"La Petite Poissonnerie" Oyster Seafood Bar & Fishmonger — Restaurant in London

First the good. The appetizer of langoustines (langostinos) sautéed in garlic butter was wonderful! The main dish was good to very good but not wonderful. The oysters were good but not served with cocktail sauce and saltine crackers as I’m used to in the US. I get that cocktail sauce and saltines are apparently an American thing but for me, not having those two items detracted from the whole oyster experience. Overall, the food was good but not outstanding.

The bad: We had to sit at the bar due to not having reserved a table in advance. The bar stools are VERY uncomfortable and lack foot rails so our legs got quite uncomfortable after about 15 minutes. The check/bill for two with a glass of champagne for one person was 143 British pounds. They brought out bread and butter without us requesting it shortly after we ordered our appetizer and they charge 4.95 for each basket of bread and butter so we were charged roughly 10 pounds for bread and butter (two orders). When we got the final bill, there was not only the usual 12.5% service charge but then another 20% added on top of the 12.5%. So apparently this establishment charges a 32.5% gratuity/“service charge” which, in my humble opinion is outrageous. Then when paying our bill, they required us to not only show identification to match the credit card (which I am fine with, actually pleased that they check to verify the card user) but then ALSO take a photo of the identification card. After some argument, I finally allowed this after covering all my personal info except my name and photo.

In summary, the food is good to very good but not outstanding. The service charge/tip of 32.5% is (in my opinion) totally unacceptable/unwarranted and then insisting on taking a picture of my credit card and ID is beyond unacceptable. I will...

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ service: +1⭐️

We love the cold seafood platter, the oyster was very fresh and the crab is also delicious. We also enjoyed the squid in ink and the steam mussels. Highly recommend to get the platter, oysters and tapas, not so much on the hot dishes tho. If we only had the platter and tapas, I would have given the food 4 stars.

We didn’t enjoy some of the hot dishes. We got the sea bass ravioli which was tasteless. I don’t know if the chef accidentally forgot to put sauce or what, there was no sauce. And the chef’s selection was also very plain and salty. Very generous on the seafood tho! The fish soup was average.

The server was extremely attentive and nice. I gave an extra star because of her. She explained what was on the menu and changed our plates very often.

Also, it took a long time for hot dishes to be cooked. Our dinner took 3 hours from start to finish. The seafood platter came super quick tho, so it might only be because we were sharing and they brought...

My wife doesn't get crab legs very often; so when visiting London she did a search for "Best Crab Legs in London". La Petite Poissonnerie was the result. We were not disappointed.

The front dining area is small and has a beach atmosphere. Even better was when we walked in the door a crazy man was walking around showing off his new blanket. This turned out to be the owner, and we immediately felt like we had made a new friend.

Our server was Leah or Lea not sure of spelling, and both she and Nic talked about making dining an experience. They are all extremely knowledgeable ask for their advice and take it. You will not be disappointed. THIS PLACE IS AN EXPERIENCE. You need to visit. The food and staff are unequaled.

I can't thank you all enough for making our visit incredibly special.

We had Oysters and Scallop Sashimi (sp) for our starters, Crab Legs and the Chef's Recommendations for the main course, and a sake/sorbet combo to end our meal. All...