Urban Pantry — Restaurant in London

Probably the most humiliating and upsetting eating out experience :( went with my husband, my brother and two young children and was our first breakfast out in a LONG time so thought we would try somewhere new. To start, everything was great, nice table, offered Highchairs and the waitress serving seemed nice & attentive. The table was dirty though and I realised my little one was eating crumbs from the table which isn’t exactly ideal during these times but anyway, if it was just that, I would have gotten over it. Food served in good time, pancakes were great, the breakfasts were really good too (we had the avo smash and the urban breakfast) they were a bit on the pricey side but guessing the food is well sourced so I’m ok with that as I’m all for supporting an independent business. Anyway, the problem arose when I was given the bill, I noticed they added service charge and asked the waitress politely if she could give me a receipt for just the food as I would be paying the service separately. I asked this simply because I have food allowance for work but it doesn’t include service charges so just easier for me to have the receipt without it so less admin for me! I also wanted to pay service with cash and the food with my card. Anyway, when the waitress brought it over to the girl on the till, she pulled a cross face and abruptly asked the waitress to ask me if there was anything I wasn’t happy with (even though I heard her from the till so guessing all other customers could hear too). This totally baffled me as to why she would ask me that but I told her no, nothing and that I just needed a separate receipt but if there was an issue, I could easily just sort what I needed manually. I couldn’t understand why asking for this would be a problem? someone from kitchen then came out and they were muttering together and I just heard him say something (purposely loud) along the lines that he thought it was terrible and that he would feel Soooo bad if he ever did that etc and they were all just having a right old gossip!! I could feel it was being directed at me but I was still confused as wasn’t sure what I had done wrong? Penny dropped. I think they thought I wasn’t going to pay the service and were angry about it. I told the waitress to bring the payment machine over and I told her to just add the service charge for me as I was so flustered and upset so wanted to get out ASAP as I only had a £20 note and was actually afraid to ask for change at the risk of even more poor treatment. I didn’t ever say I didn’t want to pay service or that I was unhappy with it, I simply needed a separate receipt. Even though it wasn’t the case for me, It should be noted that the service charge is Actually discretionary and customers are entitled to leave what they believe is satisfactory, it is for the customer to decide and not the business. The place is a cafe, not a restaurant with silver service so if a customer did not want to pay the service imposed, it is their prerogative and they certainly should not be treated and insulted In any way. At the end of the day, they are still paying customers and providing business. It’s not the USA, we have a decent min wage system and tips aren’t an obligation. In saying that, I HAD NO ISSUE with paying it especially since the 50% discount applied (which is reimbursed by the govt) and my little one was being a nightmare but the staff just completely humiliated me for no reason. I had to nip back in as my daughter lost her toy as I left in a hurry But was shaking at having to go in as just felt so insulted and upset. The waitress serving me did say sorry as I think she realised there had been an misunderstanding and she was nice but didn’t receive anything from the other staff. I just think it would have been warranted for the manager to apologise and just say there was a misunderstanding but I was left to feel that I was the one in the wrong?Hate to leave a review like this as started off well but just so upset by this that I felt I needed to get it off my chest and...

I went to urban pantry yesterday morning at around 10:30 to get some brekkie with my husband and SIL. Location is great as we love La Trompette and whistling oyster. Anyway, we made the order… I ordered a veggie breakfast with poached eggs and muffin instead of their sourdough bread as it’s way too hard for me. Husband ordered full English breakfast and sil ordered poached eggs on toast. We also ordered lattes. The restaurant was not particularly busy there was still some empty tables. Lattes arrived within 5-8 minutes. Our Food took over 40mins!!! I was completely shocked!!! Plus the staff don’t even talk to you and let you know it’s on the way or anything. Once the food had finally arrived. My husbands order was missing beans, eggs and muffin?! Which was really strange as he said oh it will be out in 5mins?! No one serves half the meal and the other half after? Sil had no issues although we were starving at that point! Mine was absolutely terrible! The smashed avocado tasted awful and they were definitely out of date! The halloumi was burnt and chewy! The mushrooms were barely cooked! The poached eggs were watery, I had to ask for them to be changed but I had already consumed a few bites! The tomatoes were actually really really nice and so were the muffins! But that was it! Sadly, since then I have been vomiting, severe stomach cramps and have diarrhoea! I will never ever eat there again and I will tell all of my friends and family to never go there as I would not want them to experience the pain and suffering as I have since I ate at urban pantry! The absolute worst decision I’ve ever made! Plus it’s over priced and...

Food was fantastic and generous portions which I think is reflective for the price (a few £ more than your typical brunch price). A tiny wait as we were waiting for table of 5 but it flew by as we waited for some other friends and caught up in the wait. The establishment was a bit smaller than I expected, benefitted by having seating on the porch. Menu was exciting and really good variety. Bored of your typical full English these days so this was a very much welcome difference.

Corn fritters, loved how it was croquette style and had a great crisp. Added 2x poach eggs @ £3. Wasn't heavy at all and a good balance with the beef bennys which was on the richer side. Very filling meals. Servers made sure we had plenty of water and was efficient to try and keep the queue low/fast moving. Was quite loud inside so sometimes struggled to have a conversation across the round table. Pretty much eat and go if you're going during peak so don't expect to order another round of drinks and chill. Understandable considering the popularity and the size of seating area.

Would happily go again, food is 10/10 and...