The William — Restaurant in London

Went to the William with a friend to explore the 3 course festive menu after seeing a targeted ad on Instagram. We were greeted by attentive, friendly staff who gave us a choice of tables and generous tasters from their wine menu.

As I had previously requested when booking, the starters were out at 2:15 and we were blown away by the taste and presentation. I went for the cauliflower mac & cheese croquettes and my friend the scallops. The croquettes were fantastic, not too heavy or stodgy, and paired wonderfully with what tasted like lightly pickled cauliflower in a blended truffle sauce. 10/10 starter, off to a flying start.

The mains followed soon after, roast beef with potatoes, leaks and salad. As we had asked, the beef was nicely medium rare and overall it was a lovely plate of food. The summery salad was a touch incongruous and a little doused in dressing which did not quite harmonise with the rest of the ensemble. Potatoes crispy and delicious. The creamed leeks were tasty if not a wee bit bland but saved with extra salt and cooked just enough to preserve fresh crunch which is difficult to do. Clean plates once again, the service throughout humorous, insightful and not overbearing. We were offered a break between the main and pudding which was a nice homey touch.

Onto the dessert, a steamed gingerbread pudding served with a healthy dollop of clotted cream which we originally mistook for ice cream due to its size. This amount of cream was likely an attempt to combat the dryness of the sponge. It was a tasty pudding, but overall a slightly disappointing end - neither of us finished it, but we were both very full and content by then!

I'm going to give the total experience a 4 star, which I think is very fair. The menu was overall a bit overpriced for what we received, and it's telling that this hadn't crossed our minds whilst enjoying a world class starter: the courses from then went very slightly downhill - but still kept to a high standard. The food at the William is clearly prepared with pride and expertise, and I realise my complaints may be a bit pernickety, but at £48 for three courses, you very much open yourself to fussy criticism of this kind. All three courses should really be of the same level.

Extra points for the Christmas crackers provided, we sat, and were merry with our silly hats and bad jokes. The food and service was great quality. A very merry Christmas to everyone at...

Before talking about the food, let me say the staff here were great. We had some awkward requests (whoever heard of a vegan who was fussy about vegetables) and these were met with grace and accommodation and during and after our meal we found the staff attentive and polite. Also, we ordered first two erdinger lagers which there was clearly something wrong with as they tasted musty and had an odd cloudy murky looking colour that is not typical of that drink. The barman quickly and quietly apologised and swapped them. Not a problem for me just one of those things. The place itself is a little bland and empty looking, extremely quiet when we first wandered in off the canal looking for a Sunday roast. During dinner the staff asked would we mind if they turned down the lights and added some music. Of course not it really warmed the place up and gave it a bit of atmosphere. The food itself was not good. Very tough beef, potatoes that had clearly been cooked in vegetable oil and tasted of it and tiny flat little Yorkshire puddings. The gravy was rich and dark however and the cabbage and broccoli were well cooked (if under seasoned) and the honey glazed carrots and parsnips were overly sweet for my taste although others in our party enjoyed them. The vegetarian option called itself a ‘tomato and almond bake’. Watch out if you’re expecting an actual bake when you order this as what you will receive is a beefsteak tomato cut in half and sprinkled with shaved almonds before being baked (not the same as a bake) and bunged in an oven. Really not good. We also had to ask for horseradish which I feel should come as standard with roast beef which the girl was lovely about and happy to oblige. We also ordered mac and cheese as a side (cauliflower cheese wasn’t an option and apparently they consider pasta a good side to a roast) which was creamy and cooked through but watery like an insipid soup and with some breadcrumbs bunged on top to hide the fact that it clearly hadn’t been baked as the top wasn’t one bit crispy. A really basic roast for which I won’t be back but at least the price was reasonable at £15 I kind of felt we were getting what we paid for there. Shame as there is potential in this place it just certainly...

Photos are very misleading. Communication was terrible. I checked before booking that I could have a ground floor room with a bath, as was staying with my mother who is disabled. They said this was fine, and I booked. I checked again about a month before our check in date, and again it was confirmed we could have ground floor with a bath. I rang again the day before and checked. It was again confirmed. We arrived, there were no hotel staff available, so we had to go into the adjoining bar (run by people, who were VERY helpful and friendly), to be told how to access the hotel. (I'd been sent an email that day giving me a key code, I hadn't seen the email) Unlocked the main door, to be greeted with 2 sets of steep stairs. There was nowhere else to go. I rang the mobile number on the email, no answer. It was 10pm, it was raining, it was cold, I was not happy! We had no choice but to use the stairs. If my mother had been any less able, we would have had to stay in the freezing doorway. *as a side note, she shouldn't have even attempted it. She suffered for it for a few weeks afterwards! Finally got into our room. No bath. Not to mention the poor state of disrepair in the entire room! I called the number again. Finally got an answer, to be told that they don't have any rooms with a bath. And they only have first floor rooms. And that nobody would have told me otherwise and I must be mistaken. So, I'm basically being called a liar. I was furious!!!!!!! I looked for other hotels in the area, but I couldn't afford to book somewhere else. Their incompetence more or less ruined a once in a lifetime trip for me and my mum. I'd saved up for a long time, and I'd been fooled with flattering photographs and dishonest staff?? But I was stuck, and I wasn't going to let it ruin our trip. I never saw one member of staff, I never got a response to any of my emails on the matter, and I'm yet to receive any form of...