The Marylebone — Restaurant in London

TLDR: do not challenge the service charge or you will get pizza tossed at you 🤣

Unfortunately had a disappointing experience here yesterday with rude staff.

We ordered a pizza and some drinks at the bar, but I noticed the total was higher than expected. I asked about this and was told a service charge was added because we ordered food - that’s fair enough, but it was applied to the drinks that we’d ordered at the bar as well, meaning the service charge amounted to about 30% of the value of the food. It felt a bit sneaky that it was added without my knowledge.

Aware that I was looking like a bit of a cheapskate, especially as I’ve never pushed back on a service charge before, I politely asked for it to be removed as I wasn’t happy with the underhand way in which it was charged. The man serving us at the bar was at first happy to help, and called one of his colleagues over to assist (not sure what her name was, a lady with a ponytail and tatts). She attempted to argue that I should be paying it as I ordered food even after I explained the situation, and only backed down when I said it was discretionary. It seemed like she was trying to intimidate me by banking on me thinking it was compulsory. I then received a sarcastic “thank you so much” from Joel, the guy who took our order.

When our food arrived, the waitress, a short lady with a bob and glasses, threw the box onto our table and walked off without saying anything. Obviously the two people I spoke to at the bar had said something to her, despite the fact that the owners of this place have reassured customers in previous reviews that the service charge is entirely discretionary.

It really put a dampener on an otherwise lovely afternoon, and as someone who has previously worked in hospitality I was bemused to see the staff openly treating customers with so much contempt. I’m more than happy to pay for service where it’s a sit down meal, but to add it at 30% of the value of the food without the customer’s knowledge then act shocked when they push back on it is wild.

Edit: I also emailed them in response to their reply to this review, but they stopped replying after their first email back to me where they asked for further details… clearly they don’t “take all feedback very...

An exceptionally neat, low key but outstandingly serviced cocktail bar. Perfect for solo visits, couples, groups, eligible families: hygienic, ultra clean and pandemic safe, very accommodating and able to offer personalised experiences. First visit and pretty much blown away at how humbly fantastic this venue is both in physical styling, lighting, ambience and comfort. At times it feels it could rival the finest, most sought after cocktail bars in the most premium five star hotels. Worth a visit if you're local, a Londoner or have travelled from further afield. Take your grown up family here when they visit from outside London or the UK for an unforgettable experience. The warm staff are attentive, fast, have great hearing (even with the clattering behind the Bar, loud ambient chatter and occasionally booming music).

The multiple times visited this year meant a bunch of different staff served us, all of whom were largely fantastic. Special shout out to Alex, Camilla, Sofia, Vinny and Zara for being gracious hosts, ultra fast bartenders and attentive, kind, efficient, all round consumate professionals. The type of people you wish you could hire if you ever had a bar of your own, and the type of people you wish could be cloned and be working in every similar establishment you visit in the future.

The only room for improvement might be in a refreshed playlist with a little more variety but this might be mandated by their head office and not necessarily because the manager has a different interpretation of good party music to you or I. Maybe a live band or DJ could be incorporated in the future, perhaps after 21 June. Unsure if this was offered pre pandemic but it always creates a unique buzz around a place.

Famous for their infusions, superb atmospheric interior and cocktail bar arrangement and a plethora of spirits, even their regular pints are affordable given the area and cocktails are fun, edgy and the ones tasted were all glowingly recommended. Plus, they offered to make my version of the Espresso Zero, a drink they did not have included in their main full menu.

A delicious and memorabLe bunch of purchases for a unique and unforgettable adventure.

On a...

The Marylebone provided the worst experience I have ever had in any bar/pub in the UK without exception. My daughter had booked a table at this shambles of a place for the two of us on Wednesday 10th July. We had been told they served food (albeit from their sister kitchen) and that our table would be available for 7.30pm. Travelling up from Bristol I arrived at 6.30pm to be told by one member of staff ‘ oh you’re really early!!’ and from the off I felt the staff to be extremely rude, passive aggressive and not at all welcoming. I ordered a drink and before I had time to finish it, it was thrown down the sink. I was then told ‘you’re stood in the clear down area!!’ My glass was refilled with a tiny amount of lager and I was told that I shouldn’t be standing in the clear down area although there were no clear signs this area was out of bounds. At 730 our table was not ready and I had to ask several times when I could be seated. At 745 our table was ready and I attempted to then order food as my daughter, who is a nurse, was due to arrive at 815pm having completed a 12 hour shift. It was then I was told, again in an aggressive manner,‘ we’re not doing food as we’re too busy!!’ Had we known this we would never have booked a table here. To say our experience was disappointing is an under statement to say the least. I’m a 60 year old with an extensive a sales/client serving background and can categorically confirm I have never experienced such appalling end to end customer service in any bar/pub without exception.You'll see as below a copy of the menu provided by the rude staff and as advertised on their website - yet this was never to be... and still no response from this shambles of a place but I’m really...