Prawn on the Lawn — Restaurant in England

Hate having to leave one-star reviews but our experience with Prawn on the Lawn has been a lowlight of our trip in Padstow and judging by other reviews we haven't been alone.

Full transparency, we didn't actually eat here in the end. We had made a booking months in advance based on the strength of reviews. On the day we had the booking, we got the time wrong by two hours - completely our fault and an honest mistake (easily done as anyone on holiday with children under 2 can understand), for which we were fully transparent.

We were mortified when we realised our mistake and called the restaurant back as soon as possible to see what options we had. We were told that there was a no show charge of £35 per person (over £100 total) and that they would check whether there was space later for us to move the booking.

We were still keen on eating there but when the restaurant called back they said that the only table they had left was 8.30pm and that the no show charge of £100 was still chargeable. The time didn't work with our child's bedtime anyway, but the lack of flexibility on the no show charge put a real dampener on the day. What stung more was that we were staying a few doors away and walked back the restaurant multiple times during the time we thought our booking was for/had hoped to change the booking for, and each time there were 2-3 tables available - the suggestion is that they were happy to take our money for an honest mistake when we could've easily been accommodated on a relatively quiet Tuesday lunchtime.

It's clear from previous reviews that this is a long-standing policy that apparently makes the restaurant £6k a week so it's unlikely they're going to become more focused on customer services any time soon. I complete understand and support small independent business having a no show policy to protect from late cancellations, but to make it a profitable part of your business at the expense of paying customers who had hoped to enjoy the food is disappointing.

Book with caution, or simply chance a late walk-in seeing as that didn't seem to be a problem from what we've seen.

EDIT** (Addressing the response from the owner) - The figure of £6k is taken from their own response to a review from 5 years ago. There's an element of reading between the lines, but this is clearly a part of their business model, as suggested by both responses: "On average we get 20 covers cancelling per day, and approx £6k loss of sales per week. If we didn’t charge for this we would sadly go out of business."

The restaurant's point about other businesses still charging you if you'd turned up late is fair and valid (if a little blunt), but I said from the outset this was our mistake. What tainted our experience and I believe warrants the 1-star review is the purely business decision from the restaurant to offer zero leeway when we told them of our mistake. This wasn't the decision of the staff we spoke to (who was far more compassionate and understanding than the respondent appears to be), but of the 'operations manager' who clearly felt that taking the no-show fee was the preferred option over finding an alternative that would have allowed us to eat at the restaurant, have a pleasant experience, and likely spend more money as a result. My understanding is that that is what a hospitality business should be about.

Clearly Prawn on the Lawn are very successful and other reviews suggest their food is a cut above. I just hope that this review saves others from making the same mistake we did and that the owner can reflect on how poorly this (and their response)...

We had a 3 night stay in Padstow and were most excited about this place. We went to Paul Ainsworth no6 (which was excellent), the Rick Stein cafe, and here. Unfortunately this was a massive let down. Service was poor. Food quality was good (minus the dessert where the chef had even happy to serve crystallised caramel which my trained chef fiance said would go in the bin everywhere she has ever worked) although nothing fancy. But unfortunately the prices are ridiculous. Bare in mind we spent double this bill the night before and we considered that good value (and we live in London and eat out regularly). In prawn on the lawn although the overall price wasnt crazy what you get for the money is. 5 small prawns for £10 - are you joking? 4 or 5 anchovies for a similar price. Every single course (we had only small plates) needed at least £2 taken off the price. The prices just didn't make sense. We were genuinely confused about what was presented to us versus the price. We let the staff know what we thought at the end and they pretended to listen but it didn't really register. Being around 30 years old and from London we aren't really their clientele. They will be happy to go on pleasing the undiscerning oldies who spend a lot of time in Padstow and feel that Prawn on the Lawn somehow makes them trendy. I'm sad to say it was a disappointment as we were really looking forward to it. Restaurant was also cold as us and the 2 adjacent tables had to wear our jackets. The restaurant made a joke of it but didn't take the hint and do something about it. Adjacent table was also disappointed at the end and were visibly angry at how long their bill took to arrive whilst the waiters chatted to the older folk. All the older clientele were delighted with their experience and so they are unlikely to even need to listen to us. Cant really...

We've been trying to get into PoL for ages, but we finally found a perfectly suited reservation, just in time for a special celebration 🎊.

First thing to say, is that the PoL team are all amazing. They're all very very good a their jobs, and take pride in their craft. We appreciate your time and attention, without being overbearing or pushy.

PoL is an intimate restaurant nestled in the heart of Padstow. The serve a seasonal menu which rotates with what is fresh, and what can be brought in by the fishermen. This isn't the type of place you should go with an idea of what you want to eat - this is the type of place you go to be inspired.

While I could tell you what we had - there might not be much point. The menu will change with what is fresh. More important than a review of individual dishes is a review of technique, as technique should be consistent across all dishes. I can say that all of our fish was cooked to perfection. Flavours were bold where needed, and soft where appropriate (aka the flavour profiles were bomb). Each dish was consistently good. I enjoy the small plates methodology, as I enjoy trying a bit of everything. They do also have some table sharing plates if that's what you prefer.

As you may be able to tell, we loved our experience. We look forward to our next visit, and the next menu we'll get...