The Barrel Vault - JD Wetherspoon — Restaurant in London

We were in a group of 9 people ordering drinks for the entire table throughout the night. At a point in the night we received a drink as per usual and passed it around the table to drink. Later on, a staff member confronted us saying that it was not a drink meant for us and that we had to pay for it. Despite hesitation from our table, one of the members decided to pay for it to avoid any trouble.

Due to the discomfort from the situation, we later raised it with the manager. The manager told us three things. Number 1, the drink ordered was in fact to the correct table number (table 50), and it was the customer who ordered it who had placed the wrong table number (thus not the initial server's fault as they had not misplaced it on the wrong table). Number 2, they gave us an example. If we had received a parcel that was not for us it would be wrong for us to open or accept it. Number 3, they told us that if we had refused to pay, they would have confiscated our existing drinks (that we had paid for) and utilised security to as us to leave.

So I would like to address each point. Number 1, based on the manager's own admission, it was not our fault or the servers that the drink was given to us. Instead, it was the initial external customer that had used the wrong table number. As per Wetherspoon's own terms and conditions in their app (number 8. "it is not possible to amend or cancel orders, once placed.") As such, instead of leaving it as the responsibility of the original orderer, both the staff and then the manager told us directly that we HAD to pay for the drink, essentially strong manning our friend to pay for it.

Number 2, based on their own example, the drink we had received had no name and no indication that it was not meant for us. For the entirety of the night, due to our large group size we had been ordering drinks for each other. So, based on their own example, if we had received a letter/parcel to our specific address (our own table by their admission) with not name or indication that it did not belong to us otherwise, what would compel us to believe that it was not ours, especially based on both our large group size and ordering habits.

Lastly, number 3, based upon my reasoning in the sections above I believe that it would be unreasonable for us to compensate for a mistake that was entirely not our fault. Instead of listening to our reasoning which we had laid out and our frustration for the situation, the manager escalated the issue by letting us know that not only would we have been at fault for not paying but the merchandise that we had ALREADY paid for would be confiscated and we would be escorted out by security by a situation that was not our fault.

As the entire group, including the individual who paid, were of Asian descent, I understand my friend's frustration over the potential racial aspect of this issue. As Asians, we are often told (particularly by our parents) to get out of any trouble no matter the cost in order to not bother those around us and keep civility. It was this very reason that our friend who paid decided to do so. However, in a situation like this I believe that it is only right to point out when we believe something wrong occurred, which we did to the manager, and pursue the appropriate...

2025 Sept 02 - update

Amazing service from Giselle - poured me a great beer and when I needed to get sauces for my meal, she looked over my positions which were in a corner of the pub to ensure they would not be stolen

Giselle was kind and courteous and I was really impressed with her service so six years on from my breakfast experience I’m giving the place a five star the breakfast experience since then has improved by the way

Fish and chips were served hot - big plus for me especially as so many restaurants don’t care about serving hot food but I was very impressed especially as they were very very busy.

Thank you

2019review Don’t bother with breakfast. Appalling

Firstly I should point out that I have given it one star purely on my breakfast Experience.

Date 01.11.18 Ordered a traditional breakfast with amendments

So I ordered a traditional breakfast without hashbrowns egg and sausage . I asked for those items to be replaced with bacon

Lady taking the order was polite professional and fully understood my order . I asked for the toast and bacon to be well done .

Order was I sent it to me on a plate with anaemic looking bacon and white toast that had not been cooked well done. It had a hash brown which I had specifically asked to be removed from the order

I sent the food back . The order was represented correctly a second time with cold beans

Summary :

kitchen staff can’t follow the simplest of orders. Seriously what are they doing !!!!! They don’t serve brown bread only white I ended up eating a cold breakfast No offer of compensation was suggested.

I would have given five stars had they served me a hot breakfast with the correct order

Sadly this was the not the case and I will not be returning to this establishment.

Avoid...

Great prices... like... £2 a pint of guest beer!!!! Yes... London... Train station... captured audience but wow... super cheap!!! 2 wines and 2 beers... less than £15!!!! Tables clean and emptied fairly quickly. Open kitchen so you can see how clean and organised the cooks are. We didn't eat... but looked like the normal WS dishes and quality. Didnt hear or see any complaints during the 2 hours we were there.

Bar staff... they were super friendly and organised. Had a bit of a chat with them... all happy staff and really polite.

Drinks... perfect. Right temperatures and correct glasses. Spot on.

Price... cheap. One man was confused when asked to tap his card to pay... I had to tell him... yes £2.60 was the right price for his pint. He nearly fainted! He'd paid £6 round the corner... and thought that was cheap!!!!

Toilets... oh dear. The mens. What a mess. Toilet roll missing. Poo and wee all over. Disgusting. A man did go in and sprayed a mist of some smelly cleaning product... so it became very slippery... but didn't add toilet rolls and didn't wipe down or clean the toilets. So unusable. So many men turned around and then used the disabled toilet. This needs sorting! 2 hours... nothing changed. In hindsight, I should have said something... but out with friends and didn't want to be complaining during our get-together.

I would use this again... service, price and surroundings... all good.

But I would be using the station's toilets not theirs. 4 stars due to the...