White Bear — Restaurant in London

On the plus side, the food was good. Apart from that the pub really seems to have gone downhill since my last visit in the spring. There didn’t seem to be enough staff on so we were constantly having to attract attention to order more drinks etc. and then, after we’d eaten, our table was left strewn with empty glasses and plates to the point where I eventually cleared it myself and put everything on a free one behind us while the staff looked on. We ended up feeling so frustrated with the lack of service that we moved to a different part of the pub where we could go to the bar ourselves and where we found another table covered in glasses which I once again had to clear before we could sit down (the end of the bar was also full of unwashed glasses). We then found ourselves having to move again because of an extremely loud group of people near us and once again had to clear the table of glasses before we could sit. We then realised that all of the lights above the seats on our side of the pub (immediately inside the door on the left as you entered) were out so we were basically sitting in darkness. I went up to ask the bar staff if they could turn the lights on but was met with a shrug and an explanation that they didn’t know how to do that. Another customer at the bar told me this was because the new manager was trying to ‘create atmosphere’ to which I responded there was a difference between mood lighting and not being able to see the faces of the people on the other side of the table (incidentally we had had to use the torches on our phones earlier to read the menus in the restaurant). Eventually the switch was found and the lights went on although only for a brief period of time before we were plunged into darkness again. By this point we collectively decided to give up and sit in the dark which was fine until dead on 11 when the lights all over the pub went on and someone I can only presume was the new manager began hollering for us to drink up and leave. He then came over and told us directly we had three minutes to finish and go. One of our party commented to the rest of us that they thought it was twenty minutes drinking up time at which point the same barman came back and quite rudely pointed out to us that if he’d said ten minutes we would have taken three times that so he thought he’d cut out the middle man and tell us three minutes so we’d leave on time. Talk about being made to feel like a valued customer! I should point out that the pub wasn’t that busy so none of this poor service was down to the staff trying to cope with a high volume of customers. We weren’t the only people that were complaining either. An older couple near us in the restaurant who ordered before us were apparently forgotten and then had to rush their food when it finally arrived as they were going to the theatre. Before they’d finished somebody came over and told them they would have to leave the rest of their meal and go up immediately as they were holding the show for them which seemed to anger them quite a bit. Anyway, it was quite an uncomfortable evening and put a bit of a dampener on my birthday celebration. The sad thing for the pub is that one of the people with me is in a choir and he was looking for somewhere in the area they could use to go to after rehearsals every week and thought the White Bear might be a candidate. Not surprisingly, after the terrible experience he had had though, he said they would look for...

Not great, and has been steadily getting worse. There used to be a time when the menu, price & service were reliable. Not so much anymore... sadly. This week, our table was in the wrong area - even though I mentioned we'd have dogs with us on booking. So there was confusion about that, meaning friends were waiting by the bar, not knowing if the booking had gone through or not. Eventually we found someone to ask, and got a decent table. Asked if we could choose off the Christmas menu - nope. You needed to request that a week ahead??! Then the items people wanted on the normal evening menu were not available - steak pie, saus mash. Admittedly it was a Monday evening, but that shouldn't dictate what is or isn't on the menu. Some started with soup, which took ages to arrive. And then there was a loooong extended time gap between the starters, and any main meals arriving. Table was booked for 7.30pm, we ordered just after 8pm, after waiting for both starters and main meals, our mains didn't arrive much before 9pm!!! Being vegetarian, typically the choice is limited anyway. I don't want to spend a fortune on risotto (I'm not keen on it), and the other alternative is the plant based burger, or weighty mac cheese. Would be nice to have other options, but heyho. Just because we don't eat meat, doesn't mean we've lost our sense of taste! When my burger arrived, it was on the small side... Fries were ok. But there are no frills or extras - choice of chips, salad on the side, slaw, choice of different sauces? Both meat and veg burger plates were very bare. There wasn't enough cutlery for everyone, and we actually had to ask for the sauces, as none arrived with ours. Since first eating there, and regularly doing the quiz for a few years now, the food & service has lost its winning edge over time. The prices keep going up, but quality, portion sizes, and choice has gone the other way. Staff weren't interested at all. The noise levels are quite intrusive too. People in for a game night, customers in the restaurant behind, and at the bar in front = makes it very difficult to carry on a conversation. It was very difficult to hear one another, just across our regular sized table. None of us were very impressed this week, and are not thinking of returning...

Great food but ripped off.

I called this restaurant to enquire about a Christmas party. I was advised that I would owe 10£ deposit pp but that would be taken off the price of the set menu per person. On the day, due to covid 5/16 of our party cancelled. I called up before about 3 of the cancellations and was told they would lose their deposit but we wouldn't have to pay for the food. When we arrived and learnt there were two more cancellations, the lovely waitress informed us that they would be taken off the bill. When the bill arrived we were still charged for the last two cancellations. The manager then came to sort out the bill. He was very abrupt and spoke to us like we were stupid. He said we had to pay the deposit and for our meals to make up for the cancellations. I. E. It would cost 20£pp who cancelled and we each paid a total of £43 for our three course meal. Which was meant to cost £33 but £23 on the day as we had all paid £10 in advance. The manager was not willing to hear us out and unfortunately one of our party didn't like the confrontation and picked up the bill. He shouldn't have had to and this left a really bad taste in our mouth after what was a very enjoyable Christmas meal, as had been expected. I felt compelled to leave a review because the amount of money that was taken from us is outrageous. Unless any form of compensation can be offered, please avoid this place and the rude manager who will try to get far more money out of you than...