Goat Tavern — Restaurant in London

I actually have come in here a few times and never had an issue, always nice and friendly staff and decent food. But today I popped in to work with my colleague for the afternoon and had a pretty negative experience with one of the barmaids/servers. We both ordered a drink and my colleague got some food. A couple of hours later we were still there and the woman wandered over to ask if we needed anything else, I said no and thanked her politely and she just glared at me and walked away. The pub was not busy and we were not taking up a table where other people would need to sit. Furthermore, if there was a need for us to buy drinks at a certain frequency she could have just said instead of being so rude. I have had a long and difficult day and I have to say as someone who can get very socially anxious, this made me very uncomfortable. Everyone is just trying to get through the day and no one needs extra heat when this could have been a polite prompt to order more or make room for other customers. I have seen a few other reviews about rude staff and am wondering if this is the same person. I’m leaving your pub genuinely feeling highly stressed as a result of this interaction. Just thought it was worth mentioning because I don’t think people generally deserve being made to feel this way.

Just an edit here in response to your reply: it wasn’t unreasonable to ask if we wanted any drinks and that is not the issue here at all. But getting glared at rather than kindly asked to order more if we would like to stay is what I don’t think is acceptable. I feel that you have missed the point here. We had also discussed staying for dinner after finishing work which we quickly decided not to do after we were made to feel so unwelcome. But thanks for your response, we won’t be...

I want to apologize for my initial review, as it left room for the owner to make fun of us. Here’s a clearer account of what happened:

On New Year’s Eve at 20:55, we called and booked a table for two at this place. Despite it being a busy night, they accepted our booking. We arrived 10 minutes later and were seated at a high table next to the bar. A lady handed us the menus and told us, “Please order at the bar.”

At first, I misunderstood—it’s not a self-service restaurant, as they do bring menus to the table. If the owner, with their high sense of humor, doesn’t recall our booking, I’d like to point out that after us, another eight people arrived looking for a table. Despite the crowd, the staff eventually found seating for everyone, even though it was clear they were overwhelmed.

We understood that expectations should be adjusted for such a busy night, and I even mentioned in my initial review that it might have been a bad moment. However, the owner’s response to my review made me wonder if this was simply routine for the establishment.

To clarify, the owner is correct that there were two staff members behind the bar and one working outside, not three behind the bar as I had initially stated. That said, if they insist we didn’t come, I can provide a screenshot of my phone log to confirm the call.

In response to the owner’s question about where we went after: Yes, we walked five minutes to Megan's. There, despite being their last walk-in customers for the night, we experienced some of the best service in London.

What stood out most at the original venue was the lack of attention when I stood in front of the bar to place our order. It felt as though no one...

Both mine and my wife's meals were not great . Let's just talk about mine. Chips overcooked, fish and batter not cooked through but batter was over done. Peas were undercooked. Scampi was 4 pieces from a frozen packet but probably the best bits. The bread was ok but the butter was cold so could not spread. The picked onion was only a half of one. The cutlery was clean but glasses not so. Free water was on the bar with a tray of classes for water and some of these were not clean. Overall the place looked clean enough however male toilets were old and dirty and a bit damaged due to low maintenance also more importantly the cubical was very dirty and broken...I noticed this as I was throwing up. We visited because of other people's reviews and procedded even after seeing menus outside with prices mostly £12.95 for a meal. I had large fish and chips...the fish was not large. I believe the seafood was not off so can only say it was the cooking that made me sick. Shame because it has great reviews, let's hope this is just me. Due to the prices I will visit Harrods food court for lunch, better food for same or cheaper cost with...