Arcade Food Hall — Restaurant in London

Visited shortly after opening (11:40am) on Sunday with my sibling. Although host explained ordering process on website, the menu navigation is very clunky (and only work if you had mobile data reception...good luck). Each cuisine type has its own menu page so you are constantly flicking through 10 different menus on the phone to check starters/small plates and mains/large dishes. Would have been better if all starters were under the same page with the cuisine/region marked in description, same goes for the larger dishes. I think took us at least 25 minutes to just flick through and work out what to order and try, especially as the dishes are pretty expensive for what it is and photos on website menu can be misleading. Not sure why a 12.5% service charge was added on top as the service is minimal... yes someone brings a jug of tap water and brings you the food ordered, but no one takes the order, checks you are ok, brings a bill. The charge should be lowered to 8-10%. If the charge is for ordering on website and there is a maintenance cost to keeping website running, then this should be made clear. I saw 3 tables who all entered around the same time as us, but left after viewing menu on website for 15 minutes. We decided to stay as was adament to give the place at least a try, than to walk out and dismiss it completely.

Food - this was average and nothing special. Some of it was rather tasty, like the tater tots and squid. So yes, interesting to see a sort of Asian fusion going on with the dishes. Ordered one large dish, the Tipan Tapan Nepalese fusion of noodles in broth. That was rather fillng and broth had a spicy sour kick, like a hot and spicy soup. Was disappointed that the Indonesian main dishes was not on the website (only satay starter visible) when we ordered and only appeared after we placed order some time later - saw another table who ordered the duck leg and would have liked to have tried. If ordering at this place, do recommend treating large dishes as main and small as starter. 3 or 4 small dishes could probably fill you as a main course. Depends on what you want to try and how much you want to spend. Drinks were pricey, so we did not order and stuck with food.

Best part of the venue - probably not the bar music...I felt like the music was too evening bar like for a brunch/lunchtime meal. Maybe should vary the music depending on time of day and type of atmosphere needed for that time of day. So best thing about this place was the actual arcade machine! Just before heading off, visited the restroom downstairs, and just before you get to toilets, there is an arcade machine. Had a good Street Fighter match with my sibling which bought back days of when we were young and I was a teen. We played 2 rounds of matches and ended up with 1-1 draw, but was a belly full of laughs to see the competitiveness of my sibling. Definitely giving the arcade machine 6 out of 5. The one thing that would definitely draw me back is that machine. Probably the most retro thing about this place and lives up to its venue...

I had a horrible experience here with the rudest servers in recent memory. I brought a few of my clients here after work and to wine and dine. The ambience was bustling for a Wednesday night, although very loud. We were a table of six and those at the ends of the table found it difficult to hear the rest of the group.

We ordered some drinks to start which took anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes to arrive. The longest was the Espresso Martini that took 20 minutes to arrive. I thought they had forgotten the drink order.

In terms of the food and service, the food was edible. Nothing to write home about and a bit pricey for what it is. But you're in Central London so that is what is to be expected. The service on the other hand was abysmal - appalling even. I will prefix by saying the front of house staff were fine. They were courteous and did their job.

Throughout the night the wait staff kept messing up our food order. They brought out one instead of two tuna rolls. They brought a cheeseburger instead of a hamburger. Everytime we mentioned a problem with a food, they gave us a look like we were inconveniencing them.

The worst part of the night is when a member of the wait staff argued with my client! I was absolutely mortified and embarrassed. They had ordered a hamburger (not cheeseburger) with waffle fries. They first brought out a cheeseburger, which we returned because my client is lactose intolerant. Next they bring her a hamburger and waffle fries along with a chicken tender. Okay that's fine. Maybe they did this as an apology for their mistake earlier. Afterwards, another hamburger and waffle fries were dropped off at our table. This is when the nightmare starts. It appears the first hamburger, waffle fries, and chicken tender was meant for the table next to us. When they realized their error. Instead, of being professionals and owning up to their mistake. A member of the wait staff approached our table and berated my client for not knowing what they ordered. Keep in mind that the wait staff this whole time was already messing up and never actually spoke to us. They were instead masters at the dump and serve method. I was in complete shock over the interaction and could not believe the level of unprofessionalism I received. In a normal situation without my clients present, I would have escalated the situation to the front of house manager. But I did not want make a scene with my clients. We quickly ate our food and paid the tab and left.

In conclusion, mediocre food coupled with horrible wait staff means I am...

We are unlikely to return. I'm only giving 3 stars based on the previous visit and the hope that our most recent experience was just a blip. We visited Arcade Food Hall & Bar for the first time over a year ago and we really enjoyed ourselves. I remember the food being tasty and the atmosphere was lively. Unfortunately, the most recent visit left us disappointed, which makes me think that either the quality has gone down or our first experience was made positive because of a few drinks we had and the company we were in.

Pros: central location, spacious, the QR ordering system, the choice of menu

Time of the visit: lunchtime (weekend)

On arrival: the hostess looked bored and we were greeted with the 'how many people' question. She indicated to follow her to our table but then seemed to have changed her mind and took us to a different table saying something about her manager (we didn't quite catch what it was)

The atmosphere: it wasn't the most electric since it was a lunchtime service but I was surprised how chilly it was inside the restaurant. I ended up sitting with my hat on and there were moments when I considered putting my jacket on. I could see other diners wearing their hats and fleeces.

Food: the choice offered was perfectly adequate and the waiting time was reasonable but to echo the sentiment of many reviewers we were surprised with the portion sizes. My meal (wrap) was good and I really liked the spicy sauce it came with but my partner's dishes were average at most. The burger from the kid's menu with waffle fries was fine and my child liked it a lot.

Service: At no point after the food had arrived were we approached by the staff to be asked the customary 'is everything ok? etc. Also, I found it very strange that my son was not offered crayons; instead he was given a black  biro pen (we had problems to make it work) and paper with the instructions to draw his favourite fish. Needless to say, he didn't.

The bill: We left feeling let down. The amount of money spent and the service charge included (for the minimum service) felt disproportionately high to the sizes and quality of the food served.

On departure: there was no one to ask about the meal, say goodbye to us or invite us back;  the hostess looked even more bored at that point.

Overall not a...