34 Mayfair — Restaurant in London

This was our first visit to Mayfair 34. We went since it was shown as being one of the top restaurants for a Christmas meal. The food was decent. But the real issue was the service. I’ve never been somewhere that was supposedly a nicer restaurant and had such horrible service.

We arrived 10 minutes early and were asked to wait outside because the table wasn’t ready. Not a huge deal, it would have been nice if they had a space heater since it was very cold out but that’s besides the point. We went back in and the hostess said to wait back outside because the table still wasn’t ready and they needed a few more minutes. When we went back outside to wait we heard waiters talking to who we presume was a manager saying everything's a f**king mess and then being shushed as they went back into the restaurant. We should have taken that as a sign that we should have left.

We waited another 10 minutes and went back in and again were told to go back out because they still didn’t have the table ready and gestured to some staff saying they were the issue. Even the doormen asked if we were okay because we had to keep going back outside to wait for the table. We already wanted to leave at that point since we were waiting outside an additional 20+ minutes past our reservation.

We sat down and ordered our appetizers and entrées all at once. The appetizers came out quickly which was nice. But then the waiter never really came back. We had empty water and wine glasses for most of the night and had to wait over an hour for our main meal to come out after the appetizers. The tables seated after us had their appetizers, meal and dessert before we had our meal. So not sure what happened there. We honestly were about to leave since it had been almost an hour and twenty minutes to get our entrées. We said we’d give them an hour and a half to be “fair” before we were going to get up to leave.

Our food came and not to be knit picky, but the staff couldn’t even figure out how to get the plates of food, sauces and sides on the table. It was a complete mess. But eventually we got our food. The chateaubriand and duck were nice, but at this point we were so annoyed it sort of didn’t matter. The suggested burger wasn’t good at all and that’s what was recommended to us by the waiter since it was their “signature” and named after the restaurant. We got it medium rare and it was essentially raw at the very middle with a lot of gristle. We sent that back and the manager came out because of that and asked how everything was.

We politely let him know the service we had and he asked about the burger and let us know that because of the experience he would comp dessert. It was honestly the best part of the meal. We had cheesecake and sticky toffee pudding. He essentially took over waiting our table and the service was amazing at that point. But the dinner was already spoiled at that point. But it was a very nice gesture from him and appreciated.

All in all it would have been a nice night with better service. But we were disappointed...

What does disappointing mean? Well for me it is a visit to 34 Mayfair. The utilisation of such words like, inferior, mediocre, second rate, feeble, below par and sub standard don’t really tell all. I took my beautiful girlfriend to 34 for her birthday last night and the experience was poor from start to finish. First impressions tell everything and I should have known when walking up the steps that the sour and silent concierges’ welcome was going to be the representation of the night ahead. Standing at the front desk, awaiting anyones acknowledgment was the second impression I came across. Rushed to our table from the bar (which we specifically requested to have 1 drink at before our meal) and hastily told about 2 daily specials. Our starters came out very quickly, which was alarming (pre prepared, just like Woolworths used to do with their breakfasts in the late 90’s?), only to watch them be sent to the table behind us. The poor scrimps and scallops sat on the table thinking they had done something wrong to upset their new owners as no one wanted to eat them. They then found solace with our table after 5 minutes with their adopted owners. That’s right our food went to another table and then made the journey to us. 34 Mayfair thought this was acceptable to do until I pointed out the life experiences our disheartened starters. After continually pointing out the shortfall, the team member took the plates back to the kitchen, to return with 2 new starters……were they new? At no point did a manager come and appease our concerns (even when they knew this had happened? I found this out at the end of the night talking to the duty manager). Our mains then arrived, literally as soon as our starter plates were removed. The BBQ chicken was tough and tepid. The steak had more sinew than Spider-Man’s web and the peppercorn sauce was as translucent as Casper the ghost. The garlic butter spinach was missing the garlic, butter and any type of seasoning. The broccoli was as hard as Arnold schwarzeneggers’ biceps and again missed any sort of Sally or Percy? Oh but it did have raw chilli slapped over the top just to keep us on our toes. Suffice to say, I was done and my girlfriends special birthday was done. I explained about the entire experience to the duty manager (away from all other guests), I explained I was willing to pay for our drinks but not the food. We were then presented with a bill that included service charge! I paid and left, however it did then take another awkward 5 minute wait at the host station to obtain anyones attention to get back our coats. To say my girlfriend was upset was an understatement and I have 34 Mayfair to thank for this. Sadly for 34 Mayfair - “Perception was Reality”, would I return? I will let you be the...

I visited 34 Mayfair with high expectations, anticipating a premium dining experience worthy of a 5–7 star service standard. Upon arrival, the reception and seating were excellent, which set a positive tone at first. However, I found the food menu limited, focusing mainly on meats. I was expecting a more diverse selection and a fine dining experience where creativity in the kitchen is showcased. The real disappointment came with the service. When my Caesar salad arrived, I politely asked the waiter to serve it between myself and my wife. To my surprise, he refused, explaining that they do not serve dishes at the table. For a restaurant of this calibre, I found that unacceptable. In any true fine dining establishment, attentive service — including plating or sharing dishes — is the standard. I chose not to let the incident ruin the evening and served the salad myself. At the end of the meal, I requested the service charge (13.5%) be removed, as I did not feel the service reflected the level expected. The response from the staff was both unprofessional and disappointing. The head waiter confronted me, insisting I was “taking money out of the waiters’ pockets” by refusing to pay the charge, and justified the service by saying the restaurant provides cutlery, so guests should serve themselves. With respect, that explanation only reinforced my view: any high-street restaurant provides cutlery, but fine dining is about the experience and the care extended to guests — including thoughtful, table-side service. Overall, while the ambiance and initial welcome were strong, the lack of proper service and the unprofessional handling of my concerns left me with the impression that 34 Mayfair does not live up to the fine dining standards...