The Grove — Restaurant in London

We had a very unpleasant experience at this pub today. A waitress with glasses and a fringe was very rude to me and my husband. The price of the food and the pints are not cheap and we expect at least that you have friendly staffs. There was a mistake in our order and they forgot to put in that the starter was supposed to be first and the mains after, but when she brought us the mains and my husband asked her about our started she replied in a very rude tone : " I only have two hands to Cary the plates" than when my husband clarified that he had requested the starter to come first and that is why he was asking she just told us that in the ticket said all at once, and then walked off! Not even an apology for the mistake or for being rude to us. She never asked if we wanted anything else. After 5 minutes another waitress brought our starter. Also, when this woman with glasses and fringe quickly walked off without asking if we needed anything else I didn't had the chance to ask for salt and pepper, which I then had to get up go inside and ask her, she then put the salt in the table near us and said 'there you go' I mean, she could at least gave me thing in my hand.she seemed annoyed with me. Someone needs to go through the menu and drinks menu with this person so that she can be aware of how much things are and then maybe she can at least give a good service. I worked in a pub for almost 5 years and I was perfectly capable to carry three plates at once, but this is not the issue, the problem here was how rude she was with us, without even listening to what was our concern first, and then the attitude after we told her that there was a mistake, was unbelievable! Not even and apology and she just walked off after she was rude. She didn't bring us our started that supposedly was ready as she said that the ticket said that it was all together, she just left the food there into someone else's brought to us. It just made the whole rest of experience not pleasant anymore, me and my husband felt bad I didn't even finished my food and just wanted to leave. What was supposed to be a nice lunch in the sun with my love just became a drama because of this woman that can't even give a good service goes around giving bad answers to...

We booked an area at The Grove back in April for a gathering of 40–50 people in July. At the time, I discussed everything via email and also visited in person to confirm the space and go through the menu options. We were assured we could order sandwich platters for the event (the menus were even sent to us), and everything seemed straightforward, so we confirmed the booking and left it at that.

However, when I contacted the pub the week before the event to finalise the menu, things completely fell apart. I was told for the first time that sandwich platters needed to be ordered two weeks in advance and, even more frustratingly, that they weren’t available on Sundays anyway. Nobody had mentioned any of this when we booked. Then, when we chased for clarity, we were told the platters menu no longer even exists.

With just a few days to go and no other options, we were told to order from the bar snacks menu instead which cost us £170. What we got for that money was incredibly disappointing: sausage rolls, chicken wings, baked camembert with dry bread, and even a wooden board with what looked like two packets of crisps dumped on it with a bit of paprika sprinkled over. Not remotely what we’d expected, nor worth the money.

We had also requested the food to arrive at 12:15, which I had confirmed clearly in writing. On the day, it didn’t come out until nearly 12:40. When my husband chased it twice, staff said they “thought it was 12:30,” despite the written confirmation.

On top of that, the floors near the toilets were wet from the rain and no visible warning signs were put out. A child actually slipped and fell, and when someone raised it with staff, they just shrugged and said there are “signs around somewhere,” which felt really dismissive particularly given how dangerous it could have been for someone elderly or pregnant.

The only positive was the space and it’s a lovely venue. But the experience was stressful, embarrassing, and absolutely not worth the £170 we spent on substandard food and poor service.

We used to be regulars at The Grove and were really looking forward to returning, so it’s such a shame to have had...

If I could give ten stars I would.

Having not visited the Grove since we’d moved out of Surbiton (and then Covid hit), so I’d hoped it was still as good as it was last time we visited.

This time around, we celebrated my wife’s 40th here with a surprise party of 28 guests. From booking the area through to finalising the tab, the whole experience was perfect.

Melissa was amazing in helping me get the food ordered, timings, drinks and the surprise sorted (by making sure the team knew to guide my wife to the area we had booked without her seeing us all first!). It was a tough one to organise so having that help put my mind at ease.

On the day, we arrived and the outdoor area with its booths was amazing, we had plenty of space for the group to mingle and enjoy themselves and the kids (aged 2 - 9) all had plenty of space to run around without annoying other guests.

Gynette (I hope I’ve spelt that correctly) couldn’t have been more helpful with food and drink on the day, she made it so we had what we needed when we needed it - a fantastic hostess!!!

Drinks - great selection of beers provided alongside Prosecco and my wife and friends really rated the passionfruit martini cocktails.

Food - I ordered a mix of mixed sharer boards, sandwiches, chips and salads. The food was first rate, everyone polished it off quick enough and I was told several times how much they enjoyed it - so hats off to the kitchen. The presentation was even spot on. Best for me was the steak sandwich or the arancini balls with vegan N’duja.

I would 100% recommend the Grove for anything ranging from a quick drink through to a large party for whatever occasion. We will definitely be popping back for a meal again soon.

Final mention to the servers and waitresses, definitely grafted on the day making sure the food was hot and on time, then the area was cleared...