Livebait (Waterloo)

We went there on Saturday. We were last there in, I think, about 2003, with a mate, and although it was by no means cheap in those days, it was lovely.

Not any more. First, the place smelt funny. So, hungry, we swore not to order seafood, just fish. Then we were shown to our table, and noticed another bad smell, this time like a toilet. I lowered my nose to the table, and yes, that was what it was, it had clearly been wiped down with a cloth that hadn't been cleaned or rinsed in some time. I told the waiter, and he cleaned it again, this time with a brand new cloth. Then we ordered wine, and that was corked. They didn't have another of that type, so we had to order a more expensive one. We ordered one main course off the menu - the cod - and one off the specials board - the salmon and swordfish, and a bowl of chips. Bread arrived then, and it was awful, like that half cooked bread you buy in the supermarket and finish off in the oven, only it had only been warmed through, making it inedible. It came with some sort of ersatz fish paste that was also awful. Then the mains arrived, with the chips. My wife’s salmon was OK, but the swordfish was terribly overcooked, making it dry and tasteless, while my cod was been massively oversalted, to the extent that I only ate the flesh, leaving the skin, which I normally love, on the side of the plate. The veg with her salmon and swordfish was a very odd combination, mushy roasted peppers with near-raw carrots, in some sort of vinegary sauce. Not too good. With the cod was some sort of potato mess, but it was watery and grey, and pretty tasteless. The chips were terrible too, clearly they’d been sitting in the bowl for some time in the kitchen, they tasted old and stale, and when you turned the bowl upside down, they all fell out in one bowl-shaped lump.

Still hungry, we had a dessert, a very melty blob of alleged mango ice cream with a slice of plasticky chocolate tart, both tasting like they’d come from Aldi.

When our waiter asked if everything was OK, we told him about the chips, the swordfish, the cod and the potatoes, and he said he’d talk to the kitchen. However, the next time we saw him was when he brought our bill, without our asking for it, with everything still on it. I was getting really quite cross at this stage (and at £76 all in, I think I’m entitled to be), but my wife wouldn’t let me contest the bill, so we paid the bill on a card, and left, leaving no tip (I usually leave 10% in cash as a tip). As we exited the place I looked back to see him looking under the dessert plates and the bill plate, and I have to assume he was looking for a tip. Dream on mate!

We once loved Livebait, eating there two or three times a year in the 90s and early 00s, but, on their current form, we will never go there again.
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nigel paxton
3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Monday, February 07, 2011

Went to the Waterloo branch, on a whim, last night. 10 years ago, when I first went there, Livebait was the best fish restaurant in London. Now? 6 years since my last visit, Livebait is a sad shadow of it's former self, selling two mains and a bottle of wine for a shade under £80. Rubbish reheated chips, limp salad, dirty glasses, sticky table, indifferent service. The fish (swordfish and salmon duo for me, cod for my partner) was OK, and for £19 a plate I'd be most annoyed if it wasn't, but the whole experience was just a huge disappointment. Won't be going back again.
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John Roberts
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Sunday, February 06, 2011

I wish I'd had the foresight to check london-eating before setting foot in here. Our experience was in line with the majority below: overpriced food coupled with very ordinary service.

We had hoped to go to the fabulous Hope & Anchor across the road, but we were a bit late in the day and the wait would have been longer than our stomachs would permit. Instead we went in here. Initially the signs were good. Despite the, relatively, late hour the maître d’ was welcoming and said he was able to accommodate us. This, it turned out, was to be the highpoint of our brief stay.

We had barely had time to lift the menus from the tables before we were asked if we were ready to order. Unsurprisingly, the answer was no. We were told in no uncertain terms that we needed to be quick as the kitchen was already closing down. Now, the obvious question which springs to my mind is that if you're more interested in going home on time than in delivering good service (or more to the point getting our money) why seat us in the first place? However, we were hungry so we pressed ahead.

We ordered promptly and also got a bottle of wine. The waitress tried to upsell us a second bottle immediately on the tenuous basis that all drinks orders had to be placed before 11pm but we assured her we were happy to share just one. Four of us ordered fish & chips, two of us with peas. I asked whether one portion of peas would suffice and was told they were very small and two were required. Needless to say, what arrived would have fed about six never mind two and consequently much went untouched.

Whilst the fish was fresh and well cooked (which it wants to be for £15) and the wine very drinkable, the chips and peas were both forgettable.

No sooner had our cutlery rested on our plates for a nanosecond than the dishes were whisked away and the bill provided. You won't be surprised to read we declined to pay the full service charge.

I had walked past this place a number of times and thought more than once I'd like to eat there. Having now done so, I found it to be a genuinely disappointing experience. I guess it is just an upmarket chain restaurant and I should have known better. I can't recommend it and I won't go back.
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Bootsy
3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Friday, January 21, 2011

bad food + bad service ÷ rip off = do not bother to go
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les miserables
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Saturday, December 04, 2010

This restaurant has seriously declined from average to very poor. Like a number of supposed fish specialists, the main technique is to pan fry everything. In September, we had food from the specials of the day board. The fish was sodden in oil as was the salad (dripping cheap virgin oil). I have been 3 times since July as I work in Blackfriars Road. Each time it has been the same poor cooking and food presentation was rubbish. I walk past the place every day, it seems to feed, as does nearby the nearby crowded but much cheaper Tas restaurant, from many Old Vic and New Vic theatre goers looking fo a near restaurant. The scale of disappointment must be growing. Chain restaurants seem to have the same problems in that the staff are not producing good cooking, they are following limited bad instructions. Ban pan fried fish,

I will not go to this place or any other livebait outlet, my rating would be 0.5 out of 10 for the bread and water which were not cheap.
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1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Saturday, October 09, 2010

There's something very wrong here. A friend and I went last night and both had the special at £17.95 which comprised a very small slice out of a red snapper fillet with three small bits of other undercooked fish and a mound of peculiar cabbage-and-mayonnaise concoction. If you wanted potatoes or any other veg then you had to order from the very expensive side order menu. A glass of wine was nearly seven pounds. They add a cover charge. Every attempt seems to be being made to ensure poor value fo rmoney.

There are loads of staff but the restaurant has the ambience of cheap chippy. I don't know if this chain was ever very good, but I left the place feeling like a fool for entering.
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Adrian Johnstone
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Thursday, September 30, 2010

Ah, I agree with all of these reviews- I just wish I'd seen them beforehand! I went with my family last night to Livebait and we are all still stunned about how bad the food was and how overpriced everything was. Really terrible. Would not recommend.
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2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Thursday, September 16, 2010

We went to Livebait (Waterloo) recently as we had never been to a Livebait restaurant before and we thought we would see what it had to offer. It was throughly disappointing. The dining area which is done out in glazed tiling had all the charm of an Edwardian municipal urinal. But what about the food your wondering, well to be fair the food was perfectly cooked and the wine was excellent. However all this comes at a price which we thought was unacceptably high. For example a small cod and chips without mushy peas or indeed anything else is over £14. And no, the fish wasn't cooked any better than at a good local fish and chip shop. What about the service you are thinking, well the staff are pleasant and friendly, but the service is rather haphazard. Finally the restaurant has the gall to charge a cover charge despite the fact there are no table cloths and the napkins are paper. How do they justify such a charge? Don't ask me. Would we go back? Sorry Livebait not until you offer better value for money.
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Ivan Bole
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Saturday, April 03, 2010

We invited two friends and asked them to choose the place. They booked in Livebait Waterloo. The meals were hardly average and the sardines (supposed to be fresh) were like leather! The Muscadet was overpriced and the cover charge (does it still exist?) is £2 per head. At £163, I shall not go back and I shall not recommend it.
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S.Rousset
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, March 30, 2010

i went to this restaurant just as i liked the look of it : simple and clean with a friend.

the service was welcoming, but the kitchen was so slow....it took 40 mn to see the first main dish (we did not take any first course)

The "famous" fish pie was just horrible: tiny, so dry it must have been made three or 4 days before ( had to gulp some water between each mouthfull)

the portion of the lemon tart was so small i had to ask the waiter if it was the end of the pie...

shame as it could be a great clean restaurant...
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jb bacquart
4 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, December 15, 2009