The Piano Works - Farringdon — Restaurant in London

We enjoyed our two hours at the Piano Works, having paid for the two hour bottomless brunch. Mauricio was an excellent waiter, and ensured that our glasses were always full. He was attentive and enjoyed interacting with us customers which was nice. In fact, all of the staff were faultless and worked so hard to uphold an excellent standard of customer service. However, there were a couple of things that caused it, in my opinion, to lose the fifth star for my review.

The food itself was okay, but nothing unique. It was the standard variety of eggs followed by pancakes or waffles, accompanied by one drink of your choice for the whole night (which was a little annoying that you couldn't mix and match drinks). However, the drinks kept flowing sufficiently and the food came out in good time. We can't fault what we got.

The music was good but seeing as our table was right next to the speaker and they were in the middle of the room, it was just a tad loud, and you couldn't even hear the waiters speak, let alone other members of your party. We did expect the loudness, but not to the point where the waiters were having to mime stuff of write things down so we could understand them. We also were a little annoyed that requests would only be played by the band if you gave them a tip also, and not a single one of our 16 song requests got played. We did continue to tip in hopes that just one of our songs would get paid but they didn't do any of them in the end (despite the emphasis on making song requests that the establishment strongly encouraged). The musicians were good, very talented and very versatile, but I think it was just a little bit of a shame that they played the requests for only the large parties in the corner rather than everyone.

Décor was okay, but nothing spectacular. I think it was going for "shabby chic" with the whole look but it wasn't quite to my taste. However, the place was clean and the staff worked hard to help customers out.

Personally, I'd have moved tables slightly further away so you aren't being kicked by people that are dancing by the stage, and to allow people a bit of room as it was a tad cramped. As previously stated, the band were very good and very versatile but I'd recommend tipping the bands quite high if you want your request played.

Overall, we had a great time. Staff were great and they tried to ensure we got what we paid for. It's just a shame about the very small negatives, otherwise this would have been a...

The manager Victoria was an appalling manager and spent the night with a vendetta against us. We arrived at 5pm and bought several rounds of drinks. We’d sat on a table that was reserved from 9pm and were told this was fine but would have to move at 20:45. Obviously this is fine but at 19:40 we were asked to move as the party had arrived. This is a long time before their booking so we asked if we could stay or if there was an alternative table we could sit at. The manager was very rude and was not listening at all. We had tried to book a table over a month ago but we were told you could not book for less than 15 people so we didn’t. The booking arrived and there was only two people. Victoria’s vendetta then continued when I tried to put mine and my friend’s coats in the cloakroom. She saw me there and came over. She separated my coat and my cardigan and made me pay for two items. She then made me take a picture because I was “so drunk” I was going to lose the card. At this point I was not even sure why she thought this was necessary because I wasn’t drunk. Victoria spent the night trying to follow us around, and when me and my friend went into the toilet together, there were two ladies aggressively banging on the door to the cubicle. When I was finished, to no surprise victoria was there with a female member of security. Victoria accused us of taking drugs, which is abhorrent considering i have never taken anything and had done nothing to suggest this was the case. When I asked why we were being targeted, Victoria then used her position of power to call the security to remove us. She was clearly just power hungry and wanted to use her little ear piece to show off her position. We were not rude or aggressive so there was no need for the security. She then didn’t want to let me wash my hands before leaving the bathroom and tried to stop us getting our coats. Absolutely ridiculous service and it is a shame because the venue and the performers are incredible. Victoria said she was happy to receive a negative review, so here it is! Piano works I think you need to have a look at who you’re picking to be management and have a think about whether this is the treatment of your customers that you want. Perhaps your management need training on how to deal with members...

My friends and I had a somewhat disappointing experience at the Piano Works. While the atmosphere was fantastic, and the pianist in particular was very good, we were unfortunately let down by our assigned waiter for the evening.

I would like to stress that all other members of staff that we interacted with were pleasant and professional. Our server, Patience, was sadly rude and argumentative after we politely asked for the service charge to be removed. We had decided to remove the service charge after a considerable wait time for both our drinks and food orders, as well as no “above and beyond” service that generally would merit the service charge being included (for example, we weren’t once asked if anything was okay or if there was any issues with the food). This was an issue that the table next to us had also experienced.

When we asked for the service charge to be removed, Patience was immediately confrontational. She asked why the service charge was being removed (a fair question) to which I responded with the above reasons. At this point, she then began asking further questions (as if to say, “is that really the reason?”). When I further reinforced why I didn’t feel the service charge was deserved, she then made the excuse that the bar staff had been slow on drinks, which is why it had taken so long. At this stage, I said that I did not want to argue (to which she stated that she was not arguing).

The bill was then paid, and Patience was visibly annoyed and frustrated. She left us to pay the bill and could easily be seen complaining to another member of staff. Whilst this is a natural response, I would say that it should be done outside of the view of the diners.

The situation left me feeling quite upset and unnecessary judged; I had been rudely interrogated for why I felt the service charge was not deserved. With two members of our party having extensive experience in the hospitality industry, we agreed that the confrontation was both unprofessional and disappointing.

I would like to stress again that, other than the slow service and unpleasant / awkward confrontation, we had an enjoyable evening. Hopefully this situation can be reflected on so that diners are not questioned the next time the service charge is asked...