Bravas Tapas — Restaurant in London

I was debating with myself about whether or not to post this, as I didn’t want to make a fuss over something relatively unimportant. However, I disappointingly found the service to be lacking today, and wish for my experience to be acknowledged by the right people.

I came by for a quick lunch today, and the food was good as usual.

The one gripe I have was with the bread. I had the cheese board as my starter, and the toasted bread that accompanied was crispy and soft, very decent. However, when the pan con tomate arrived, I noticed that the bread was harder and more chewy, as if the crust was a little stale. This made it a bit difficult to eat. Other than that, the food was well received.

In terms of the service, I did feel that the wait staff were a little unfriendly and unobservant.

Two situations come to mind:

Due to the crispiness of the bread that came with the cheese platter, the table was covered with breadcrumbs after the first course. However, the table was only cleared after I had finished all the main courses, and not before. This resulted in me sitting amongst the mess that I created, and was a little frustrating and undignifying. The crumbs on the table were substantial, and eventually I had to resort to sweeping them onto a plate with my own hands.

When considering what to order from the menu, I was deciding between the lamb chops or the beef short rib. I was in the process of asking my waitress for recommendations “Is the lamb chops better or...” but was then interrupted with “okay sure, the lamb chops are good”. I then had to repeat my query about the beef, to which I received a non-committal response.

Perhaps this was partly due to the restaurant being busy at lunchtime, which would also explain the fact that I had to constantly ask the wait staff to repeat what they were saying as I couldn’t catch their words - things like “how is the food?” and “would you like more water?” However, I had previously visited during a busy Saturday dinnertime, and I remember that the service used to be much more welcoming and fuss-free. Indeed, a smile or some friendly chatter would go a long way.

I did send an email to the restaurant regarding this matter last week, but received no...

Delicious Tapas, But Disappointing Staff Attitude I visited the Spanish Tapas Cafe during my trip to London in May, looking for a unique dining experience. As a lover of Spanish tapas, I had high hopes for this restaurant. The location itself was fantastic, offering an amazing view of a small boat pier. However, despite the delicious food, I found myself disheartened by the behavior of the staff. I started my meal with a glass of white wine and ordered a variety of tapas, including octopus, a cheese plate, and potatoes bravas. For dessert, I opted for green tea with torrija. I must admit, everything I ordered was exceptionally tasty, and I thoroughly enjoyed the culinary experience. Unfortunately, the positive impression of the food was overshadowed by the unprofessional attitude of the cooks and the host. The open kitchen design allowed me to observe the cooks as they prepared the dishes. While interacting with the waitress, I noticed one of the cooks making a distasteful grimace when I asked to grill more bread for my cheese plate. It felt as if he found the request bothersome and didn't want to fulfill it. 
This incident shattered my initial enthusiasm for the place. After all, as a paying customer, I expected a basic level of courtesy and willingness to accommodate simple requests. Furthermore, there was a host who frequently appeared in the dining area. I witnessed a couple of female customers approach him to greet him with a kiss, only to see him spit on the floor and make disgusted faces after they left. This behavior was highly unprofessional and cringe-inducing. To make matters worse, the cooks started laughing at him, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. This kind of performance is not what customers expect or deserve to witness during their dining experience. Considering the aforementioned issues, I can only give the Spanish Tapas Cafe a three-star review, solely based on the food itself. While the location and the delectable dishes were noteworthy, the unprofessional behavior of the staff left a lasting negative impression. It is essential for the management to address these concerns to ensure a pleasant dining atmosphere and maintain the reputation of the...

Went here for dinner after work and had unusually bad service for a London restaurant. It took almost 5 minutes of us standing by the bar and multiple staff members noting our presence before a member of staff approached to welcome us and show us to the table, we had arrived on time for our reservation and the other members of staff were not busy serving customers during this time but were wiping tables etc. Waiter was very rushed during ordering and kept trying to walk off as we were trying to finish our order. When the first dish arrived and I removed my napkin from the preset plate, the remains of a pardon pepper from previous guests were on the plate. I asked the staff for a clean plate, there was no apology or acknowledgment of the fact they had provided a used plate, a clean plate was provided with the explanation that this was the only shape of plate they had- I reiterated that the issue was not the plate but that it was used, it wasn’t clear whether this was understood. The dishes were all nice but nothing remarkable compared to the average tapas restaurant in London. The lamb was incredibly fatty and undercooked so that it was largely inedible- we complained about this and a distracted waiter said ‘okay’, disappeared and no further action was taken. 3/4 lamb chops remained uneaten at our table for around an hour before we asked someone to clear the table. We complained about the lamb again and were told that we should have sent it back, we explained we had complained and nothing was done. To the restaurant’s credit one of the two orders of lamb was removed from the bill. When the bill came at the end we politely said we did not want to pay service charge (for the above reason). The waiter said okay fine, stormed away and returned with a bill with the service charge removed which was slammed down on the table in a rude and aggressive manner. No enquiries were made about the issues with our experience or what the restaurant could have done better. The restaurant is in a beautiful location and the ambience is lovely with decent food. Management should urgently carry out training for staff as currently the service is a huge let down to what could be a decent...