Gaia Mayfair — Restaurant in London

⭐ 1.5/5 – Hugely Disappointed, Especially for a Birthday Dinner

I had high hopes for Gaia London, especially after having an exceptional experience at their Marbella location. Unfortunately, this visit for my birthday dinner with family was a major letdown from start to finish.

To begin with, the night kicked off on a sour note—a waiter spilled a drink on my cousin’s satin dress, leaving a visible stain. Accidents happen, but the lack of sincere apology or proper handling really set the tone for the rest of the evening.

For a high-end Mayfair restaurant with premium pricing, the service was shockingly poor. Staff were completely inattentive, unlike the warm, attentive hospitality we received in Marbella. There was a noticeable lack of care, attention to detail, or even basic professionalism.

The portion sizes were also significantly smaller than what we had in Marbella—even though the prices were identical. The roast chicken, lobster pasta, and truffle pasta were all underwhelming in size, and even the salads felt like half portions. It’s disappointing when a restaurant cuts corners on quality or quantity but keeps charging luxury prices. The dessert didn’t redeem things either. The cookie, which we’ve had warm and gooey in Marbella, came out cold and hard—clearly not fresh, and not what we were expecting.

But what really ruined the evening was the awkward, careless birthday celebration. Two waiters sang “Happy Birthday” with zero effort, didn’t even bother to ask or learn my name, and laughed throughout like they were being forced into it. It felt more like a joke than a celebration. Meanwhile, other tables celebrating birthdays had five or six staff singing with enthusiasm, name included, and genuine energy. The contrast was hard to ignore. To top it off, we were charged £60 for service, which frankly felt insulting after such a poor experience. In short, Gaia London failed to live up to the standard set by its Marbella counterpart—in food, service, hospitality, and overall atmosphere. For what we paid and the occasion it was meant to be, this visit was extremely disappointing and left me wishing we had...

If you want to pay £500 to be treated like a street dog then please pay this place a visit! Management should reconsider their French manager or who ever that ** was.

I booked 3 weeks in advance, called on the day to confirm the booking and went to this place and guess what they couldn’t find my reservation even though I was showing them a proof of their own emails. 😂

We had starters and once we finished mains came in in a weird order. Lamb came first and chicken and octopus came after 20-25 min after only by the time lamb was cold… once we finished with main we asked for the desert menu and this * rudest person coming over and handing a bill saying that our time is over and we need to leave as he have another reservation! I told him mains were late and we had to wait for them! He didn’t speak to the waiter behind him who could confirm it but instead he was trying to challenge me and guess what was his response was 😂😂😂😂 - “ you asked your chicken to be cooked well” my response to that was “ well why would I eat raw chicken! Chicken should be cooked well. And plus we ordered in one go so it’s up to their kitchen staff to cook in a way that all food come together” “He then said well anyway I don’t have time to have this discussions I need this table now”

I would understand if he would come and be polite and kind and apologise for their mistakes and offer us to have desserts faster as they need table in 15 min but instead to kick us out and handing bill over £500 this is beyond me!

I’ve never been treated this badly!

The approach of this guy was very unprofessional, full of himself, acting as it’s his uncle bob’s restaurant and forgetting that the whole point him being there is to MaNage this things well and not add fuel into the fire.

It’s a shame when a nice restaurants like this suffer from one or two rudest staff that leave such a bad aftertaste in the mouth!

I didn’t get his name but he was tall, French, skinny and no hair( bald or short cut)!!!!

If restaurant reading this please please speak to this guy or even consider sending him to some speech courses as he is completely ruin this places...

Disappointing Experience – Poor Service & Lack of Attention

We just left the restaurant, and unfortunately, it was a very disappointing evening. This wasn’t our first time at Gaia—our previous visit was great—but this time, the experience was far from it.

From the start, we were seated in the worst section of the restaurant—right by the exit, in a high-traffic area, and seemingly forgotten by the staff. This was despite making our reservation 7 days in advance. When we asked a waiter (or runner) to move us, he returned 1 minute later saying the reception team claimed there was no availability. However, I personally approached the reception after I saw three couples being seated in the main dining area. When I asked again, the head receptionist dismissively said there was no option, making no effort to accommodate us. It honestly felt like we were judged by our appearance, which was completely inappropriate.

We ordered four dishes, and while the cocktails and food were excellent, the service was chaotic. Our first dish was left on the table without a single word while that same dish was also ordered from the 2 tables next to us and everything was explained and even showed how to mix salt lemon and sauces. The second came later, but the last two never arrived. After flagging a nearby waitress, the waiter eventually came over with a casual “It’s coming.” one of the 2 starters finally arrived after 45 minutes, but by then, we had already canceled the second since it had clearly been forgotten.

To make matters worse, throughout the evening, managers stood around chatting, laughing and using their phones instead of overseeing the floor and ensuring guests were taken care of. Adding insult to injury, the complimentary bread served to all other tables was never offered to our.

Overall, this was a special celebration dinner, and the poor service completely let us down. While we understand that Saturday nights can be busy, this level of disorganization and lack of attention was unacceptable. Gaia team, we expected...