Five Bells — Restaurant in London

Having read reviews I booked this restaurant 5 days ago and invited some friends visiting London, to meet us there this evening. Due to traffic our friends arrived first. The staff had no note of the booking. They told our friends to pull 2 tables together, 1 square, 1 round which was an uncomfortable fit for 5 adults to talk easily. Despite lots of staff, none offered to assist! We arrived shortly later, I enquired after the booking providing the name of the person I booked with. She had booked us in 2 weeks later, but mistakes happen, I have no major issue with that alone. Food took a very long time to arrive, with starters and mains arriving together despite telling staff on 2 occasions, we wanted mains separate. We were situated in the family area, despite many empty tables in main dining area, We had an early booking at 5.30pm, and staff could easily have made an effort to provide a table, before the next sitting, but no one bothered to look at the times of later bookings. The tables were simply reserved with no room for manoeuvre. When we left at 7pm, half the restaurant tables remained empty. During the entire meal 2 kids ran round and round our table yelling. Their fathers were even louder, using the foulest language. Staff seemed oblivious, I can only assume this is normal behaviour within this venue, but the constant screaming and foul language made the evening thoroughly unpleasant. The only positive aspect was the food which was good, and I'm sure would have been better in quieter and more comfortable surroundings. (Spicy Wings were great)! The 'Flaming Chef' kept coming in & out of the kitchen, walking the dining area with a large jug of what looked like Cola and a thin straw which he constantly sipped on. This was my first and last visit to the Five Bells. If you are visiting London, please do not visit this particular venue, sadly my friends leave tomorrow with a very poor impression. It is very much a 'Local' pub' which probably services the local residents extremely well, but it is not a restaurant you should travel to. Maybe if I'd known that my expectations would have been less. The uncomfortable surroundings really did ruin the...

Hi ,

We were a happy returning customers so far but our experience has changed time by time.

It can happen that the food isn’t perfect but it is just more and more disappointing in the past.

At this time we ordered 2 Ribeyes on medium, but the experience was very disappointing. These stakes use to be so fresh and so delicious but what we got today it was kind of disappointing. First plate was just about hot and super chewy. ( meat and fries) I know that Ribeye is a high fat content stake (that’s why we love it) but it was just super chewy and not even hot. Second Ribeye exactly the same. Just above cold. It felt like it was resting on the pass for a while. We also ordered double portion of peppercorn sauces but we received single portions. Don’t get me wrong, it is all good , everyone do mistakes. But it was a Sunday night with less than 10 tables who already been served. I tried to enjoy mine but my friend returned his stake and never been resolved. He mentioned to the bartender that it is very disappointing in terms of service and quality. Nothing has been offered in exchange although we considering ourselves as regular guest. Not a single apologise. It was not the first time that the food/ and or service did not meet with our expectations even tho our expectations are not in the sky, but the resolution was very...

Really bad service yesterday although the food was ok! Firstly, I was served a pint of coke that had hardly any coke syrup in it, just carbonated water, the barman didn't notice the colour difference until I mentioned it. Then the food arrived, a large platter of food and the sausages were missing and the beans were very watery. Waited a while for the sausages to be cooked and got served extra beans. Then dessert, the strawberries and custard cheesecake arrived with no ice cream or meringues, we were very disappointed. We questioned the missing items and instead of bringing the extra items to the table, they took the half eaten desserts back to the kitchen and plonked a scoop of ice cream on it and said they had no meringues even though it is on the menu. In my experience, if you are going to take a plate back into the kitchen that has already been eaten, you must do a fresh plate not serve the old one. God knows if they were angry staff and did something to the food or where it was left in the kitchen. £10 down the drain as we didn't eat it. Staff said that they are adjusting to new menu but I can't help but think something else was going on back in the kitchen. I have been here many times and the service has never been this bad. We were there celebrating a birthday so very dissatisfied with the service we...