Flour & Grape — Restaurant in London

I literally never complain about any dining experiences and frankly am extremely relaxed with expectations of London restaurants but ‘Flour & Grape’ was probably the worst experience I’ve had to date.

We began by being sat on a very cramped shared table which meant we were so tightly close to other groups we were practically shoulder to shoulder, not what you’d expect from a “classy” and “tasteful” restaurant but perhaps a sporting event at a stadium.

After our drinks arrived we got told, and I quote, “you have 48 minutes left on this table”. We had been there for 15 minutes. It suddenly became apparent that their only MO was to cram people in, feed them as quickly as possible and chuck them out to rinse and repeat as many times as possible.

When our food arrived, it was the wrong food. The group next to us also had been given the wrong food. Great. When we ordered a bottle of Rosé, they brought out and opened a bottle of red wine. Great.

Each member of staff we encountered had an attitude. At the start, we were constantly harassed about if we are ready to order. Makes sense if they wanted us fed and replaced with another group as quickly as possible. I know you get this from many restaurants, but the frequency was crazy compared to other places. Furthermore, on the topic of the staff, when some people of the same size party as us (3 individuals) had payed and left, we asked if we could just swap seats to these ones. They were literally right next to where we were sitting but it was quieter and less cramped. The waitress came back and said “no, I don’t know why”. Cool.

Perhaps the staff were rude because they’re completely burnt out. It was so impersonal that the workers were like robots and we, as paying human customers, were just 1s and 0s to them.

As for the food… well there isn’t really much to say which, frankly, says a lot. It was alright.

We couldn’t even finish our bottle of unwanted red wine when we were given the bill which we hadn’t even asked for, roughly 2 minutes after we finished the pasta. The only redeeming aspect of the restaurant was the price of a Pear Spritz. £6.50 is suspiciously cheap for an alcoholic drink in a central London restaurant.

It was a pretentious establishment. It’s London and the place is riddled with pretentiousness so it’s not a surprise, but if you’re going to be stuck up and pretentious, at least make sure the food is worth it.

I’m not necessarily mad or angry, but instead I’m shocked and rather disappointed because this place has good reviews. London is an expensive town, life is hard for so many people. We work hard for our money, so please don’t go and waste it here. London has so many fantastic restaurants, go elsewhere and make sure you get your money’s worth. I’d hate to be a tourist and think this is what London has to offer in terms of...

Fresh pasta and great wine – what more do you need?! Owner, Nick Crispini, who originally started off as a chef working under Theo Randall at Park Lane founded the Anticio Restaurant & Bar in 2012 and rebranded it to Flour and Grape, a fresh pasta restaurant in Bermondsey, in late 2017.

The restaurant is casual with stripped decor with exposed brickwork. The 60 cover space includes a counter bar and high table seating and attracts a variety of customers from date nights to family outings. Flour and Grape accept reservations for lunch but not evening service. Luckily, 214 bar downstairs is a great place to have a pre-dinner tipple!

It would be rude not to have an aperitif at an Italian restaurant! Obviously we had my favourite Aperol Spritz (£7) and a Blackberry Bellini (£7.5) which was fantastic. I do love a peach Bellini but the blackberry was even nicer.

There are 10 small plates to choose from and the recommendation is 3 per 2 guests. We wanted to save room for our pasta dishes so had two to share. First up was the Bruschetta, tomato, basil pesto (£3.5) which was just how I like it – without lots of chunky tomatoes! We loved the addition of basil pesto and it was a great small plate. We were similarly impressed with the Melon, prosciutto crudo, mint (£6). The mint gave the melon a little kick and it was so fresh and juicy.

Each small plate and pasta dish has a suggested paired wine, which is a great help if you are not a wine connoisseur.

The menu is effective and simple with eight pasta dishes. The problem was that I wanted to try most of them! That definitely was not helped by the small window outside the restaurant where you can peer in and see them making the pasta from scratch. Five of the eight dishes can also be made gluten free, which is fantastic.

We were absolutely blown away by the Tortelloni – roasted pork shoulder, sage butter (£9.5). It was such a stunning dish. The texture and flavours were just fantastic – the pork melted in your mouth and the sauce just made the dish. Big tip – do not share this dish! I would order this again in a heartbeat.

We also tried the Pappardelle – beef short-rib ragu (£10.5) and the Rigatoni ~ “norma” tomato, aubergine, basil, salted ricotta (£7.5). The ragu was flavoursome and filling and the pasta a little al dente, how I like it. The vegetarian dish was a little bland for me so I started dipping it in the sage butter!

We sadly did not have room for dessert but they have some original dishes including homenade Tiramisu gelato!

We were very impressed with Flour and Grape restaurant in Bermondsey. It offers fresh, affordable pasta in a relaxed environment with wine pairings. The staff are great and more than happy to recommend dishes and drinks. Just make sure you order that...

Rude and discriminatory staff. It’s been 4 weeks and no one has had the courtesy to respond to this review.

The worst service experience I have had in a london restaurant by far. The food is good so I do come here sometimes but the staff behaviour and service is just getting worse with every time I visit. We had put ourselves on the virtual wait list through Dojo and the app indicated a time of 7:40-8 pm when we would get the table so we planned our travel accordingly. At 7:25 pm we got a notification that our table is ready. We were at the restaurant at 7:40 exactly (despite a slight bus transport breakdown). The host let us know we’d have the table just for 60 minutes instead of 90 (the confirmed later that their typical duration they give out a table is 90 minutes). We reluctantly said yes to a 60-minute table. When we ordered our food - initially 3 pastas within 5 people - the staff looked down upon us for ordering little food. Although we did order more later including wines and starters. Throughout our meal the way they spoke to us, their behaviour was very rude - as if they were annoyed with us. They kept reminding us of the time we have left - who wants to eat like that. We had about 5 minutes left and we wanted to order a quick desert. They denied us of the same - very rudely. At this point we asked for the bill. I went up to the entrance and did give them my feedback. The only thing they said that “we are sorry you feel that way” - this is not the first time someone at flour and grape has behaved rudely. When we left I additionally gave my feedback to the host. She asked me to stop shouting at her. It was a very noisy place I had to raise my voice. My language and choice of words was very professional. She accused us of arriving 40 minutes late (again very rudely). We literally reached at the time allocated to us. Not our fault the table was ready earlier. I understand they had other customers waiting but at the same time people who entered before us were still having their meal. I am not saying for the sake of it. I’m quite certain that we were treated the way we were because we are brown. I can sense the racism in their behaviour. Worst...