Leytonstone Tavern — Restaurant in London

Disappointed. Poor Customer service and super slow chef

Visited this resturant last month hoping to try their burgers which I’ve seen a lot of hype about on social media however on arrival I was presented with large disappointment in terms of customer service.

My friend and I found a table and waited over 20 mins to be served although the place was fairly empty during a Thursday night. Once a waitress finally came over and acknowledged us, we were told that a number of their items had sold out/not in stock this week due to supply issues. (Fair enough these things happen), we proceeded to make an alternative order and wait for our order to be prepared. We initially were seated for roughly 30 minutes until I went up to the bar to ask if our food will be ready soon? The waitress (the same one that took our order) went to the back to check and quickly returned saying it’s being readied now so I went back to my table thinking it shouldn’t be any longer than another 10 - I was clearly mistaken... After another 30 minutes passed I once again went to the bar to ask if there was an update, catching the eye of the same waitress and about to ask, however she decided to turn away from me and hide away in the kitchen area (strange?) so I remained at the bar until someone returned. This time a different staff member came out and asked if I was being served, I replied by telling her the situation and she offered to check with the chef. Once she returned, she said that our order was being ‘readied’ just as the first waitress did before. Besides my frustration and enthusiasm to eventually eat I went back to my seat to continue waiting. Another 30 minutes continue to pass by and once more I went up to the bar to ask for an update, this time the second waitress said that the food is almost ready and offered to get me a free drink. I obliged but was being to feel as if the update I was being provided was not very transparent with the current situation. As this went on, several tables which had arrived after my friend and I had since left and paid for their meal. On seeing this I got up once more and returned to the bar to share my frustration and stated that I no longer was interested in eating, the first waitress replied by stating that my food is being readied/plated however at this point her updates had little value due to not being accurate or considerate. I suspect that my order was not recorded correctly/missed entirely. An bit of honesty would of gone a long way.

In total I was seated over two hours without receiving our food until I couldn’t wait any longer. I will not be returning and in my opinion I will not recommend this place.

Advice for the resturant - consider to customer more whilst they are waiting. If there is a delay then...

Given it's a local business, I really want to love this place - but I just cannot. I've been here on two occasions; the first time I went, it was quiet but service was notably slow, however was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt so came here again last night with my partner. Based on last night, I won't be coming here again for the following reasons...

1. It took around 15 minutes for someone to take our order, and they only did after I had waved them down (and I really dislike doing that). This happened on both visits.
2. My partner and I hadn't been told that there would be a 40 minute wait for food (!!!) and only got told this when we asked staff 20 minutes into waiting. We asked the staff for an update on the food; we never heard back.
3. When the food did eventually arrive, it was lukewarm and clearly had been sitting unattended in the kitchen for some time.
4. I got the roast, which was average at best; watery gravy, very dry roasted potatoes, soggy vegetables.
5. The waitress had the gall to ask us a very awkward question when presenting our bill - whether or not the food was worth the wait. Very much scoring an own goal in the world of hospitality there; if you're going to ask the question, you have to be willing to listen to the answer - which she clearly was not, based on the snarky "thanks" she said to us when we paid.
6. Charging c. £15 for a burger without fries is extortionate.

I accept that yesterday was during a bank holiday weekend so would expect a longer wait for food (40 minutes is outrageously slow, though), but the fact that it wasn't busy the first time yet the service was still slow indicates a distinct lack of training for the staff and / or a disorganised kitchen. This, coupled with the dire lack of communication and extortionate prices, means I won't be dining here again.

Very disappointed as would love to support more...

I came here after seeing good reviews and I was excited to try their Sunday roasts. As we would be going fairly late from the typical Sunday roast time, my friend called in advance to check if we needed to pre-order to ensure that we would still be able to order what we wanted. We were assured that it would not be necessary, however, when we turned up at our reserved time, we were disappointed to learn that the pork belly option was no longer available. I ordered the beef roast and overall, I was very disappointed with it. The beef was fairly tough, and the potatoes were very hard on the outside and dry on the inside (they'd clearly been cooked then left to warm for a long time), the Yorkshire pudding was too hard, and the gravy was too thick/salty. After, as we'd also read rave reviews about their sticky toffee puddings, we ordered 4 across our group. After waiting, 2 came and we were informed that 2 more were on their way. However, after waiting some more, it did not come so when we asked the waiter again, they checked with the kitchen and informed us then that they did not have any more. I was annoyed that they kept us waiting believing it was coming and that we were only told that there were no more when we asked. Also to add to this, when the bill came, they charged us for 4 sticky toffee puddings, and of course, 12.5% service charge which we felt they did not deserve. (Aside from the dessert issue, they forgot our order for drinks and the service overall was poor and lacking in communication). I've given 2 stars due to the overall disappointing experience of poor service and bad food, however, I did also have the cauli cheese balls for the starter and they were delicious. The Sunday roast may have been better earlier in the afternoon but I will not be returning as for what it is, they are quite expensive and I do not think...