Scully — Restaurant in London

This was meant to be a very special night for our anniversary, but sadly the evening turned into an unpleasant experience. I tried to call the Restaurant Manager, Fernando, sent an email to report the below constructive feedback six weeks ago and chased once, but have never heard back - very disappointing for such a hyped, highly rated restaurant. Here is my critique: Coffee machine: we were given the choice to either sit in the far left back towards the till and staff exit/entrance, on the right side along the aisle or on the left side at the window front. I chose the window front, in the hope that we will benefit from some natural daylight and views. About 30mins into our 5-course vegan tasting dinner, early diners started ordering coffee, and the machine, which sat right above my head behind me made such a loud noise that I could not hear my partner's voice anymore. This happened a number of times in short succession, which was very unpleasant, given this evening was about quality time and positive vibes, which didn't quite hold up against the coffee machine's noise. Bread crumbs/setting the table: After the second course, there were breadcrumbs on the table. The dishes were cleared ahead of bringing the third course, but then the fresh plates and food were placed on the dirty table, which should have been wiped/cleaned between courses as there was sufficient time in between and this level of service can be expected at a restaurant of self-claimed high standards such as the Scully. Between dishes two and three, we had our cutlery cleaned away, but were not given a fresh set of it, so by the time the hot main course arrived, we did not have cutlery ready to start eating. This meant the dish was getting cold while trying to get a waiter's attention. Ingredients: the third course (at this point we have been handled by three different team members already) we were served by a waitress who explained to us the ingredients/components of the dish in front of us. Unfortunately, she forgot the fifth and last ingredient, apologised and smiled and walked away. I totally understand that we are all humans and make mistakes or forget things, but at a pricey restaurant with sky-high reputation like the Scully, I would have expected staff to manage remembering 5 ingredients. That waiter also didn't care to find out what the final ingredient was and come back to us with the answer... Smoking staff: I was sat facing the end of the room, looking toward the back exit/entrance next to the till. Staff was going in and out frequently. Whilst this would not have bothered me at all, the fact that they lit cigarettes in vicinity to us, well visible through the window front, was not very nice. I also did not get the impression that they would've washed their hands after coming back in, which left me with an unpleasant thought. Nothing against staff being allowed to keep their habits, but ideally not visible to guests. Anniversary: despite placing the note in my reservation that this dinner was our anniversary, none of the staff (neither the hostess, nor any of the 4 waiters we had that night) mentioned a word about it and obviously also did not surprise us with a small gesture. This was very disappointing and whilst we wouldn't have expected to get anything, at least the mention and acknowledgment of it would have made us feel more welcome and valued. Sadly, I won't return to this restaurant under current management as I did not feel valued and there was a clear lack of value...

So after many months in lockdown and reading the fab reviews, we were very excited to come here and celebrate our anniversary. Decor is great however being a very hot day would have expected AC to be on and when I requested for it to be put higher I felt like I was being critised and was told oh you will get cold to which I said right now I'm sweating and if I cold ill let you know.

Waitress "explained" the menu which to be honest wasn't really clear to us so we asked a second person. Started with the achaar which I'll be honest being the first dish to be served actually put me off the rest of the meal. It just didn't make sense to me as being South Asian myself an achaar is an accompliment not a dish on its own when I asked what does it come with they said nothing. It just didn't marry up for us.

The other starters were very nice and no issues with those. Onto the mains...ordered the beef and chicken. Beef came out 15 minutes before the chicken so husband ate that. It was tasty however it was literally a piece of meat nothing to accompany it and towards the end it was difficult to just eat meat with no veg or jus but it was very nicely made. The chicken was a very big dish and actually was a sharing item and we should have been told that. However, what put me off was the overpowering taste of lemongrass in the chicken and the corn risotto. I just couldn't finish it. When my plate was taken away waitress asked if we enjoyed it to which i said not really. Got a complimentary dessert as it was our anniversary. The first waitress said I will take the chicken off the bill but when I got my bill it was still on there and I questioned it. The second waitress it felt to me like she was challenging me when I said to her I didn't like the chicken and when I explained why she said well this is the cuisine for South East Asian food and I felt this was very condescending and my response was I'm very aware of how it should taste as I've been all over Asia and being Asian myself, and this was not to parr as the lemongrass was simply too much. She didn't take the chicken off I really don't understand why but took the service charge off which I appreciated.

Overall, it was a mixed evening. My main feedback would be the menu needs to be explained better and it needs to flow needs to have complimentary dishes to have together ie the beef maybe with some potato or something to complete it. The achaar needs to be served with something.

I don't think we will go back and I hope that this feedback is taken in good faith as generally the dishes are tasty, just...

Very mixed feelings.

Was taken here for a business dinner, as someone’s guest. I was the first person in the place, arriving at the booked time of 6.30pm. greeted by nice smiles and shown to a table, and given some water at my request.

Over the next 10-15 minutes, I decided to ask for a drink but could not get the attention of staff, which was baffling – bearing in mind I was the only customer in the place! So walked up to the bar and made my request, which was then served nicely. Just felt a little laissez-faire in terms of attentiveness, though polite when actually attended to. My host arrived a short while later, and we were told about how it works – basically a tapas style. Was a little difficult to understand what was said, but got there in the end.

The food itself was in small portions, and tasty but rich. All in all, very pleasant. Except…

At one stage whilst eating, I felt something odd inside my mouth. On retrieval, it was a piece of plastic, about 2” by 1”. I was utterly shocked, as was my host. We did point this put to the server, who apologised offered to replace it but I was off food by then. To be honest, as I was so shocked and even embarrassed for the person who had taken me there. As he was present, I did not want to make a fuss and embarrass him further. But that is really not what one would expect of a high end west-end restaurant. The prices were high, but not surprising given the location.

I left before he had to settle up but I understand only a small amount was taken off the bill. The restaurant has since suggested they were more generous than my host's recollection. In any event, that made no difference to me personally, as I had the plastic and was not paying. I remain surprised and disappointed that somebody more senior did not see it fit to come and talk to me. The incident was clearly unintentional, and I have nothing against the kitchen staff in that context.

In summary, interesting cuisine (not if you are very hungry), pleasant service when it actually happened, and mismanagement of an obvious accident. Had I been there off my own back, I would not have been quite so understanding and this certainly will make me think twice before contemplating a return visit, or...