The Hero - Maida Vale — Restaurant in London

I never heard about this place before, just passed in front of the pub and saw a couple of people eating and I thought about having a look on the menu, (read the story line the way you prefer) so I was with my husband, he said he was shy to come in and ask for the menu, so I asked him to wait outside and I’d check if should we stop by for food, I gave him a kiss in his neck and went inside:

1st frustration - When I approached the bar I tried to get the staff attention while they were continuously laughing and talking between theirselves (which shows a really poor service quality sense) which I actually didn’t mind, but then I approached one of the staff members and I said very politely if they also do Sunday Roast, he laughed and looked back to his colleagues and said no we don’t, so I asked him hat kind of food they serve, he asked if I didn’t check the menu, I said I haven’t seen it, and asked if he could give me one so I could check, he did it like if I was torturing his, asking him for a menu… Anyway, I thought they could just be tired I asked if I could take the menu outside so my husband could also check it with me, he seemed to be fine with that.

2nd frustration- once I went outside, I found my husband being shouted by an old man, I at first asked my husband what’s going on, and he told me the man was asking him to move away, bear in mind he was on a public pavement, literally just chilling on the shadow, so I told him, but he haven’t done nothing wrong, I asked him to wait outside while I’d check the menu, I don’t know why I’m so surprised that’s not considered something normal for them, so he couldn’t allow anyone to stay in that path by the manager, so I asked to call the manager, which when she came she said it was because that could disturb their neighbours, come back with me, a person on his phone, wearing his AirPods, chilling on the shadow was asked to move because it could disturb their neighbours… I told her that was not ok, and even worse, the way the doorman shouted at my husband when he said he wouldn’t move because he was on a public path. She said because I was holding the menu as a customer I wasn’t allowed to be there as well, I said I’m not a customer and I’ll happily never be one, your customer service is terrible, and because of the way we were approached I’m actually calling the police, so a third staff member came being actually polite, for the first time, and he explained that apparently they received complaints from their neighbours about their customers being outside, but I explained to him that it doesn’t mean no one is allowed to stay around there, we are in the middle of a heatwave, and people are not allowed to find a shadow to relax because the neighbours doesn’t like it, that’s insane! So the police on the phone instructed me that they are not allowed to move anyone from public pavement and she was about to send officers to calm the situation, but because my husband was extremely embarrassed at that point I decided to just leave, as I didn’t want him to face that, but I was instructed to report to my local council, which the funny fact I’m new local in the area, so my council should sort it out!

Outcome, just couldn’t be more happy to never have ate their food, because I’d hate to spend my money supporting this kind...

Had a really bad experience here with 2 friends. Lovely waitress who seemed maybe new or inexperienced, tried to help my friend with a nut allergy. Cross-contamination was not a huge issue for him, (ie they didn't have to scrub down the whole kitchen and start from scratch, which is what this tends to mean) but traces and oils were absolutely an issue, which he said. After 4 bites of a starter, he started going into allergic shock and had to go outside to try and calm down. Not one in-house staff member came outside to help, despite having informed them this was happening AND asking if they could help or get the chef to check the food. My friend had to Epi-pen himself, having already had antihistamine medication which I had to find from a shop with no help. No staff came to help - no offer of water etc. When me and my other friend returned to our table, we found all our drinks and food had been removed because they 'assumed we had left'. The manager acted like he was doing us a favour by taking the second course (which we cancelled, again to a very annoyed waiter) off our bill and leaving the 4 starters we had ordered which sent our friend into an allergic reaction. We explained the situation again, our friend's whole night and next few days were ruined, let alone our meal. The manager responded 'well, you said cross contamination was fine' and after a v awkward interaction, he took the food off our bill. We paid for our drinks and throughout he was rude, dismissive and unapologetic, more worried about what his friends on the next table (who were also complaining) thought about their food. The restaurant was heaving with possibly hundreds of orders and it would have been more professional and just easier for all involved if they had comped our food, cancelled the second course on our behalf, and more importantly, apologised. Don't go here if you care about high food standards or friendly staff, because you will get neither. I suggest The Hero staff are trained on what 'cross-contamination' means in the context of a nut allergy. If as a new restaurant they are not already storing food properly, cleaning surfaces, covering food, and separating it, then there is a problem. The private security guards were excellent and the only people who...

Unfortunately, i have to amend original review. I had visited the pub 3 times before in its early days (before the opening of the grill and the library bar) which was great (original review at the bottom). The 4th time last weekend, we we're left sadly disappointed. Our table in the pub not ready when we arrived, and were kindly referred to the library bar, we sat in the library bar for 20 minutes without being acknowledged, we recognized it was busy, but were not even offered water.

When our table was ready in the pub area we had to wait another 15 minutes for water, when we received the water we promptly ordered a bottle of wine and subsequently had to chase the server for it 20 mins later and then received some attitude for asking. Starters arrived, and while we were happy with the cod fritters, the taramasalata with radish was so ridiculously small with 4 pieces or radish and a table spoon of tarama (for 9 pounds). Lastly, when the mains of ham egg and chips and bangers and mash arrived, they were good but definitely worse than the previous 3 times. the side salad was dressed in pure vinegar and was quite inedible. Lastly we ordered sticky toffee pudding, which took another 30 mins to arrive.

To boot, they have also raised the prices of their food by by c. 18-20%. Its disappointed on both fronts as we thought we had found a local we could frequent, with great food, prices and atmosphere - the holy trinity. Sadly, this isn't the case anymore and probably will not be back before an extended period. It seems the opening of the additional 2 floors has detracted from the quality of service and food, while increasing their prices. Previous review: Great food and really good service in a great looking cozy pub. The menu was great, humble pub food that is really really good. When the grill opens up the fish will be a nice add on to the menu.

Food and service was really good. the lamb ribs and the ham egg and chips were stand out, along with the...