Passyunk Avenue (Waterloo) — Restaurant in London

I was staying in London for a night and wanted to go somewhere different. This place came up and piqued my interest.

So location is a bit sketchy, located in a tunnel underneath Waterloo station, which is a local graffiti spot, but in a kind of legal and acceptable "art" sort of way. Well lit but yeah, this is London still so watch your belongings!

Restaurant itself is lively and has a small outdoor area. Inside is the best bit though. If you love sports, and I personally don't really, then this place will fill your soul. I was struck by the massive (and I mean easy 10 feet wide) TV above the door you come in. Other screens about the place playing US sports (ice hockey was on when I was there). Load of team memorabilia for baseball, football, and other US sports there. I suspect it would be rammed to the rafters during superbowl.

I noticed that there were a lot of Americans eating there too. Good sign I feel. The staff all seem to be American also. All this adds to the feeling that you have stepped out of London and are in a place stateside. Atmosphere is great.

Food is very simple, basic Philly cheesesteak, sides, beers, all basic stuff that won't tax the brain when ordering. I loved that because it means they can concentrate on what they do well rather than doing everything average. I had the Phillysteak with Wiz cheese and a side of tatter tots which I have never tired before. Good portion size too. I struggled to finish my meal. Definitely worth the (relatively average for London) money. Also the beer, they sell us beer, I forget the name, but it's top of the beers menu. Light and fresh, a couple of those went down a treat.

All this good must mean there's no catch? Well there were a couple of irks. One, as a lone diner, when I came in and asked for a table for one I was met with a suspicious look. There were a lot of tables still in there so I can get the whole thing of taking a table for one and they don't make money on it, but if it's empty anyway...? Yes, some people DO eat alone when in London on business.

Two. Service charge and tip. Pet peeve of mine. I have no issue tipping. I'll do it most of the time unless I get bad service. However, getting the bill and being pressented with the card machine that asks what percentage of tip to give then prompts me to look at the bill to see how much the total was to work out a decent amount, and what do I see? Service charge added. So a service charge AND a tip? I declined the tip in this case as I felt this was a little bit of an underhanded tactic. Maybe accepted in the US, but sadly that's where I was able to bring myself back to the UK. Service was OK to be fair, but not the same standard I have had in the states before. I think make your mind up, tip or service charge, don't try to beg me twice.

Otherwise great food, great place to go as a curious restaurant....

We had a weird experience recently here. The host was very nice and helpful when not finding a table in the beginning (just to make sure to mention that there was a positive side of the whole situation).

When we were going to pay, they automatically included service charge (which was very high), when normally they would make it clear beforehand, but this time they just assumed and included it in the tablet/paying machine. We told them how much we were paying each (we were 4, also we are students and we sometimes can't afford full service charge, but would leave a nice tip with as much as we can do) When we finished paying, they said there was an outstanding amount. That's when we were confused and asked if we could just not pay the service charge as we calculated things without it (plus we had to serve the beers ourselves lol). They said they could't do that (we have worked in hospitality and know you 100% can do it) but they could give us the difference in cash. We accepted this because we didn't want to make any more trouble. AFTER paying then they said they actually DIDN'T HAVE ANY CASH! They gave us two half pints instead that we had to quickly drink between the 4 of us because we had a train to catch. All this not even being apologetic, just super defensive :-/

Food was alright. The wings were a bit burnt, but the Insanity wings were a good level of spice. We tried the rest of the options for wings in the menu, and they were ok.

If you are looking for a nicer experience, we recommend MeatLiquor (also known as Meat Mission; the service is INCREDIBLE and all items in the menu are delicious) or even Wingmans (service is ok, but the spiciest wings are great!)

We won't go back...

The general vibe of the place was "insanity". Incongruously kitschy, tacky, and loud. Why were there random dollar bills stuck to the walls? Why was half of the magnificent brickwork of the Waterloo Arches covered in cheap plyboard? Why were the three gender options for the toilets "Dave Schultz", "Princess Diana", or "Apple Mac"? Totally mystifying.

And I could forgive some of this, chalk it up to Americans being American, if the experience was good, but it wasn't.

I'm giving two stars because I suppose the dishes were recognisable as food and passably edible - but were they any good? Uh, not really. The iconic dish, the Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich was among the saltiest things I've ever put in my mouth, served on the cheapest bread imaginable. We bought some "Philly Fries", seasoned with oregano which added nothing but the distinct feeling of chewing your way through grandma's herb garden. Drinks selection was mediocre at the very best.

The service was slow and dispassionate. No one came to take our order until we asked, we watched our food sitting on the counter for a good five minutes - no surprise the fries were cold by the time they got to us. At one point a waiter as good as admitted the menu was terrible and overpriced - he was absolutely right there. £14.95 for a cheaply-made salty slurry slipped into a slice of the blandest bread to ever grace a plate? And it didn't even come with the oven fries we had to order as a side.

Philadelphia is a great city, a great film, and an even greater cream cheese; I can't imagine worse ambassadors for any of those than the people...