Heathcote & Star — Restaurant in London

Edit: I've just received my online receipts and VAT is still listed at 20%. VAT is currently at 5%. Either list your VAT correctly and put your prices up OR list your VAT correctly and leave prices the same. This currently feels slightly disingenuous.

First and foremost, I would like to emphaise that the service we received was exceptional, and that the staff should be commended for their diligence and attention to detail. Unfortunately, they are Ill served by the products they are forced to deliver. Drinks are sold at a premium price. Between £5 and £6 for a pint of lager and cocktails between £8 and £9. It should be emphaised that the location for this pub is in a residential area within Leytonstone, away from the main high street. It is our local and the reason we don't visit it as much is because the value for money is non existent. This is London though, and you come to expect such things therefore, I must make it clear that this is not the reason for our review being disappointing. The fact is that we never usually leave reviews, especially not for visiting a pub however, The Heathcote and Star has provoked an exception. The food was atrocious. I ordered a burger that cost around £10. It arrived with no garnishes, no side salad or fries. The Brioche bun had clearly come from a cheap, supermarket, own brand multi pack and the cheese was, what can only be described as plastic. It's the type you might relish as a teenager, arriving home after getting inebriated with your pals, to find that the most available option for food in the fridge is cheese, packed as individual slices, the taste of which is reminiscent PVA glue. The burger meat was tasty however, there seemed to be no attempt whatsoever to disguise the fact that this meal has cost pennies to put together, whilst we were asked to pay a premium price for. My partner ordered thai noodles and chicken. It arrived, and we quickly discovered it had been cooked with Tofu rather than chicken. Again, not a real problem. We're both conscientious people and fully aware that the less meat we eat the more the planet benefits. However, it had been doused with soy sauce and became inedible after a few mouthfuls. Again, this was a meal that cost pennies to out together and moments to cook however, we were expected to pay £10 for something we could have better cooked at home. Now, we didn't complain to the staff, because the pub was fairly busy, and the service they had provided to us had been premium. The reason we were keen to construct this review is because we want better from our local. Times are about to get tough and value for money is going to be a bigger priority for consumers than ever. At the moment, I reluctantly say that the Heathcote and Star is ripping it's customers off and that the only thing that can be commended are its exceptional staff. I really want to come again however, changes will...

This was my first visit to the newly reopened Heathcote & Star. My local for many years, the pub had been closed for a while, and given the number of pubs that have closed for good in the last few years, I feared the worst. Imagine my happiness when, on a rare trip to my local (insert name of supermarket) I saw light from the windows and a very nice smell tickled my nostrils. It was a chilly evening, so I rapidly revised my plans and parked the bike, locking it to the pub sign. Memo to the council - if you are going to install mini Holland infrastructure, please remember to replace the bike racks you removed when you closed the junction to motor vehicles. Ta OK, so the bar is inflicted with that major first-world problem, loud piped music, and the barmaid was unaware of the names of the beers on draught, but I got - eventually - a perfectly good pint of one of my favourites, ELB Jamboree. I was tempted by the Dareman, their signature burger spiced up with jalapeños, and very good it was too. The chips were even better, being freshly made and in a generous portion. If I didn't spend a lot of every day in the saddle, I might have struggled to finish my meal, so portions are generous, believe me. I look forward to trying the Sunday menu, where I am assured that I can get a proper roast dinner. Watch this space...

So, this place is a mess.

Barely contained chaos and poor, under resourced staff (2 of them on a hugely busy Wednesday night before xmas working to serve the bar and bring out food!!) trying their best to make a dent in a huge queue of people who are in turn desperate to get a drink to go with their food.

Dirty plates and glasses left on tables for hours on end - no surprise given there aren't enough staff working. Some of the tables are awfully positioned next to open doored toilets or serving hatches, again layered with dirty plates.

One half of the pub (the cavernous football watching / games hall) cold, music-less and entirely without atmosphere.

Pool table. One broken, the other terrible to play with old balls and a single, chalk-less queue. You have to pay £5 to use it! and then find someone else has been double booked onto it.

Massive groups of kids screaming and running around huge dirty tables.

The food, when it did arrive eventually, was pretty decent - Krapow-moo never fails but other than that this was a dire experience that needs addressing by the management who are seemingly trying to maximise profits at the expense of customer experience.

We were shocked and frankly appalled and felt really sorry for the bar staff who were doing their best under...