Caffè Concerto Northumberland Avenue — Restaurant in London

Dear Café Concerto Northumberland Avenue Team,

I am writing to formally express my disappointment with my recent visit to your establishment, as my experience fell significantly short of the standards I expected, particularly given the positive reputation you hold.

To begin with, the process of confirming my reservation was highly disorganised. Over the course of making my booking, I received no fewer than three separate emails asking for confirmation. This issue persisted up until the day before my visit, when I was contacted once again to confirm the reservation. Despite these confirmations, upon arrival at your restaurant, I was informed that no reservation existed in my name. Fortunately, a waitress—who appeared to be new—was quick to offer a table, which I appreciated.

I came to know about your restaurant through a third-party app selling discount vouchers. Intrigued by the offer, I purchased one as a way to experience your establishment. However, after presenting the voucher, my wife and I felt as though we became invisible to your staff. The quality of service was shockingly poor, and it seemed as though our presence was a burden.

Adding to the frustration, the atmosphere during our visit was unpleasant. It appeared as though the manager and a member of staff were at the bar engaging in a loud and casual conversation, which was disruptive and unprofessional. At one point, I wondered if we were unwelcome guests, as the mood seemed to change entirely when another group arrived. The staff suddenly became attentive and the environment quietened down, which only reinforced the sense that we were being treated differently.

At the end of the visit, I requested the bill but waited so long for the waiter to return that I eventually left without speaking to anyone, given that the voucher had already covered the payment. This was incredibly frustrating, as it felt like even the possibility of leaving a tip for good service was irrelevant to your team.

I had been looking forward to this afternoon tea experience and had set high expectations for the quality of your products and service. Regrettably, this experience left me deeply disappointed. I even purchased one of your signature items, expecting a premium experience, only to be treated poorly due to using a voucher. If the vouchers impact the level of service provided, I strongly recommend discontinuing their sale, as this reflects poorly on your establishment.

This experience was unacceptable and has tarnished my view of your café. I will not recommend your establishment to others and would appreciate a response to address the concerns I’ve raised.

Yours...

We had a rather disappointing experience at Caffé Cristallo. While the food was delicious, the service left much to be desired.

My wife ordered a Lemon Cheesecake with Jasmine Tea, and I had a Caprese Salad. That was all we ordered, so it should have been clear that we weren’t expecting multiple courses.

Right from the start, the waiter took my wife’s order, then turned to me and instead of asking what I’d like, just said, “That’s it?” – which felt a bit dismissive.

Our drinks arrived quickly, but the tea bag was already in the cup, meaning we had no idea how long it had been steeping. With Jasmine Tea, this can sometimes lead to bitterness, but since it was meant to go with the sweet cake, it balanced out, so this wasn’t a major issue.

My Caprese Salad arrived next, but my wife’s cake did not. I waited about five minutes, hoping it would arrive so we could eat together, but in the end, I started eating alone. After 15-20 minutes, I finally got up and asked a waitress about the missing cake. No one had checked on us the entire time.

The waitress said she would “double check,” walked over to the counter, and signaled that she was handling it. A moment later, she took the cake from the display, plated it nicely with a strawberry, and served it. Meaning: The cake had been ready the whole time.

By then, my wife was annoyed—she couldn’t eat with me, and her tea was already lukewarm.

When it came time to pay, I had to get up again because no one was paying attention to whether we wanted the check. Strangely, we saw waitstaff going to other tables to take payments, but not ours.

The food was great, the drinks were okay, but the service was poor. At these prices—£9 for a cheesecake of normal size, £10 for a Caprese, and £5 each for tea and hot chocolate—I would expect both good food and good service.

To top it off, I only realized outside that there was a “discretionary charge” of 13.5% (£3.84) added to the bill. I wasn’t familiar with this, so I didn’t check before paying. For this level of service, expecting a tip like that is simply not justified.

Would I return? Not with this...

Never had to write a review in my life but this one gave me no choice. Customer service was disgusting from the get go. Rude and patronising staff! First of all we had eaten all of our food before our drinks even came. Baring in mind we asked 3 waiters politely if our drinks was on the way and all 3 waiters dismissed us and didn’t even check if our drinks was coming; one particular waiter who was rude through our experience at this restaurant replied with “we are busy just wait” in a really stern manner. We ate our food and continued to wait 20 mins after finishing our food for our drinks! When it came to paying the bill we asked the waiter who was patronising and stern previously for the bill, he ignored us and gave everybody else their bill who had asked after us….after realising this we asked 2 other members of staff for the bill and we waited for the bill 25 mins! That’s not all when paying for the bill my boyfriend had cash the bill came to £55.58 so gave him £60 and asked for change! (As we wasn’t prepared to give a tip with the experience we had). He refused to give us change! So my boyfriend said “can I pay to somebody else” the waiter then was raising his voice saying “no you pay to me!” so we said “we want change then” and still refused us, there was nothing stating the restaurant was cashless as others was paying cash! His behaviour and other members of staff was disgusting to say they work in hospitality is awful. We have never had to write a review in our lives but this has made us as we don’t want others to have an experience like us! I would not recommend this place to anybody! 0...