The Red Setter — Restaurant in London

I've lived in London for 7 years and have never left a restaurant review before but feel compelled to do so here.

This was the worst meal/dining experience I've ever had, and that's me being kind to it.

We were seated at 1945. By 1950 the waitress had taken our order twice - having forgotten the first time and then returned to take it again. I suggest a pen and paper to avoid this.

The starters arrived an hour later. Cold. 4 pieces of skinless chicken wings and halloumi. Hard to justify the hour wait.

The plates then sat unmoved for 20 minutes, we deliberately stacked them to overstipulate to the waitress that we were done.

About 20 minutes after the starters had gone, they laid down the cutlery for the main course. 15 minutes after that, the waitress returned to ask "if we'd not gotten our mains yet", despite the very same cutlery she had laid down being unmoved and gathering dust.

The mains arrived, 1 hour and 35 minutes after being seated. Fish and chips were fine. Stingy on the chips but you get that everywhere. The mash on my girlfriends plate was lumpy, the veg looked like it had been picked from a patch of grass outside and soaked in a puddle.

It was only after the rest of the tables had cleared did the staff become aware how undeserved we'd been, to that point. The attempt to compensate with overservice thereafter was predictably inept - the waitress shot over when we weren't finished and asked to take the plates, at which point I resigned myself to not enjoying a second of the meal and gave up. Allowed the plates to be taken away even though it was obvious we weren't done.

20% off the meal wasn't nearly enough compensation. Bizarrely service charge was still on the amended bill.

Atmosphere also fine, quite loud but it's Northcote Road...

I saw this place open up and was excited to try it. It always looks busy.

We went along on a Friday lunchtime and it was surprisingly quiet and we chose a table near the window, which were fully open as it was a beautiful sunny day.

The environment and decor and atmosphere was really comfortable and kinda lush (in a good way).

I wasn’t happy with my main of Hake as it was barely warm. It tasted nice but the temperature spoilt the experience. I would say the mushed butter beans chorizo hash was also a little on the salty side.

My friend’s risotto was ok, a bit dry and not the unctuous slippery consistency you’d expect. Tasted ok.

My sticky toffee pudding was also a slight disappointment. Temperature issue again (not warm enough) and it was a dense sponge that wasn’t as soft and giving or tasty as it should have been. The sticky toffee sauce felt too sugary and not the flavour it should have been.

I gave this feedback and the service and response was exemplary and preempted. Both the staff were lovely and apologetic and understanding. 5 stars plus for service and a fab place to eat/socialise.

Right now food rating is about 3. The triple cooked chips were not as fluffy and tasty as I would expect. They didn’t seem triple cooked and they weren’t the nice square shape for really good triple cooked chips, which was a shame.

However, I asked for garlic mayonnaise (not on menu) and they provided that np.

We will come again as for pub fare it’s a good standard and a few tweaks it’ll be very good.

I was v full afterwards so I can attest to the generous...

Normally eat here during the week and sometimes on a Saturday. Food and service is always good (although I have to admit I don’t like being asked 4 or 5 times during a meal if everything is ok, as it disrupts conversation. Once is enough). It’s only the younger staff that do this, the older staff have seem to have more experience. Anyway, it’s not a major thing, at least they try and the service is quick and efficient. Now to the food. I’ve had better roasts. The beef was good, nice and rare and lots of flavour, and good veg, but the roasts were a let down, they’d obviously been sat, reheated and so on. I know it’s hard to serve up good roasties in that surrounding but it is possible with some care and preparation. I’ll give it another try in a month or so as they may have just been having a difficult day. The others in my party had the pork belly and said it was lovely, although agreed the roasties weren’t all that. My partner had fish and chips and said it was very average. So I don’t know if it’s a different chef on a Sunday...