Barrafina Drury Lane — Restaurant in London

As much as I liked the food, I was disappointed that my bag with passport, laptop with class notes, bank cards, and a lot of other valuables were stolen at the Drury Lane location tonight (7 January 2025) at 6:04 pm. There is no space for bags at the counter seating, so my bag was left on the floor to my right side - my friend was seated to my left so I was facing the left side almost always. The counter area was packed, restaurant staff were present but someone managed to enter the restaurant and steal my bag.

It seems to me that this has happened before at the location because:

The incident book which the restaurant manager used had a couple of incidents reported as he had to flip through to find a clean page to fill out my details: It might be that the thief is not new to the location because he seems to have entered from one door and exited from another. These doors are not far from each other and perhaps there is a bigger question to be asked as to why there are two entrances/exits when clearly the counter seating area is very packed.

At the end the food was complimentary and with the hassle of reporting and blocking cards etc, we left without eating one dish properly and without having dessert as we had to catch our train to Cambridge.

I have been over cautious throughout my short stay in London and never would I have thought that my belongings would be stolen at a restaurant.

I am not writing this review to discourage people from visiting, but to alarm you that you should be cautious here. Something’s just can’t be replaced.

Edit: As much as I didn't want to relive through the worst experience I've ever had in London, I thought the below response from the restaurant warranted some response, considering the factual inaccuracies.

We were told by the host that we could leave our jacket on the hook below the table. The bag was not mentioned at all. My friend and I did hang our jacket on the hook and the length between the hook's opening and the underside of the table wasn't long enough to hang a couple of things. I tried hanging my scarf on it even but it couldn't hold the scarf considering a winter jacket is normally supposed to be thick and 7 January 2025 was winter. My friend DID NOT hang her bag on the hook (this is a conversation I've had with her couple of times) - she kept it on the metal bar in front and held it between her feet. Perhaps you could share the CCTV footage of her hanging the bag as you have alleged in the response below.

For context, I had stayed in London for few days and my friend had visited for the day only so she didn't have couple of bags as I did. She had one single bag but couldn't hang it on the hook. I had couple of bags, which is why I had to leave them on the floor, which btw is not something I would ordinarily do. As I recall, I did keep the bag that was stolen on the stool next to me until more people started arriving. I had no choice but to leave it on the floor.

The point of the entrances was that it is clear that someone had entered from the same entrance that my friend and I did and wasn't asked whether he had a reservation or not. This person took another exit to leave. If this is something that could be done that easily, in a room full of people, I genuinely don't believe that I am the problem here in stating so in a review and bringing this to people's attention.

The review was left in good faith. The underlying point was that people should be careful at the location and I still stand by it.

We acknowledge and appreciate the gesture of goodwill...

I went there for my birthday and overall was happy with the food and service, but I wasn't blown away, as much as I hoped I would be. Perhaps the anchovy tostada was the only dish that brought me close.

We were sat at the bar, right on the corner by the main entrance and didn't feel crammed, as people mentioned in some of the reviews.

⚪ We got the anchovy tostada, 5 stars for that, really full of flavour. ⚪ The piparra peppers from the special menu were also great, 5 stars. ⚪ Croquetas de jamón (ham), those were nice too but I was expecting something different, more like the consistency of fish croquettes but it may just be me, 4 stars. ⚪ The tortilla was disappointing to me, I didn't find it to be flavoursome and nor was the alioli I ordered (I'm used to flavours from Tenerife), so 3 stars. ⚪ Gambas Rojas (prawns), they were nice but not quite what I was hoping for, my boyfriend enjoyed them though. I have had better prawns for half the price. I ordered bread with it, as I love to dip but it was just plain oil, garlic and chillies, so 3 stars. ⚪ Grilled chorizo, you can hardly go wrong with chorizo, 5 stars, spicy and very yummy. ⚪ Complimentary tarta de chocolate for my birthday and I would give it 3 stars, as it was really heavy and dense, and too sweet for my liking, but my boyfriend loved it. We had to ask for it/ mention it's my birthday, which brings me to my last point. I will never understand why restaurants ask you for the occasion of your booking when that information just stays on the form without anyone actually looking at it.

If I owned a restaurant and this was part of my booking form, I would ask for the name of the person celebrating too, if they have any allergies, and make sure the person greeting them asks for them when they arrive, wishes them happy birthday and makes sure the person serving them is also aware before they interact with them, etc. and a complementary desert or drink is offered and so on. It takes so little to make someone's day extra special. Otherwise, just don't ask for that information.

I had a wonderful time regardless but I thought I'd share, as it's a missed opportunity in...

Extremely Disappointing and Rushed Experience

Last night I dined at Barrafina and was thoroughly disappointed by the service, which felt more rushed and inhospitable than anything I've experienced before. The evening started well enough, but things quickly took a turn when, after about 50 minutes, waitress (maybe she was a manager) came up to inform us that we had 25 minutes left to order more food. We politely said we would think about it, but within five minutes, she returned to press us for a decision. When we asked why we were being hurried, she replied that we only had 90 minutes at the table, highlighting that this is mentioned in the email.

We were okay with this at first and even considered ordering dessert. However, another 10 minutes later, she returned yet again, asking if we’d decided on dessert. When we said we would not order dessert, she promptly brought us the bill saying sorry ladies but I have to ask you to pay and leave—even though our time wasn’t up. Our reservation was for 7 p.m., but by the time we left the restaurant it was 8:20 p.m., we hadn’t even been allowed to enjoy the full 90 minutes promised in the booking email.

I expressed my dissatisfaction with the manager when she asked us to pay and leave, but her attitude made it clear she was more interested in watching the clock than ensuring we had a pleasant experience. It’s a shame because the other staff members behind the counter overheard our conversation and were genuinely apologetic.

The whole experience felt unreasonably rushed, especially given that we spent £120 for two people. If I wanted to be hurried out the door, I’d have opted for takeaway from a fast-food place instead least it would have costed me less. To make matters worse, after leaving, we noticed the counters on either side of us were completely empty, which only added to the impression that we were not valued at all. I have dines in many places before with the 90 minutes turnaround time and I have never experiences such a poor and appalling service.

Given our experience, I won't be returning, nor can I recommend it to anyone seeking a hospitable...