Friend at Hand — Restaurant in London

I recently visited your pub on Friday afternoon. Around 5pm. We were after a pub that sold good beer and nice food. You were our choice and were totally happy and looking forward to a nice meal when we sat down.

The pub wasn’t too busy but all 2 seater tables were taken, mainly by people drinking which of course is normal. Most of the 2 seater tables were to the left of the bar where everyone was drinking which left a 1 remaining (4 seater) table in the quieter area of the pub only available.

There were only 2 of us but as the 4 seater was the only one available the waitress was more than happy to seat us. There was no one else behind us and looking around no one was standing or waiting.

We sat and were ready to place our order. However, that’s when we felt very unwelcome. A different waitress came over and rather than the expecting welcoming customer service we were told to move. Rather than saying ‘would you mind’ or ‘would it be ok’, there was an adamant expectation for us to move to a smaller table straight away.

The table in question was sandwiched in between 2 groups of people talking loudly and just having a drink. The area we were being pushed to had a different feel to the area of the pub we were originally placed by another the waitress.

Under all other circumstances I would have been totally obliging but the rudeness and then to follow with ‘if a table of 4 comes in you will HAVE to move’ even if we’re eating. Was not in character to the usual kindness of the chain.

I totally understand, it would have been more appropriate for us to be at a 2 seater. But the rudeness, the unkindness and the clear link to maximising profit and sitting people over customer service and understanding the situation forced us to leave.

We however, found a very comfortable pub. Same menu, same vibe but a lot more welcoming. Table reserved signs being used correctly just down the road.

Sorry, but this is why you only got a 1 star. I’m sure it’s just isolated to 1 individual but had to...

As per the Owner Francis request I will clarify my evaluation. The food was not properly prepared, not even for an average English Pub. Bad burgers. The atmosphere was kind of not really friendly, they will skip the cue regardlessly, but the major fault was definitely the service. Not the one performed by the workers but the owner itself, who allowed other costumers to skip the cue , making me wait, quite a lot at the counter, although he noticed me from the start, even though I allowed an elderly woman to skip me, for obvious reasons of kindness, the cashier, the owner Mr. Francis, basically you mate, you noticed me and you continued serving other customers instead of me. Now, how would you like me to rate your service? I think it should be a negative number, I gave you 1 star , more than enough. I think you remember, we just got out of there, the unfriendly look you gave me since the start, maybe because I was there with my family, maybe I should rate not family-friendly ? It's not my intention to cause any damage to your business, but my experience was terrible. Apparently you have a happy clientele, and I hope you continue to thrive in the backstreet, no matter what my cheap but truthful review is. No worries you won't loose much of your customers because of my review, I am sure, you are very well established. You know what's sad ? That we might have had this frank conversation in person, just a few minutes ago, if you really had taken care of your customers as you stated on Google, instead we needed Google for that. I would have appreciated a real world approach and not a digital one. Sorry. Too bad you won't have the chance to prove me wrong, I don't think I will ever be your customer ever again. My...

Let me start off with the good news which was the food. I loved it. Their fries were delicious and my partner enjoyed it. I had ordered the steak sandwich. I’ve never really tried steak inside a sandwich before and I’m glad that I did cause it was pretty good. At least in my opinion! My partner ordered the Chicken BLT and he said it was decent enough. So overall, the foods pretty good.

Now for the part which affected our ability to enjoy the food for the most part: their service towards us. We came to the pub without any reservation and when we asked the staff if we could sit in any of the seats, they were completely fine with it and asked us to vacate before the people who reserved the seats come. We were fine with that as we wanted to have a quick lunch. Upon sitting at a table, we were asked not to sit at that table as ONLY 4 or more people can sit over there. That sign was mentioned on the table as well ( we didn’t notice that and they were sweet to show that). Okay they have a certain policy, cool. We move to a shorter table only to notice three people (white folks) coming inside who also didn’t have a reservation sitting over there and they were served at that table. We were shocked. Is it cause we were brown? We were confused. Like why? The lady who had asked us to move from that table was blonde. She seemed quite rude to my partner and she was taking orders on a Saturday afternoon (1st Feb) at around 2pm ( idk how much more I can describe her)

We would really appreciate it if the staff is communicated with this behaviour. We know how tiring work can be especially during the weekends. But kindly don’t take that out on us.

With...