The Woodins Shades — Restaurant in London

What an awful dining experience we had here. After being asked to sit down, we had to wait for twenty minutes to be asked what we wanted to eat (the place was not busy at all), and with our food we requested some tap water for the table, that never came. Once the food was coming to the table (which took almost half an hour) we requested water again and we were only served one glass of water for the five of us. I had to call again to ask for napkins and more water, and we were given TWO napkins for five people eating burgers and the water never came. So we had to take out a water bottle and kleenex tissues from our bags to be able to dine comfortably. We could not believe how little the waitress cared about what we were requesting, and without asking if we wanted dessert or anything else, she just brought the card reader to each of us to pay for our plates. We noticed that she was adding the service charge (which I understand that in this city is quite standard to do) so we requested to take it out of our bills. Initially she said it wasn't possible, but after insisting she took it out of one of our plates and when it was my time to pay I noticed she was charging me more than what my plate cost, so I asked if she had taken out he service charge. She said yes and when I asked why did it cost more that on the menu, she had the guts to tell me "inflation", lying to my face. She started talking to us rudely and cleaning the table pushing us around after we requested to remove the service charge from the bill, we could not belive how poorly she was treating us. After this, we put a complaint with the manager and we saw our bills (that she never showed to us in the first place) and we saw that she charged the service charge in all but one of the plates, even after we requested to not to pay it. They said that they could not refound us, and apologised in her behalf, but she never came to us to apologise for the unpoliteness/lack of bare minimum. The food was quite good and the manager was nice and diligent, but I felt terribly embarassed to bring my friends to eat at a "typical english pub" and having to explain that this kind of treatment is NOT NORMAL in this country, or anywhere for that matter.

Traducción al español: si queréis que os traten fatal, no os hagan caso cuando pedís y encima os obliguen a dar propina, venid aquí. Si queréis una experiencia agradable, id a...

🚇 Liverpool Street 🍺 £6.30 Amstel ❤️ A traditional Bishopsgate boozer. . The Woodins Shades is located on bustling Bishopsgate and sits at the corner of Middlesex Street, a gateway to Petticoat Lane Market. The nearest station is Liverpool Street which is just across the road. . Built in 1893 The Woodin’s Shades takes its name from wine merchant, William Woodin, while the ‘shades’ part apparently comes from an old word for a wine vault with a drinking bar. . The decor here in this split level two bar pub is traditional. There is solid wood flooring running throughout and a mix of high and low level seating. The good sized servery is eye catching with its ornate woodwork and etched mirrors. Around the walls are a few large TV’s showing live sport. The upstairs bar is geared up for dining and is a calmer environment away from the busy ground level bar. . As this is a @nicholsonspubs the beer and food offering reflects the traditional set up here. There is a good beer selection which includes five real ales and some familiar keg favourites. I chose an Amstel, my pint was very agreeable and was average price at just over six quid. The food menu focuses on the Great British Pie and has a broad selection of pub classics too, fish and chips costs £15.50. . The atmosphere was relaxed on this Sunday lunchtime with a few different groups in from near and far plus a few solo drinkers. The Sunderland v Middlesbrough game was on the box which seemed to have most people’s attention, especially some passionate Mackem lads at the back of the bar. This pub can get very busy very quickly due to its proximity to the station and Petticoat Lane Market. I have visited this pub a few times over the years, my last visit before this I bailed as it was so busy. . The @woodinsshades is a great starting point to explore the sights and sounds of Spitalfields. This pub does traditional very well and offers its punters a traditional pub experience. The beer and food choice is good and price point is average. If you want to get the most out of this pub I would avoid peak times as it gets very busy here. . ℹ️ Info correct on...

I have to say, I have never encountered anything quite so ill-conceived as what transpired on my recent visit. A group of us entered this pub wearing T-shirts displaying the Union Jack. Nothing inflammatory, nothing abusive, simply the national flag of the country in which the pub trades. Within minutes we were told to leave on the grounds that our clothing “could cause offence” to others.

We left immediately, without the faintest disposition to disturb the concord or decorum of the venue.

That in England one can be ejected for wearing the Union Jack flag requires little commentary. The absurdity speaks for itself. To treat the nation’s flag as a provocation is staggering. It does not build a welcoming community, it corrodes it. I doubt very much that we would have been removed for wearing the emblem of any other state. That the one flag singled out for censure is the flag of this very country, the flag under which the pub prospers and pays its dues, is a shameful inversion of logic.

The most troubling aspect is not the act of exclusion itself but the intellectual posture that sustains it. It presumes that anyone wearing the Union Jack is reducible to a crude caricature: ignorant, dangerous, racist. It assumes moral superiority on the part of those who make such judgments, a belief that they are enlightened while others are benighted. Yet in casting out harmless patrons for nothing more than a national symbol, they enact precisely the bigotry they profess to abhor.

A pub should be a place of conviviality, a house of welcome. This one chose instead to police innocent attire and alienate blameless customers. It is a bleak reflection on priorities when the Union Jack is deemed too offensive for an English pub.

Needless to say, we shall not return. I would urge anyone who values fairness and common sense to reflect carefully before offering their...