautiful scene.. I shouted silently.. the scenic view was totally enjaunting and we Gateway of India can be easily seen from there.. we clicked pictures there. So we had our drinks and paid the bill which was 1180.. as 1000 for drinks and 180 GST. Then we moved out the restaurant and went back to the reception of the hotel. We sat there for a while ... while we were in the hangover of the drinks we had in the sea lounge. I went there at around 12.30 pm. I am uploading some pictures of the visit. Thanks for reading and please do write any question if there is something tempting to come out...

The atmosphere in Sea lounge is lovely, the interior and a feeling to sit there just after a heavy sightseeing around Mumbai makes you feel relaxed. BUT, they got so much restrictions or probably they do it because they want to avoid generous people.

What we don’t like: At the entrance, they told us to spend around 1500rs per person (we were 4 people) which I guess they shouldn’t have tell us because eventually, the bill goes around that range considering the prices there. The attitude of some staff towards us was so uncomfortable (especially the girl at the entrance) as in telling to spend the money, not to let us seat next to the windows. People prefers to seat and spend here to enjoy the view. So she must understand that.

The waiter was not helpful in terms of providing us Vegan food. Although we never heard of Bhel Puri with Milk and Ghee, we asked him to make it without that but he denied at first. Then we ordered usual Pani Puri for 950rs which was the only Vegan thing we could have as per him. He came back within few minutes and said yes to Bhelpuri without ghee. So at the end, we could at least have something. The price you pay here should have that level of understanding to make Vegan food or to have more options.

Taj being a luxurious hotel must tell their staff to keep a smile on their face. It felt like a graveyard for sometime when there was no smile during the overall service.

Bhelpuri and Panipuri we ordered wasn’t worthy the price. So I would suggest, please have some more cuisines for Vegan people or try to be little understanding in that way.

It doesn’t make a sense to spend so much hard earned money when you don’t get a proper service or when you feel left out. So please give your best service because waiters didn’t even serve us.

I have been to Taj a couple of times and I really liked the service at Harbour Bar. But, sea lounge was so bad that my family feel like to never come back. All this because of the behaviour of the staff. Please train or educate them to make people feel comfortable.

Things I like:

The sea lounge interior is lovely so it can make you feel relaxed.

Ambience was beautiful so to just hang out with family or to have a lunch, it can be an amazing place. (If you provide better service)

Hope this help you to improve...