The Rooftop — Restaurant in London

What was supposed to be a nice start to having chill drinks with a view before our anniversary dinner, ended up being a horrible experience with customer service.

We were seated within 15 minutes of our booking reservation, which then took over 30 minutes to be served. In fact, my partner had to exclaim to waitress 1 that we'd like to be served please because we were appalled that just seconds before that, waitress 1 had actually saw us waiting but continued to do whatever it was that she was doing which was speaking to her colleague.

Waitress 1 apologised for the wait and said "sorry, I thought you had been served already". In my opinion, it would've been safe than sorry to ask the customer and to make sure if they had been served or not, rather than make assumptions. At this point, we'd much rather order 2 of the same drinks each and I had explicitly asked waitress 1 that I'd like to put this order in and pay for it straight away because we were in a rush to get to our dinner afterwards. I ordered 2 sweet wines and 2 whiskey cocktails.

About another 10 minutes passed, waitress 2 came by with only 2 whiskey cocktails but not the 2 glasses of sweet wine. My partner explained that we were waiting for 2 additional drinks and that our order had been taken from waitress 1 to reflect this.

As waitress 2 came to our table, I could see that she had the 2 wines we requested but she only placed 1 glass on our table then walked further down. Thinking that she had to quickly do something, I waited for her to come back with our 2nd glass but ended up walking past us again to leave it at the bar, again assuming it must've been a mistake in the order. Now, I'm not sure about the laws regarding this but we also spotted the bartender pouring the wine back into the bottle.

At this point, we were just fed up with the service and as we were already running late, we didn't get to enjoy our drinks and pretty much drank it all really fast. Remember waitress 1? She never came back since then and I didn't get to pay for the drinks ASAP so had to wait another 10 minutes before I could grab attention from another waiter so that I could pay and leave.

The only good service I had was from when I asked a nice waiter for the bill and he came back straight away with the payment card. The drinks were...

Had high expectations admittedly, so maybe that was my first error. The majority of the rooftop area we were sat in was in total shade. It was quite chilly where we were, so we politely asked if there was any possibility to sit in the sun. It was a no, as the other tables were reserved. Fair. As time went on, we had to call for service to take our order, to pour our bottle of wine set aside out of reach in an ice bucket and we had to request some blankets (but they only had one available). A table in the sun became available and was empty for 15+ minutes, so we asked again if it would be possible to move to the sunny table. We were told no, as it was reserved (though for tables reserved, you're not told where you are sitting, so it wouldn't have made a difference to that reservation if they had of been sat at our table initially). The waiter's attitude was a bit abrupt (possibly because we asked twice), so we asked to have the service charge removed due to having to flag down service when required, pour our own wine (I had to go and retrieve our bottle eventually so we could continue drinking / top up our empty glasses)... the icing was the passive aggressive and sarcastic comment by the waiter when we asked the service charge to be removed. Sealed the deal and confirmed why we asked for it to be removed. To add insult to injury, we discovered the other side of the rooftop bar had lots of empty seats and sofas in the sunshine... I asked a waiter on that side if those tables and sofas were reserved and he said no.... that admittedly got my back up. As if that wasn't enough, a table of 4 sat in the shade next to us asked if they could have the table we had previously asked to move to (and we were told no)... they were moved within a minute to the table in sun! Not sure why they took precedence and why we were denied, as we had asked politely. The front of house workers who sat us initially were lovely and smiley, but after being sat, the waiting staff were abrupt, obstinate and rude.... live & learn or one & done. We...

St James rooftop bar in Charing Cross is situated on the seventh floor of the Trafalgar Hotel. We recommend that you book in advance as it’s very popular and there is limited seating in some areas especially if there is a private hire.

This lovely rooftop is split into two areas. You can opt for The Gallery with high stools giving you beautiful views over London including the London Eye, Trafalgar Square and St Paul’s. Alternatively you can have a drink at The Deck, their sundrenched conservatory that has open and covered seating.

We can’t resist having a cocktail when the sun is shining. We had an Aviation: Plymouth gin, Luxardo maraschino, violet liquer, lemon juice (£15). This was presented in a coupe glass and was floral and refreshing.

We also tried a French 75: Plymouth gin, champagne, lemon, sugar syrup (£16). It was crisp, very refreshing and so easy to drink! Lastly we had a Not From Around Here (£16) with Italicus, Bergamont, Campari, Prosecco Franklin and Sons soda water. It was served in what I like to call a large Gin Balloon glass and, similar to the others, was a perfect summery drink.

They also have Mocktail options priced at £10 and £11 and a selection of Prosecco, champagne and rose, white and red wines. We had a Savingnon Blanc French 2016 for £30 a bottle. It was the cheapest on the menu and others were priced nearer the mid £40 – £50 mark.

They also offer a few food options with the drinks including charcuterie, salmon flatbread and bao buns. You also receive nuts with your drinks which they are happy to keep filling up!

The Rooftop St James bar in Charing Cross is a gorgeous place to relax in the sun with friends, family and work colleagues. Naturally it is more expensive (service is also added) so consider it for impressing a client or a date or just go up for a couple! The staff were friendly and attentive, the cocktails were fantastic and the whole atmosphere...