Flat Iron Covent Garden — Restaurant in London

My partner had suffered a family bereavement on the week of his birthday. I wasn’t sure if he would be up for celebrating so didn’t book anything. On the day, we decided to go for food. His favourite is wagyu steak. I searched and Flat Iron came up but didn’t have any availability, as you can imagine it was very last minute. I set my heart on going and contacted them on their online chat to see what they could do they managed to squeeze us in on a table.

Firstly, my experience with their customer service, then speaking to the manager, Jake, of Covent Garden branch that I was directed to, was superb. Not only did they accommodate us but they shared condolences, understood what I was trying to achieve and even threw in some witty jokes for good measure.

Then, we get to the restaurant, I’m already impressed at this point. We checked in and barely waited 2 minutes. We sat by the bar as the table was prepared and every single employee to pass us greeted us with a smile and checked on us. That’s impressive. We get seated by lovely employees. Later, we meet the manager. What a professional, humble and kind man. He came to the table and personally expressed his condolences to my partner and personally wished him a happy birthday. It’s really rare to meet nice people these days and we were so impressed, it meant a lot to us.

So, customer service and the restaurant service was impeccable. Now the food! Well, the sides are divine. We are multiple portions of the mash and vezuvian tomatoes and spinach. Absolutely stunning. We also had the Wagyu. Oh my gosh. We’ve eaten a5 wagyu at Michelin star restaurants and I have no idea how Flat Iron delivered such exceptional food at such an affordable price point.

We finished with a delicious ice cream which is free of charge - the little flat iron token that you are given during your meal to redeem on your way out was a cute touch. I also enjoyed walking around with my ice cream after the meal, it just adds to the experience. We spoke to the lady serving our ice cream about Flat Iron and she sung their praises in a genuine way about how the branch is run, its ethos and ethics. She was genuinely so happy to be part of the team.

So, customer service, restaurant experience, food quality and price are all exceptional. You would think that it can’t get better, right?

Wrong! we did some digging and learned that not only do Flat Iron prioritise sustainability and partner with organisations to prevent food wastage and hunger but they have their own Flat Iron Fund which supports an array of charities.

I really can’t see why you wouldn’t want to eat here, enjoy the customer experience or contribute to their great causes.

I definitely haven’t done this branch the justice they deserve in this review but I don’t want to go on. We have now eaten in multiple Flat Iron venues and enjoy being surprised by which ice cream we will get at the end and have a collection of flat iron...

One staff member showed shockingly rude and unacceptable behaviour, which made the experience feel discriminatory and humiliating, but I would like to thank enough to the manager for handling the situation with professionalism and skill.

I had made a reservation in advance for the opening time at 11:30AM for 17th of July and I arrived at 11:23 AM.

The shop door was open, and there was no designated waiting area. As I stepped into the space, a white female staff member shouted “We’re not open yet, GUYS” and slammed the door shut right in front of my face. Which is unacceptable in common sense as well.

By 11:32, two minutes past my reservation time, did another staff member complete the setup and allow entry. I immediately raised a complaint regarding the following points:

(1) Smashing the door in a customer’s face who arrived only seven minutes early, referring to us dismissively as “GUYS” and forcing us to leave who's with reservation and came on time.

(2) Failing to provide advance instructions regarding the waiting protocol or the table assignment for those with dogs, and delaying customer entry by two minutes past the reservation time.

Since I was the first customer in line, and all the customers after me appeared to be East Asian either using WeChat on their phones or speaking Korean. It was hard not to wonder how many times this staff member, or this establishment, had assumed East Asian guests or tourists would simply accept mistreatment without complaint due to "looks like no English"

However, I must note that the manager and other staff were completely reasonable. Honestly, I had no desire to dine at that point, nor to spend a single penny. I didn’t want to ruin the experience for my companion who was visiting from abroad, but the manager’s appropriate response and compensation calmed me down which I absolutely appreciate.

She probably never expected that I speak several languages fluently or that I would speak up loudly about how she was treating us; No matter how many non English speaking tourists or local customers this place serves, and no matter how physically exhausting the work may be, this kind of discriminatory behaviour must NEVER be repeated.

Simply that staff member’s wage is being paid by the very non English speaking customers she yelled at.

인종차별 당하면 항의하세요. 한 백인 여자직원이 저와 제 동행이 영어 못할 거라 생각하고 제가 예약 손님임에도 불구하고 하대하고 면전에서 문 쾅쳐닫고 정신나간 짓거리하길래 개같이 싸웠습니다. 동양인이라고 영어도 못하고 항의도 못할 거라 생각했나본데 현지 거주중인 사람입니다. 다행히 매니저 반응은 상식적이어서 적절한 사과와 보상과 함께 식사 잘 하고 나왔습니다. 저는 예약손님이었고 7분 일찍 도착한걸로 저지랄하길래 얘네 2분 늦게...

3 of us had dinner on the 22nd of June.

We had to wait 2 hours for then be placed on a table with other people on tiny stools.

The food was good, but I swear portions are getting tinier whilst prices are going up, keep going this way here and there's no steak on your plate.

Event though we all ordered multiple sides, we all left hungry and went to get more food afterwards, which really shouldn't happen if you're paying £30+.

Also we didn't like the complimentary ice cream which used to have shaved chocolate on top, but has no more apparently.

A friend thought he was overcharged by the server, but this will need to be confirmed by his banks account statement.

My main problem with our experience is that, after adding service charge, we spotted on the bill that they now add an "OPTIONAL DONATION" which nobody tells you about and if you don't check the bill you wouldn't know of.

It goes without saying that this practice is absolutely disgusting and unfair towards the customers.

If it's optional ask me at the end if I want it added.

But hey they're not stealing your money right? It's for a good cause! Even though when I asked the waiter about which cause we were supporting she couldn't say and she got mad I even dared to ask.

It's a small amount of money, but it's the gesture that matters and nobody puts their hands in my pocket without CONSENT.

I wouldn't be surprised if this practice would turn out to be illegal if challenged in a court of law.

Of course now they'll come and say how you could ask to get it removed, but you never had to ask to have it added.. shame.

After this unpleasant surprise, I was surprised once again by seeing a mouse that came out of the mens toilets and made his way into the kitchen.

This sealed the deal for me.

I'm surely not going to the restaurant to be in an unsanitary place and to see rodents roam around freely.

If there's mice whilst customers are on site, I don't wanna imagine what goes on in their kitchens and whole premises at night.

In closure, after having been a repeat customer for years, this will be my last visit to this...