Fumo by San Carlo - London — Restaurant in London

The worst dining experience I’ve had in my whole life. I booked a table for 6 people at 8pm on Saturday 14th Dec for my cousin’s 21st birthday (which I had included in the reservation notes) and we were made to wait over 45 MINUTES for the table because there was another group on our table. I told the restaurant manager and other staff multiple times that it was my cousin’s birthday (which they said they already knew but clearly did not care about) and that my family had flown in from overseas on that day to celebrate the occasion. Every time I asked a server why there was a wait, they said the other group is still eating and “what do you want me to do about it?” They tried to make the delay my problem which, as a customer, it was not. I had to ask the servers if they would give anything while we waited, they did not offer this or apologise immediately. When a staff member did come over, she just shouted “6 Prosecco’s” at me but half the group didn’t drink so when I said, could they get another drink she responded with “no only 6 Proseccos.” The birthday girl in our group started crying and had to leave the restaurant during the wait. By the time we sat down and got any food, it was 9pm so it had taken an hour from the booked reservation time. The restaurant manager was apologetic but also tried defending himself/the restaurant staff and, the conciliation prize which he offered us was that “they would not rush (us) off the table.” That was the least they could do but what it actually resulted in was the continual theme of slow service. I had to constantly remind them to bring basics like table water. The birthday girl had ordered the pollo parmigiana pizza which tasted like the garlic cheese bread appetiser with bland chicken and she did not finish it. I had ordered pasta (the cassarecce lamb meatballs) which was nice but it was given without Parmesan cheese and I couldn’t get a waiters attention to ask. All the servers did come out to sing my cousin happy birthday which was nice but she had been crying the whole evening and didn’t eat much. It took 20minutes to receive the bill and when we did, the drinks and appetisers we had ordered while we were waiting were given complementary but the dining experience and my cousin’s birthday had been ruined. I will not come back here again and do not recommend for a...

UPDATE

I visited Fumo on 15/11/23, having made a reservation in advance. Upon arrival, I waited patiently at the front of the line for the receptionist while my party waited outside. Unfortunately, my experience quickly turned negative. After seating another table, the receptionist returned but, to my dismay, completely ignored me and instead attended to a customer who arrived after me. This incident felt particularly unsettling, and I couldn’t help but feel that it might have been influenced by racial bias, though I hesitate to make such accusations lightly.

I chose to leave the restaurant immediately due to the discomfort caused by this encounter and brought my guests to another venue. While I understand that mistakes can happen in any service environment, the lack of basic acknowledgment and fairness was disheartening.

I hope by sharing my experience, the restaurant management will take steps to ensure that all customers, regardless of background, are treated with equal respect and professionalism. It’s unfortunate, but due to this experience, I will not be returning to Fumo, San Carlo or any of its affiliates and would encourage the management to review their customer service training.

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Initial review

Enjoyed all the dishes here. Was able to walk-in and be seated immediately on an early Sunday afternoon. The waitress explained the Cicchetti / small dish sharing style and that dishes would come when ready. Although the olives came late, everything was tasty and worth having again. The staff were friendly and atmosphere was relaxed yet chic. Not sure how things are when they are at full capacity but happy with my first experience here. The San Carlo group also have other restaurants. Many of which may look familiar. Look forward to trying others when hungry for a...

We went for birthday celebration. Staff was very nice, over the top, no complaints about that. And also the decoration was beautiful. Only issue is where we were sat, we were literally next to two bins from the bar area, which they were open and had flies around coming to us all the time. We asked if we could change the table and they kindly move us, but didn’t solved the issue anyways. Food wasn’t great I must say. We ordered for sharing calamari, prawns and scallops. 2 prawns, 4 scallops and the rest calamari (like over 10)… that was £11.25 per person… then we ordered ravioli aragosta (with lobster) and spaghetti frutti di mare… well I don’t think the price matched the quality of the food. The ravioli sauce was watery, didn’t have this strong flavour to lobster at all, the prawns were very very very tiny and the typical that were frozen (I was expecting proper prawns). Just three ravioli and very unlikely that the lobster inside the ravioli was something they did. Wasn’t tasty at all and if you tell me is normal crab I will believe it as well as the taste wasn’t lobster at all. That plate was £18.50… felt scam. My partner ordered the frutti di mare, which was also ridiculous, sauce wasn’t tasty at all, but spicy … ridiculous amount of seafood in the plate and wasn’t good quality, the sensation all the time is that I was typical frozen seafood. I understand we don’t life in a city with fresh seafood availability but I believe you can buy it from a very good quality like Spain or Portugal, and understandably put them in the freezer but the good quality will stay there. Then the staff was really nice to bring a happy birthday dessert and sing as well. We ordered two desserts, pistachio cake and a bombellini with Nutella inside. Both desserts were very nice. I won’t come...