Ladywell Tavern — Restaurant in London

I'm never moved to write reviews but had to with this. This pub had friendly service and a nice quirky beer garden, however I was genuinely taken back by the absolute state of the toilets. What was once a loo roll lay in crinkly obsolescence on the cubicle floor, seemingly having been dropped down the pan and fished out again. The loo seat languished down the other side of the cubicle. It was a bit disconcerting, as bad as a festival Portaloo.

And then there was the food. I knew I might regret an £8 plate of houmous and bread, but, hungry and limited in my options due to health reasons, I opted for the most healthy seeming choice. What arrived was an insult to my intelligence and to the integrity of gastro pubs. It seemed like shop bought houmous, sprinkled with a resentment of fried onions (again seeming like out of a packet) and the thinnest, most aggressively crispy cheap bread surrounding it. The texture of this was thinner than a cracker and there was way too little for the dip. Some of the houmous had congealed on the "bread" adding to the overall air of sadness. Honestly, I should have complained but I'd made my bed at that point and went to 2 Spoons where a generous portion of perfectly toasted sourdough with a lagoon of herby oil and balsamic vinegar cost £2.50 and there were some delightful dumplings, a full dish, for the same price as the aforementioned chickpea-based fiasco. The comparison was stark and made me feel even more robbed. I've gone in on it, but if you're going to charge that price for a basic snack you'd better back it up with something delicious or you're making me feel like you hate me for not being able to eat fried or cheese involved food anymore, something which is hard enough...

My partner and I have been more or less regulars here for a couple of years now however the service we just received was atrocious. On arrival the member of staff asked if I intended to order food. I confirmed that yes we did wish to. She subsequently confirmed that the kitchen would only take orders from reservations today. I then asked if I could just book a table on the spot and whether if I would then be able to food. The response 'Well you could do technically but...'. I subsequently asked (and was completely polite throughout this exchange) if this would be a problem to which I was told 'well the kitchen is under pressure so we are only taking orders from reservations'. I then asked 'so can I book a table or not?' By this point the staff member had opened the side door to allow our pushchair in and she repeated her 'well we are only taking food orders from reservations so...' and was asked if I understood. I said that I didn't understand why that being the case, I couldnt just book a table. We then left.

I can understand if the kitchen didn't wish to take more orders I would have accepted this happily rather than comment that I could order a table but infer to me (very brusquely and dismissively) that you didn't really want our custom. An absurd and amateur attempt at customer service. We won't be back for a while...

Pains me quite a lot to update my review having been local to the pub for the last 10 years. There's been a lot of change over the last few years but at the moment there's definitely improvements needed.

It's by no means all negative, I do love the atmosphere and they have a great drink selection.

What's really letting it down at the moment are a few things...the bar is severely understaffed. On a quiet period it's completely fine but on weekends, quiz night etc having 2 people run food as well as serve at the bar is disastrous. On a full night every time I wanted to order a drink I was waiting 10-15mins. The staff are struggling! Not rude, but run off their feet and are visibly stressed to the point where no apologies for late food, slow service etc, they're just trying to keep up! Food arrived cold, no apologies or engagement, and then 30mins later told kitchen can't accept any more orders as they're busy.

Also prices are now very very high. I don't believe inflation and taxes are a valid excuse as you can genuinely get a cheaper drink in central London from a non chain pub.

As I say, there's been a lot of change over the last few years so I hope I can update my review in...