Tonight Josephine - Waterloo — Restaurant in London

I had an awful experience at this place. The staff made me cry during my 21st birthday party, and I was completely shocked. I had pre-booked a table for 14 people after calling them ahead of time, and I spent over £150 there, but their service was unbelievably terrible. I asked them about their food options on the call, and they told me they didn’t serve food, which surprised me because I had seen people eating there on TikTok. The person on the phone said that they allow customers to bring food from outside so I planned to bring in 7 pizzas from Domino's and a birthday cake, and they agreed and noted it down.

I called again and spoke to someone else who confirmed that everything was fine and that they noted I would be bringing food and cake. I also asked if they could provide cutlery for serving the cake, and she said yes and wrote that down too. When I called again to double-check about the cutlery, the person on the phone told me, “we don’t even have a kitchen but you can bring plastic plates and cutlery if you want,” which left me shocked. I ended up going to the store the night before my party to get disposable plates and cutlery.

When I arrived, one of their staff members was immediately rude to me. Her name is Jessica, and she’s honestly the rudest staff member I’ve ever encountered in London. The way Jessica spoke to me was unbelievable, and all my friends noticed how disrespectful she was, but I tried to ignore it.

I ordered the pizza from Domino's, just like I mentioned on the call, and as soon as I brought it in, Jessica screamed at me to throw it away. I tried to explain that I had spoken to someone who said it was fine, but she just dismissed me, saying, “I don’t care, throw it away, eat it outside, or bin it.” I told her that they noted it down that I was bringing pizza and she responded to that saying “it says maybe pizza which doesn't mean anything” I was in shock. If I was told that this place did food then I would've obviously bought from them. I told her she was being really rude, but she just kept yelling at me. I was already stressed out on my 21st birthday after spending £140 on pizza for my friends, and now I was being told to throw it out. I reminded her that I was told they didn’t serve food and didn’t even have a kitchen, and she replied, “Well, we clearly do, and you need to bin that.” and when I tried to light the candles for my birthday the place said that they don't allow sparkling candles. Everything together was just a terrible experience.

This place was incredibly unprofessional. Not only did they give me wrong information over the phone, but one of their staff members screamed at my face and when my friends tried to defend me after seeing me cry from the stress, she started screaming in their faces too. She eventually apologized, saying it was nothing personal and that she was annoyed at the managers, but that’s no excuse for treating a customer this way, especially on my 21st birthday. This was the worst experience I’ve had with staff in London, and my friends and I are definitely never coming back.

I’m writing this review a few weeks later because it took me some time to process how badly I was treated on my special day. Remembering everything that happened was really tough, but this place seriously needs to improve...

This review primarily concerns the conduct of the establishment's doorman, who introduced himself as "Lewis or Louis" (likely an alias), along with another lady working at the door.

On the evening of May 2nd, 2024, at around 10 o'clock, I ventured to the establishment solo with the intent of enjoying a solitary drink. Upon my arrival, I encountered a lady stationed at the entrance who promptly halted my entry, insisting I wait. Slightly perplexed, given the absence of a queue or any imminent patrons, I politely inquired as to the reason for my delay. Her response indicated a necessity for approval from the establishment's purported "big boss," Lewis or Louis, before granting me entry.

Somewhat puzzled, I questioned the rationale behind requiring clearance from the supposed head honcho, especially considering my uneventful prior visits to the establishment. Nevertheless, I acquiesced and inquired about the anticipated wait time for this aforementioned figure. The lady assured me of their imminent arrival.

After a brief five-minute interval, during which no other patrons approached the entrance, the aforementioned "big boss," Lewis or Louis, finally made their appearance. Courteously, I approached and requested permission to enter for a single drink, as apparently mandated by the door woman .

However, to my surprise, after a cursory appraisal, I was summarily denied entry with the explanation that I was, in their estimation, "highly intoxicated." Perplexed by this assertion, particularly in light of the fact that the venue was not at capacity and I was unaccompanied by a rowdy group, I sought further clarification to no avail.

Despite my attempts to reason with the doorman, he remained steadfast in his decision, citing his purported decade of experience in discerning character and asserting my inebriation merely through visual assessment.

This encounter left me with a sense of bewilderment and frustration. It seems evident that the establishment could benefit from employing individuals of greater discernment and professionalism at their entrance. Ultimately, after wasting a considerable amount of time in fruitless discourse, I opted to seek solace across the street at the Fire Station Pub, where I enjoyed a delightful pint of Guinness in a more welcoming environment.

In conclusion, it's often wiser to gracefully disengage from futile encounters rather than persisting in fruitless contention, adhering to the sage adage: "Never argue with fools, for they will drag you down to their level and then beat you...

Avoid if you don't want your night to be ruined. Went there for my friend's birthday, the night got off to a good start but went downhill as only 1 hour into our booking, one male staff member tried to remove us from our table reserved for a large group to give to 2 girls. Wouldn't you think to be 100% sure of who has reserved that table and the time slot before you proceed to kick them off? Very unprofessional. If the table was booked by another party, you need to make sure the current party knows how long they have left so they can prepare to leave. I work in the guest service industry so I know what i'm talking about. That’s not how you treat paying customers. Then he realised he made a mistake, but later came back to kick us off the table in such a rude manner. He came over with his spray and rag to clean the table with no proper explanation, not giving us a chance to gather our things before wiping away. So we had to down our drinks fast. I have never been treated like this before. We have been to many bars and clubs together and when we have had to leave a table we were told how long we had left and given time to collect our things. We were treated kindly and not rushed which prompted us to stay and continue the night there without a table. We still had buckets with bottles and full glasses on the table and half of my friends were in the toilet or smoking outside so they were not aware that their drinks were being taken. What did they expect us to do with the buckets? Hold them in our hands in a busy crowded area while everyone looks at us? It was so embarrassing and handled so badly. He shoved his fingers inside my friends cup that she was about to drink. That’s how you think people should be treated? Makes no sense as they let a group of people that were there before us to stay there. It was blatant that they simply didn't want us to be there.The only good thing was the drag queen. The vibes were completely ruined, we tried our best to salvage the night elsewhere but the party mood died when they treated us like that. Will never go back and will never recommend to anyone. Definitely biased behaviour going on there. You need to train your staff to interact with customers in...