Haute Dolci — Restaurant in London

Date of visit: May 2023

Damn. Actually, no. The word is stunning. Beautiful. This venue is something else. I think it’s kind of rare to see something so beautiful just open to the general public. Big marks there. From the outside looking in, this place is absolutely visually stunning.

The staffs were absolutely amazing as well! This is a big plus. If you need a date idea, then honestly this is it.

Let’s get onto the food. Honestly very expensive in my opinion. Especially for dessert foods. The food does take a while to arrive and apparently you have to pay for water.

However, the host we had, Kinjal, they were absolutely amazing and was able to provide us with free water and a very nice discount off the bill. As far as customer service does, she was amazing and a star to the business.

Digging a little deeper into the cleanliness of the venue now and I was sorely disappointed. From the outside everything looked nice but when you look deeper into the place you can see water marks, dried on stains and other issues in around the area (pictured).

If you plan to bring someone here on a date or for a romantic meal, then seeing water marks on your glass and cutlery (pictured) is a big turn off. Not to mention the white stains on the couch we were sitting on is a little off-putting also. And there was also some cleaning marks on the window which kind of disturbs the view from the inside looking out. Though everything has been cleaned it’s the cleaning marks left behind that is not good.

Onto the food.

As mentioned, a little pricey for my liking I cannot lie, especially for the quality. I was actually heavily disappointed when I ordered the Saffron milk cake which was supposed to be topped with edible flowers and crushed pistachio but as you can see from the pictures it was not :( And to add salt to the wound, this was very hard to picture but there was a very small hair in the custard (pictured). I know if I had mentioned this to Kinjal, they would have resolved this issue but if this is to be my first impression of a place then I will accept what I am given coz I believe this is the establishment putting their best foot forward and this is what I get to review. Everything else was as written in the menu and looked absolutely amazing when they arrived.

The mocktails were very nice as well. Highly recommend the mocktails.

So in conclusion: The staff - Amazing The venue – Stunning The venue closer inspection – cleaning/water marks and various stains which is off-putting. The food – Visually very appealing. The taste – I wish they tasted as good as they looked. The price – Expensive

Would I recommend? To try once, sure why not, treat yourself (literally). But as a repeat place to visit? Not...

I have visited this establishment twice within the last couple of months, both times on a Sunday with my most recent visit being this Sunday. Sadly, my experience both times here have been poor. When I first visited, I was with a friend who had a nut allergy, she relayed this to the waitress and asked what would be suitable for her to eat. The waitress advised that they do not have separate cooking stations to be able to cater for allergies and therefore she could not eat anything apart from ice cream, due to cross contamination. In my opinion this is unheard of, all restaurants should be able to cater to those with allergies and considering nut allergies are very common it is absolutely insane that they cannot accommodate this in their restaurant. The service was also really slow, we waited such a long time for our order to be taken. When I had gotten my order I wanted to order something else and asked the waiter for the menu again, but he did not come back to take my order and there was no other waiter around that I could ask so I ended up not getting more things that I wanted.

The second time I visited this previous Sunday, my partner ordered the chicken waffle and I ordered chips amongst other things. Again, the service was slow. There were only 3 people working the floor and I watched as they struggled to go between the front desk, tables and etc. You could tell the staff were flustered and overwhelmed. When the chips arrived I asked for salt and pepper as it was not seasoned to my liking, it is quite strange that the restaurant does not have condiments such as salt and pepper on the tables considering they have an entire extensive savoury food menu as well as sweet. Unfortunately the waiter ended up forgetting and did not bring me the salt and pepper, so I barely ate the chips. I told him this at the end when he asked how everything was and he did apologise. My partner thought his chicken and waffle was average and the chicken bruschetta I ordered was awful, the chicken tasted like the chicken topping you get at a cheap pizza place. So again, I barely ate what I ordered.

In terms of food quality, we went here for lunch at around 2:30pm, once we got home my partner had a bellyache and couldn’t eat anything else for rest of the day. So you get what I’m saying.

I also noticed that both times I have been here, the female waitress will always get at least one item of my order wrong when she relays it back to me despite me being British with a very clear accent which is quite frustrating.

Sadly the service is just not up to standard here despite the place looking aesthetically pleasing. Both times here I have wasted my money. I would not return nor recommend this...

I regret to leave a negative review as I’ve had amazing experiences at other Haute Dolci locations, where the professionalism and ambiance were outstanding. Unfortunately, this visit fell well below expectations. The only saving grace was the chef, who is an absolute credit to the company, and one of the hosts who added a nice touch to our experience.

Pros:

The food and drinks were of good quality. The Sapphire coffee and crepes were delightful.

The chef’s attentiveness and effort to manage service from afar were commendable.

Cons:

Front-of-House Staff: The lady serving us seemed disinterested and unprofessional, making the atmosphere feel. uncomfortable. Her attitude wasn’t welcoming, especially in a family-oriented restaurant. It’s disappointing to see someone with such poor customer service skills in a front-facing role.

A particularly awkward moment arose when my wife began recording the arrival of our order (a gesture we’ve done at other Haute Dolci branches). The staff member abruptly told us not to record her. While we respected her privacy, this level of discomfort from a front-of-house employee is unusual and detracts from the experience. Most restaurants, especially those catering to families, embrace and even encourage such moments to showcase their hospitality.

Service Issues: While the order was taken promptly and delivered quickly, the same server forgot to bring a spoon, making it difficult to enjoy our dessert. Getting her attention was almost impossible as she disappeared into the back for much of the visit, leaving us and other tables struggling to get assistance. Ultimately, the chef had to intervene to ensure we were served properly.

Cleanliness: The cleanliness of the seating area left much to be desired. Almost every chair had visible stains, which detracts from the upmarket impression Haute Dolci aims to provide.

Final Thoughts: This location is visually appealing from the outside, but the service and ambiance inside failed to match. While the food was great, the lack of professionalism from certain staff members made the overall experience disappointing. The lady host lacks proper training and her inability to engage customers properly, bordering on rudeness, is a cause for concern for any return. This branch has the potential to live up to the high standards of the brand. Until then, I’d recommend visiting other branches where the experience is far such as Wembley Park which is...