Milk Beach — Restaurant in London

VISIT 13 NOVEMBER -- 3 STARS Following the manager's comments on my first review (see below), we made our way back to Milk Beach. No pancakes as we arrived late. A story for another time.

So: was the food better today? Yes, by quite a bit. There was definitely more skill on the plate (different, chef, from the taste of it). The avocado smash paste was properly seasoned and more balanced, the Eggs Benedict solid, with a decent Hollandaise.

Is that to say that we were wowed back? Not yet, unfortunately. It was hard to overlook little corners being cut, such as the tea being served in an open jug and with no tea bags (ie: need to reorder one instead of getting a hot water top up). There are also worrying signs: the night music of wine tasting events are known money makers, but only work short term. Whenever I see a place resorting these tricks of the trade, the food isn’t doing the talking and the place is going downhill.

I also read the recent reviews and their replies. My advice to the manager would be to spend less effort spinning less than raving feedback and bring the place back to its food A game. This is all the more relevant as a competitor is about to open next door, earlier in the street. For customers to make the extra step to this venue, the MB team is going to have to work pretty hard!

We also did a fair amount of research about Japanese pancakes, and will be back to try Milk Beach's if they're still on the menu.

From what we found so far: either it can be made to order, or the dish has no place on a quick service menu. Wouldn't it be easier to get a decent quick to cook recipe? I recommend the coconut one released by Dwayne the Rock Johnson on IG. Absolute killer!

Moving the rating from 2 to 3 stars, based on today's experience. Pictures added. VISIT 27 OCTOBER -- 2 STARS Milk Beach had a solid and well earned reputation. Unfortunately, recent changes have taken the place to a position of borderline pretentious.

Specifically: Pancakes not cooked to order, and prepared before service (there was no need, with the place running at half capacity!). Reheated, they came out chewy Low quality coffee blend Unrefined plate dressing. My avocado smash had the thickest piece of bread, barely any -unseasoned- avocado, and a bunch of stuff on top of it, with a vague aspiration towards high cuisine presentation that fell absolutely flat because the taste and flavours were missing Less than average banana cake to finish with, that came across as overpriced as a result of the lacklustre bakery An overall sense of portion control and standardisation, in the worse version of it

I can do with a disappointing meal. But, to be honest, the smugness of management checking on punters mid-meal, but already satisfied that excellent food is being served and not really expecting feedback is, for me, the sign that Milk Beach is living on drying laurels.

There are other places in that street, ready to compete.

I hope they will pick up the glove, take a good hard look at their menu and come back to the standard I remember them...

We booked a table for four, two couples with our 10month old babies. Half way through our drinks I pulled an empty chair from the table next to us to fit my daughter’s portable high chair. There were four tables next to ours, all empty. After I started feeding her, waiter Alin came to ask me to return the chair as ‘they did not have a spare one and they were all booked’. I need to mention that 90% of the chairs in the restaurant were empty at that time. I asked to borrow it until someone needs it, as I also happened to have a broken foot in a walking boot and he refused as ‘we only booked for four people’. So he suggested I stand with a broken foot while I was feeding my daughter. At that point I asked for the contact details of his manager and a few minutes later another waiter with a beard, whose name I cannot recall, came to ‘resolve the situation’. I don’t think he was the manager or at least I hope he wasn’t. After he negotiated with us for 5 minutes about giving us a chair, he let us have one ‘ as long as we promise to return it in an hour…’ I have attached the picture from the restaurant at the time. it was empty inside and outside there were only three tables occupied including ours. It was the same an hour later when we left and in fact not much different when we walked past later at 6.30pm. This attitude not only lacks common sense but it’s inhumane. I don’t expect to gain anything out of leaving this feedback, we will not be returning to the milk beach. I’m leaving this review to inform future customers and alert you of the attitude of your staff. If their attitude or your staff change I’m certain you will have fewer empty tables, as the Wolfpack and Jacks down the road were heaving.

• Addendum * Since my last review, Elliot, the owner of milk beach has been in touch to apologise and update on changes he was planning to make to ensure customers with families feel welcome at Milk Beach. It was very refreshing to see such a great approach to Hospitality! I understand the whole team has been restructured. Very grateful for the updates Elliot and all the changes you made! I changed my initial...

Swung by on a whim with a friend around 5.30pm this evening, we were promptly seated outside and the vibe was fairly good. Unfortunately, as several other recent reviews have mentioned – the service was pretty dire and disinterested. A male and female member of staff were both allocated to our table and had an inconsistent approach. The female member gave us the daytime laminated menu of coffee and pastries etc. which stated that the food was only available up until 30mins or so before we arrived. She also sat down a small, closed, bound menu which was for "if we wanted wine". We didn't, so we didn't look inside it. The male member of staff comes along, takes our tea order, goes. Female member of staff comes along again, asks if we've been served, we say "yes" and we just double check on the kitchen timings, we're told in a firm, dismissive way "no, you can't order food, the kitchen is closed for another 15mins". We quietly decide not to bother sticking around to order food later.

The male member of staff delivers our tea and asks if we wanted food. We decide that actually, if we're allowed, that would be lovely. He points at the bound menu. We take a look and order and also describe what we've just been told by his colleague, so we appear less stupid than he seemed to insinuate. He looks blankly at us and says "no you can order, maybe you arrived much earlier and it caused confusion". We say "no, it was only a minute ago". He looks visibly sceptical. He delivers the food shortly afterward and it's delicious, if very small portions even for small plates.

Difficult to convey body language and tone in a review, but we were made to feel like we were thick/difficult customers throughout by both staff members. Arriving somewhere during the crossover between daytime and evening service isn't all that uncommon, and it's fine to say the kitchen is closed, but be consistent and polite about it, and believe customers when they say that they've basically been dissuaded from spending additional money with you. All...