I have been looking forward to coming here for years. Having worked hospitality and eaten at a lot Michelin restaurants around the world, I had great expectations.
You go to restaurants like this for the experience - it’s about the ‘theatre’ - the attention to detail of the wait staff/service, the menu/food/flavours and of course the ambience.
While the food was lovely and the staff were friendly - I felt the restaurant doesn’t know what it is. I left feeling that it was a nice dinner - but not to the level that it sells itself as.
Service - there was a lack of attention to detail. For instance, we had to top our own water up, we had to ask what the dishes were that we were being served and no one thought about giving us our coats at the end of the night - we had to ask several staff. The prices paid at a restaurant like this, you just can’t switch off - which sadly happened on this Saturday night. Any other restaurant I wouldn’t care - but a Michelin restaurant I expect more.
Food - was lovely and very tasty. There were no flavours or combinations that I thought were life changing. There was no amuse-bouche - but the cod and beef were nice. The flavours of the cabbage side with the beef was the most memorable.
The wine list was fine - however it is served to you on an iPad which did kind of ruin the ambience of the dinner to look and scroll on an iPad.
Ambience - lovely old building - but again I felt there were simple wins that were missed. Staff didn’t split the tables up, so while the restaurant was only half full, they sat us all next to each other and left half of it empty which was odd. The music was also random. Billy Joel, modern pop and not what I would call background music.
Lastly, these restaurants tend to be for special occasion destinations. For us it was our 11 year anniversary. When you tell staff they usually make a fuss, or plate your desert with happy anniversary written in chocolate or something random. While it may feel naff - it is important to remember that restaurants like this specialise in ‘special occasion’ dinning. Again, even while knowing it was our anniversary I couldn’t help feeling a bit unloved because nothing was done to make us feel special at all. Not a big deal, but again this is not a normal restaurant, which is reflected in its price.
And then the bill came out with a £59 tip automatically put on it (15%). A bit excessive - I wouldn’t normally mind paying it if the service was great - but it was ordinary. I paid it anyway - but I did leave the night with a bad taste in my mouth.
So yeah all in all disappointing. If this was a restaurant like 21 - I wouldn’t haven’t have felt the same way - however I wouldn’t have just blowing £450 on a dinner for two.