The Tap on the Line, Kew — Restaurant in London

Consider creating an alternative spot for chefs to stand scratching bald heads profusely with cigarette In mouth pacing back and forth on their phones -out of site when customers are standing at the bar. Kinda gross this is a food handler.

I ordered a drink and a meal, but the experience left a lot to be desired. The food took 26 minutes to arrive—which felt unusually long for a simple pasta dish, especially considering how quiet the place was.

The “triple-cooked chips” turned out to be frozen, shop-bought chips cooked in vegetable oil—hardly worth the price tag. The man behind the till was polite, but didn’t seem fully switched on. He forgot to process payment properly for the customer before me, forgot my chicken Milanese, and also didn’t follow up when I asked about the elderflower drinks. It’s possible he had a disability, which is fine, but support seemed lacking.

While we were there, a man with no uniform was walking around spraying things at random. The manager was rushing up and down the stairs delivering food, frequently using the kitchen door that also leads to the toilets—used by hundreds of people—and I didn’t see him wash his hands once.

On arrival, we also noticed a tall table set for six taken up by the manager’s paperwork and laptop. It gave the place an unprofessional, uninviting feel.

There seems to be a shift into a “value where?” era—staff passing dirty glasses between each other, swapping plates of food with no regard for cross-contamination. This is disappointing, especially from a company like Fullers, a major London employer. The server, while friendly, was sat opposite us on his break eating a plastic-wrapped supermarket sandwich. It made me wonder: what happened to staff rooms? And why am I paying to enjoy a meal in a nice setting while sitting opposite someone scrolling their phone and crunching a sandwich plastic lunch box. Also we had to listen to the videos he was watching on his phone from our table. Because he either doesn’t care about the environment of the concept or is just not smart enough to realise when someone pays £40+ on a bowl of chips and pasta. They are buying your time.

The whole experience felt disjointed and...

First of this is a beautiful location, 10/10 one of the loveliest looking pubs you can see on the line, especially on a sunny day day. Staff members were incredibly nice all throughout, and making do with the busy customers enjoying the sun. I can't say enough nice things about the staff here. My family has gone here as a meeting spot severals times, me down from London and them up from Richmond.

Overall the main issue is the menu needs a re-work, the food itself is good, but overall the prices are exceptionally high and there is a severe lack of vegetarian options. Currently there are two, a pasta (the Rigatoni) and a Greek Salad for £16, (an extra £4 if you want to add in chicken). My British Airways economy seat had more vegetarian meal options. Additionally, ordering a cheeseburger with a veg patty, to have the waiter come back and say they're out of veg patties, then to order the rigatoni for the waiter to find out they're out of those, to finally order the Nachos sharer as a last resort, to find out they are out of those too, but they've discovered one last rigatoni.

I understand this is prime spot but the prices are exorbitant, vegetarian or not. The cheapest option (veg or not) being the salad option with no chicken for £16 is really pushing it, and understand it's in a fancy area and a pretty location, but at the end of the day it's not fine dining, and is still a pub in a station, ie "tap on the line" where you can stand and order beers and sit outside in the sun. Which is lovely, but doesn't justify fine dining prices.

End of day, this place has lots of potential, a lovely location and really friendly staff doing what they can, but it's menu and food availability really hold it back. I'd love to recommend it to others, and I hope...

"This review has been a long time coming, based on experiences over the past 3 years or so. This place could be an absolute goldmine given its proximity to Kew Gardens and lack of real competition in the area. Unfortunately, they're completely wasting that potential. The food situation for vegans and vegetarians is genuinely shocking - massively overpriced for tiny portions that leave you needing to eat again afterwards. They're clearly not taking plant-based customers seriously. On the positive side, they do have a good beer selection, including Guinness 0%, which has become increasingly popular. The major problems are with staff and facilities. The young staff seem more interested in chatting among themselves than actually serving customers. When they do serve, it's with minimal effort and poor attitudes - very few manners or basic customer service skills on display. The general approach feels immature and unprofessional. The venue itself is nicely decorated with a decent outdoor area, but the men's toilets have had a disgusting smell problem for at least 18 months. It hits you on the stairs going down - like walking into a Victorian sewer. They've tried masking it with air freshener bars in recent months, but it's still unpleasant. The whole operation feels more like a tourist trap than a proper local pub that values its community. With better management of staff, food portions, and basic maintenance, this could be excellent. As it stands, it's a missed opportunity that fails to deliver on...