The Empress — Restaurant in London

This place first stole my heart a couple of years back when I went to catch up with my friend Harry who was sous-chef under Rosette-winning Head Chef Elliot. A bright and airy restaurant, deep leather sofas, wooden board games, exposed brickwork and an open kitchen make this place somewhere that you instantly feel at home in. The first time I went I sat at the bar and chatted to the friendly barmaid while plate after plate of food was put in front of me - on the house. I gorged on the worth-writing-home-about crispy pigs ears and apple sauce, savoured a tangy mackerel fillet with bulgar wheat and pickled beetroot main course and lost myself in a fruity panna cotta. It was somewhere I vowed to go again.

Fast forward a couple of years and, despite Harry no longer working there, I couldn't resist popping in to celebrate turning 25 in with six of my pals. After a couple of much-needed Bloody Marys at The Crown on the way, we jumped straight on to our table and began the hugely arduous task of deciding what to eat.

The Empress' menu is perfect for those who like to try a bit of everything. They offer generous helpings of bar snacks as well as usual starters and mains and there's nothing wrong with jumping around a bit. Whilst we were deciding we ordered a couple of baskets of freshly baked bread from the E5 bakehouse that we then proceeded to smother with unsalted butter, topped with fresh salt flakes. Choices made, we asked for our food to be brought out all together so that we could all chow down at the same time. This we were promised, but in reality it definitely didn't happen.

I chose two dishes: the first, raw beef with avocado, lime and chilli. The citrus zing complemented the meat perfectly, adding a cool bite to the tender bit of steak. Presented prettily with pea shoots and other microherbs, this was a dish that I could eat over and over again without any semblance of guilt. And for my second, other guilt-free dish? I went for a perennial old favourite of whole baked camembert with homemade chutney and thin slices of sourdough toast. Coming long after everyone else had finished their onglets, polenta and courgette, whitebait and ham croquettes, it was a typically countrified affair presented on a beautiful wooden board with the crisp slivers for dunking. Warm, gooey and oozing I definitely polished off the entire lot but had to ask for another round of toast that only came just as I was scooping out the last of the cheese with a fork. Hmm, disappointing.

We decided to forgo dessert (although my friends did buy me a shot of tequila instead and proceeded to sing Happy Birthday whilst I buried my face in my hands) and finish off the second (or was it third) bottle of red we'd ordered. The food in The Empress is definitely something to write home about (told you those pigs ears were good) but the service let it down this time. But I'll definitely be going back and this favourite gets a four out of five,...

If I could leave 0 stars I would. Worst customer service I have experienced.

Looked online this evening in the hope of booking a table - plenty of “outside tables” available and a few inside after 9pm on the booking page linked from their website called “Resy”.

After a few odd experiences inquiring about a spot in the last few years (during each time we were quite rudely turned away with an attitude of “how do you dare just show up” ) we thought to give it another try today…)

Called the restaurant directly in the hope of them being able to squeeze us in somehow (or if we could start outside at 8 and then move inside at 9)…could barely understand the man on the phone, upon inquiring with his manager he came back and simply said they were fully booked upon which I asked what that meant for the table availability online. I was cut off and my question on whether that meant their booking page was wrong entirely - which they should be aware of if that is the case - he just repeated we are fully booked and hung up without any good bye etc.

Understand it is a busy Saturday evening but in that case you should have enough staff available to deal with inquiries over the phone.

I have worked in hospitality all my life and if any of my managers would have caught me speaking like that to a customer I’d be out of a job.

This is the last time we will try and visit this place, feels like many others have experienced a similar treatment absolute atrocious and no idea how they are surviving with...

Came for lunch before going to Field Day festival on Saturday, had pre-booked a table as a large group. Whilst the pub was busy it certainly wasn’t insanely so. Our table all ordered our food at the same time (a mix of starters, small plates and mains) and were asked if we wanted it all together or just as it was ready. We opted for the latter but assumed that this would mean that starters would come first (there’s a clue in the name there!). Anyway, some dishes came very quickly, others took ages and some simply didn’t come at all (with no explanation or apology). One of our group got his steak main course and then his starter arrived half way through! Worst of all however, one of our group (a vegetarian) was presented with his dish of (supposed) arancini by a waiter who clearly didn’t know what he was serving, only to discover having started to tuck into it that it was in fact a chicken and chorizo croquette. Not ideal at all! When we flagged this, to say the response we got back from the staff was non-plussed/rude would have been an understatement. When the bill arrived (we’d given up on the dishes that didn’t arrive by then) they hadn’t bothered to check it or even offer any sort of recompense for the chaos! Such a shame as the food (that did arrive) was very tasty - the service however, was...