Oyster Shed — Restaurant in London

All in all, my colleagues and I had a good time. We managed to secure a table outside at short notice, and the sun was shining – I wish I could leave a five-star review, but unfortunately, there were some letdowns.

We were seated outside, and despite our dinner booking, other patrons standing around outside kept dumping coats/bags/glasses on our table, which was annoying as we had more people joining us. - This wouldn't have been an issue if there was someone constantly coming around to clear glasses; however, we never met our designated waitress, and we certainly didn't feel like we had one. Eventually, the "standers" were cleared out.

Later one of my colleagues proceeded to vape, and a bouncer came out of nowhere, yelling that he had already been warned and threatening to kick him out. No one on our table had spoken to this bouncer before this, and we genuinely didn't know you couldn't vape in the garden. I was extremely shocked to be spoken to like this, considering we are customers, and it was an honest mistake. Frankly, if this wasn't a work "do", I would have left. This could have been hugely embarrassing if we had taken clients out or potential business partners, and would certainly make me err on the side of caution if doing so.

The food was delicious, and we certainly had zero complaints about this. The oysters were divine, as was the crab, and even the bread was yummy – it is a shame that everything wasn't available to order via the app in place of our missing waitress!

Finally did have to chase to get our deposit back as it was not deducted from the final bill, despite exceeding our minimum spend. The service charge feels a bit high considering the level of "service" experienced. However, when we did manage to nab a waiter, he was a very nice guy (unfortunately, I didn't get his name).

Please, please talk to the bouncer with the poor memory and ask him to change his approach. It's such a good location with a fabulous chef who doesn't deserve this...

Having enjoyed a work Christmas party here in 2019, my colleagues and I were very much looking forward to returning for the leaving drinks of one of our party. The location is ideal and it was a lovely sunny London afternoon.

Sadly, our experience on Friday night was miles away from our memories and our expectations.

An hour in, we were told that we could make no more orders with the waiter and had to go to the bar (whilst the tables around us continued to place orders with the same waiters.

There was a minimum spend for our party, which is entirely understandable. We set up a tab and were advised that we could have up to ten tabs linked to it, making it much simpler for a party of around 30, with individuals arriving and leaving at different times, to settle up.

Unfortunately staff decided very early on that there would only be one merged tab for the remainder of the night. It took four staff members to explain this to us and why, all of whom were clearly uninterested in providing any explanation, and even went as far as saying on several occasions that the member of the party that booked should really have read all the terms and conditions again. Ultimately it was explained to us that the reason behind this was that it made things easier for them.

At the end of the night, as we were being pressured to leave by unfriendly security staff while the rest of us settled a single £731 bill (that they had the cheek to try and add service charge to), staff were completely flippant and unconcerned as we tried to explain our frustration that they had changed the process part way through the night and were unwilling to split the bill, leaving a single member of our party with a full £731 bill to settle between us.

Really poor customer service and lack of any flexibility. This is over 30 customers who will certainly not...

It's challenging to form an opinion after a visit, and I didn't plan on writing, but when I saw the bill and noticed they charged a service fee after the lunch, and we ended up paying for an extra broccoli that no one requested… We arrived for a business lunch on Tuesday. Despite a few extra ask/changes, burger without fries (which we didn't receive) and fish & chips with salad instead of potatoes (which we also didn't get – presumably, the broccoli was a substitute for the salad, although we didn't ask for it) – the biggest problem arose due to the time. I don't know if there was no fish in the kitchen because it seemed the freshest, but unfortunately, the beer butter was already tired... they probably sensed serious issues with our table, as we received an extra round of drinks without even asking. Unfortunately, for a business lunch, we didn't plan for an hour and a half, and even if they had to make the mashed potatoes listed on the menu fresh, it shouldn't take 45-50 minutes to prepare three burgers and two fish & chips dishes... there were three tables when we arrived, and they served three other tables while we just waited… If there's no fish or no burger bun, we would have chosen something else, as can happen anywhere… It's beautiful to photograph new desserts, but it's rather frustrating when a guest in the restaurant doesn't receive their ordered lunch! I won't mention the prices because we felt the quality matched the prices, but unfortunately, the tired beer butter, the tired iceberg salad, and the quarter-hour-old fries didn't really reflect the many praises! We ate, thank you for the complimentary drinks, the two new desserts are lovely, best of luck...