The Light Bar & Dining — Restaurant in London

Large group booking, very poor customer experience.

We organised a group booking for 40 people as an after party to our wedding, which came with a £1,500 minimum spend (£500 refundable deposit). We had numerous conversations with the events team in the lead up to the evening about guests buying drinks themselves to reach the min. spend. On the night, we arrived about 45 minutes behind the rest of our party, to find that £1,000 of the bar tab had been spent but no guests had been asked to pay for their drinks.

The staff immediately closed the bar until a solution was found. We (the couple) then had to awkwardly ask those who remained at the bar to pay £25 to contribute to the total already spent (amount was decided by bar staff as £1,000 divided by booking number of 40) but by this point some people had already left. We had to stump up £325 ourselves to cover the remainder so the bar would reopen (we were concerned about not reaching the limit which would mean forfeiting our £500 deposit).

Afterwards, we reached out to the bar about what happened. They apologised, but also blamed the one or two of our friends who didn’t want to pay £25 due to buying their drinks downstairs (the upstairs bar was very busy). We asked if they would consider offering us a voucher or a discount seeing as we ended up out of pocket due to their mistake (and did them a solid by helping collect money from our friends). After 10 days we have still received no reply, only that the events team are very busy at the moment.

Having worked in hospitality myself, I completely understand that mistakes happen, but anything can be rectified with good customer service.

Seeing as the bar would have made a lot of money out of us and our friends, we shouldn’t even have to ask for a gesture to say sorry. The fact we’ve been ignored is even worse.

I therefore would NOT recommend this venue for a...

I recently celebrated my birthday at this restaurant/bar and overall, it was a pleasant experience. My friends and I had the opportunity to dine in the upstairs restaurant, and we were excited to try some of the unique fine dining dishes on the menu.

To start, we ordered the roasted oysters and milk buns with caramelized onions and butter. The oysters were cooked to perfection and the milk buns were incredibly flavorful. The combination of the caramelized onions and butter added a delicious richness to the dish.

For my main course, I opted for the steak wrapped in riccotios leaves with a grape jus. The steak was cooked to my taste and the riccotios leaves added a unique twist to the dish. The grape jus provided a sweet and tangy flavor that complemented the steak perfectly. It was a truly delicious and satisfying main course.

Unfortunately, the waiting staff member who served us lacked enthusiasm and seemed quite serious throughout the evening. It would have been nice to have a more engaging and friendly server to enhance the overall dining experience.

After dinner, we decided to head downstairs to the bar area for a few more drinks. The atmosphere downstairs was lively and it was a great place to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening with friends. However, the bar staff were not very efficient and seemed to forget some of our drink orders. This was a bit disappointing and affected the overall experience.

Despite these minor setbacks, we still had a pleasant time at this restaurant. The delicious food and lively atmosphere downstairs made up for the lackluster service. I would recommend this place for a casual night out with friends, but be prepared for some...

The Light Bar hosted my VIP Dinner for women in my professional network in London. From the moment of booking, the staff were so helpful and communication and planning was spot on. We did a group set menu and the food was spectacular, so delicious and very generous servings with wonderful fresh, rich flavours. They kindly catered to dietary requirements and the service was impeccable - they really took care of us and we were all super impressed. They accommodated us moving to an outdoor table given it was such a beautiful balmy June evening and it was truly magical to relax and connect. Would absolutely recommend it for any corporate or personal event - it was an amazing venue.

Along with cocktails, the group set menu was absolutely spectacular starting with burrata and peppers, salmon fennel citrus salad, trout and crème fraiche, flatbreads both plain and topped with olive and tomato, and crispy chickpea hummus. Next came shared mains - delicious hispy cabbage on ratatouille, basil pesto baked orzo with rocket and Parmesan, and a baby chicken with gravy and greens. And of course we squeezed in the mountain of crispy churros with chocolate pots because dessert obviously goes into another tube.

I was truly blown away by the fresh flavour-packed dishes, perfect location, and wonderful service. I’m still dreaming of that...