City Social — Restaurant in London

I've been to City Social once before in 2022. That time both food quality and service was great. My recent dining experience at City Social, however was awful.

Staff was very un attentive (my booking was at 8:00pm). Me and my partner are normally the patient type, but we was taken to the table without out our coats being taken and crammed in this 10 row of tables which me as a slim girl had to squeeze into, with 20 other people on top of each other who could all hear your conversation. Which is fine, if you're going to Nando's but when you paying the prices charged in this restaurant you expect to have some privacy to your meal. We asked to move table as it was a special occasion for me and my partner and we had already noted in our booking request that we would have liked a table close to the window, which we didn't get even though their where table available at the time, nor was their an explanation, at this point we didn't care where we sat as long as we wasn't in the seats we was placed in. We even offered to wait at the bar for a hour if needed while they found a table. It took so long just to get a simple drinks and dining menu, we must have been sat there at least 40 minutes until we was acknowledged by anyone and once their was a lack of communication between staff of who was serving our table, as we got asked about 5 times in 5 minutes if we was ready to order a drink and felt like we was repeating ourselves explaining we was being dealt with.

Staff was not professionally trained. When we was still eating our food was taken off the table, a waiter had then come over to tell the other waiter off and to put it back onto the table as we was still eating, it felt almost uncomfortable to watch and could have been handled away from the table after.

If the above two points wasn't even bad enough, the waiter then poured someone else's wine into my unfinished glass, this wasn't the first issue we had off wrong things being delivered to the table as our starters came up with the completely wrong order and was sent away from the table. Whist the waiter did replace my glass of wine for free, bottles of wine aren't cheap in there and I wonder whether the person who's wine had been poured into mine was told, and replaced too.

Finally, if the above wasn't enough. The bill arrived to our table which was completely incorrect, I've always been one of them people who look at the total and pay but luckily my partner does look through it and they had charged us for multiple different alcoholic drinks and food we had not eaten. Again the waiter was shouted at behind us.

We didn't want to make a scene out of it, hence we paid the full bill for the evening and left but the food was nothing spectacular and the service was enough of a off put to not...

Situated on the 24th floor of Tower 42 is Social 24, a beautiful rooftop bar in the City. The panoramic views of the City are absolutely gorgeous – spot the Gherkin, Shard, Tower Bridge and more!

We felt welcomed immediately by the staff and were seated right by the window to take in the amazing scenery. If there are no seats at the window don’t fret as you can watch the action at the bar or in one of the comfortable booths.

The bar serves a great selection of amazing cocktails and offers a wide range of beers, spirits, wines and champagnes. As Albert Einstein said (and it was on the menu to remind me), “A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory. ”

We genuinely loved the sound of all of the cocktails on the menu. We started with two lighter cocktails to begin the evening. The Cacao D’Amour with Amaretto, Drambuie, Citrus, Egg white & Cacao perfume (£12) was fruity with the Amaretto and Drambuie working well together. The Social Mistress with Bacardi Rum, Pear liqueur, Maraschino, Blackberry ice cream candy (£13) was pretty sweet. The caramelised blackberry accompanying the cocktail was a lovely treat!

Given how good the cocktail list was we could not resist trying another. The One More: Absolut Elyx Vodka, Blood orange, Vanilla syrup, Citrus, egg yolk, Smoked marshmallow & Champagne (£13) looked absolutely stunning with a gorgeous baby pink colour. It was fresh, lightly sparkling and we loved the toasted marshmallow.

Our lovely bartender, Andreas, also recommended that we try a cocktail from the new menu! We had gin based cocktail with Bombay Sapphire, blue orange liqueur and a passion fruit and citrus foam. It doesn’t have a name yet so just ask for the pretty blue cocktail! Let’s just say it went down very well!

Social 24 has snack dishes, small and large dishes which are great to share in a group. We absolutely loved the Truffle arrancini (£6.50) which were lightly coated and full of flavour without the truffle being overpowering. An absolute must order if you come here!

The Goat’s Cheese churros, London truffle honey (£6) were moreish and the truffle honey was a delicious dip. The Smoked Pork Empanadas, harissa and red onion compote (£6) had a hint of spice and were packed with filling. Lastly, we had the Avocado Tempura, Spicy aubergine dip (£6) which are great if you are an avocado lover.

Social 42 is a must visit rooftop bar in the City offering stunning views and fantastic cocktails. The service was friendly and professional with suggestions for the cocktails forthcoming. We also recommend ordering a few of the small dishes which are great value and...

Unfortunately, we had a big expectations to reality gap - and not in a good way.

Before we get to the problems, the food was excellent, no issues at all. Food we would rate 5 stars.

Everything else mediocre at best and not what we would expect of a restaurant of this standard.

Service was poor. We waited 15 minutes for a menu, then another 20 minutes for 2 drinks. Bread took another 10 minutes after that. Each time a waiter was asked a question - they needed to check with a manager, but they never did the check. They appeared to be scared of the manager - the waiter who cleared our table was trembling and we saw him being scolded by the manager. It took him 4 trips to clear the main course for 2 people. Down to 4 stars.

Orders were not delivered correctly - this was so basic. They missed a side. A sauce arrived half way through a course. A large glass of wine was free poured as a small. Tables were sporadically cleared. We weren’t asked which options we would like for food. Any deviations from the most basic requests threw the staff off any rhythm. Down to 3 stars.

Although it was only a Tuesday night, the staff seemed overwhelmed and very busy - but the restaurant was not full and there was a lot of dithering by the staff - heading one way then hurrying back and not really doing anything. We did note that larger tables of city workers were given significantly more time and focus by staff, often at the expense of other customers.

Finally, it took 24 minutes to pay the bill from the moment we asked for it. We had to ask for a number of corrections for things that were forgotten or late. Once we established that the service was so poor we didn’t want to pay the optional service charge - the manager never spoke to our table again.

After 15 mins, we had to ask another member if staff to check on the bill - they brought the same original bill with no changes. They brought another one 5 mins later with the wrong changes. We ended up just paying the bill that was still too high just so we could leave and end the ordeal. Down to 2 stars.

Finally - they gave us some (very tasty) complimentary chocolates at the end of the meal - which they said they hoped would make up for the issues. We saw 2 other tables getting them too - so either we all had issues (likely!!!) or they were fobbing us off with something they always give out.

Overall, a really disappointing experience. Definitely won’t be coming...