Grow — Restaurant in London

This review is less about the food (which we unfortunately never got to try) and more about the restaurants rigid and poorly communicated cancellation policy.

I’m sharing this feedback publicly, since the cancellation instructions said verbatim not to contact the restaurant directly and to only cancel through OpenTable(directly contrary to what is stated on their policy while checking out) (image shared)... so here we are.

We had booked this dinner well in advance as part of our honeymoon trip to the UK on the recommendation of local friends we were meeting. The only type of table booking available for this time was a musical show "experience". No food was included. This was just for the booking.

Sadly, we fell ill before our trip and had to race to cancel everything one by one, whilst potentially facing hospitalisation. It was already devastating to lose our honeymoon and be seriously ill, and we’re now just trying to minimize further financial losses and keep everything together.

To our surprise, when we got to this reservation, there was no refund or rescheduling allowed, even though we gave more than a week’s notice. Most restaurants we’ve encountered throughout planning this trip offered cancellations up to 24-48hrs beforehand, or at least had policies that were clearly visible in advance. In this case, the cancellation terms were inaccurate and buried in fine print at checkout, and not mentioned anywhere else in the event or ticket details beforehand. We only found out after the fact when going to cancel.

We completely understand that policies exist for a reason, and that this was partially a musical event ticket along with a table booking so a bit different than just a table reservation. But is it? And when a restaurant guest gives ample notice (over a week in advance, during a clear and unfortunate personal emergency) it feels incredibly disheartening to be met with a flat “no" and on top of that "don't talk to us". It’s hard not to feel like we just paid someone’s wages for the day without receiving anything in return just because we had the misfortune to fall ill.

Out of the 10 to 15 bookings we made for this trip, this was one of only two venues that couldn't be refunded, from hotels to flights to cars and ferries. It’s a shame. We had been really looking forward to dining here and celebrating our marriage with our local friends.

I hope this feedback encourages the restaurant to reconsider how these situations are handled in the future, both in terms of policy flexibility, customer communication, and marketing visibility. Sometimes compassion and a little goodwill go a long way as you never know what someone is...

I DON'T RECOMMEND eating in this place for health reasons. Yesterday a friend and I had the bad luck to find this place and stop for a drink and eat. We ordered food at the bar and ended up with an account around £ 36.50 for two rum punch, two BBQ pork wraps/burgers and skinny fries. The problem occurred when my friend was eating his hamburger and found in his food a small piece of an industrial glove, that is typical wear for the kitchen porter to clean and throw garbage. We show the piece to the bar staff, and the only response we received was that the kitchen is an independent business and that they are not responsible. Really? If it is independent business why it doesn't have its box, instead of charging me at the bar. They were very fast to get my money, but when something happened, no one wanted to be responsible or offered a solution. And now I'm in doubt if I ate something that shouldn't be there.

UPDATE It's sad to force someone to make a public shaming to get things right. I have no intention of eliminating this post, I am consistent with my actions, and I waited until the next day to write the publication. I hope this unfortunate incident helps improve things related to customer service (they can not leave the customer feeling abandoned). For my part, I wish you the best, the project is exciting, but you...

Booked a restaurant table for 8pm for a birthday meal and upon arrival was told that food had already finished.

None of the staff seemed to know what was happening. Initially we were told it is kitchen policy to close every 20 mins (bizzare) and to wait for it to come back online on the ordering app.

After an hour waiting and following up several times we were told that actually food was finished for the day as the fryer was not working.

Obviously it is not the fault of the staff if the fryer breaks down, however some of the staff were quite rude when we tried to find out what was going on with one telling us 'it wasn't his problem'.

Another member of staff then let us know the fryer was working after all and took our orders.

Lots of other smaller issues (for example no harissa on the harissa fries, being told that some drinks aren't on the menu having ordered one previously, then being able to order one later in the night etc)

I really wanted to like the place as I like the ethos behind it and the venue itself lovely but it...