Rock Garden

Sadly we went to this restaurant Saturday night for my sister’s birthday. She had found the restaurants website and liked the look of it. Shame we did not read the reviews before going. There was 6 in our party but two had to cancel at the last minute. We arrived and explained what had happened. The waitress was a bit narked to say the least, she then pointed at the table we would have had and declared 'you can't have that table now as there is only four of you'. She then proceeded to seat us on a table for two until another waiter came and told her she would not be able to do that, as we would be in their walkway. After another 5 minutes of discussions she finally organised another table. In the meantime another waiter or possibly manager came over to find out what was happening, we explained and he confirmed that we would not be able to have the original table set for us as our party numbers had reduced. He then told us we were 'lucky I am not charging you for the two covers that have not shown up'. We were shocked at this appalling lack of customer service. Eventually sitting down at a decent table we ordered. The starter came out and was disgusting, 'G' had ordered the smoked fish starter, which came with added long blonde hair, enough to put anyone off their food! 'N' had the ceaser salad, which was made with mayonnaise! ‘F’ and myself had the duck liver which was watery and disgusting! 'Gs' starter was returned and taken off the bill; we were also offered a free drink and side order. Main meals were overcooked, dry and disgusting to eat, not one person from our party finished their meal. Once the bill arrived, the side order had been added as well as the optional 15% service charge. We spoke with our waiter and told him to remove the side order and service charge and he also removed a 2nd starter because we were so disappointed with the evening. If it was not for our waiter the evening would have been a 100% disaster. I would not recommend the Rock Garden to my worst enemy. Please do not keep this restaurant in business, they do not deserve to stay open!
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Kelle M - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Overall this was a very bad dining experience, so bad in fact that I was driven to write a review for the first time.

Replacing customer comfort with maximising profits. we were seated beside (practically on top of) a couple clearly on their first date and since tables are spaced only a couple of inches apart no privacy was afforded. it's not as if all the other tables were filled!

We were then forced to wait at least 45 minutes for a burger that was little better than a big mac.

The prime location of this place has clearly gone to the heads of the 3 matre'd that were running around - pull it together guys!
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Monday, August 07, 2006

What are the other readers on about?? Rock Garden was a great choice for our night out. The location is unrivalled, the food was excellent & great value for money. We had sea bass which was superb, a delicious roast pork loin with spinach & an outstanding fish & chips which was one of the best I've had out in a long time. The service was friendly & everything arrived in perfect time. Definitely a great place to eat. I'd go & make your own mind up as the people below obviously don't appreciate a good restaurant!!
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Mr R Bryce
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 06, 2006

I agree completely with all the terrible reviews for this restaurant. We too were seated quickly and then had to wait over an hour before our drinks arrived let alone any food. They then "forgot" one person's starter, which eventually arrived about 20 minutes after everyone else's. We then saw our waitress leaving, whether she was sacked or walked out, we never found out. The waitress who took over was a trainee on her first night, and didn't have a clue what we'd ordered despite the first one writing everything down, so the wait for our main courses was another hour. They gave our second 2 bottles of wine to the neighbouring table because they thought the one bottle of wine on our table was sufficient for 8 of us. We waited another hour for desserts and coffee, and they still had the cheek to add the 15% service charge on to the bill - we didn't pay it, needless to say. The food, when it arrived, was OK, but tiny portions, so we had to order extra side dishes. Do not go to this restaurant - it's a shambles.
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Tricia
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, July 10, 2006

Fantastic Covent Garden restaurant, well priced, amazing food & very friendly service. We had a couple of dishes from the daily specials board & both were delicious.....exquisite steamed seabass for me, & juicy fillet steak wrapped in bacon for my partner. Both were presented well & cooked to perfection. The bill with wine was just under £40 which I think is great for this part of London. We'll definitely be going back & recommending to all of our friends. Thanks for a great night out.
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Steve Smith
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, July 02, 2006

Hell does exist on Earth. Its the **** ******. Dined last night as part of a package, and have to say it was a show in itself. On arrival we were seated quickly, (no doubt as every customer always seems in a rush to get out of here having experienced it), with our paper table tops, and garden furniture chairs. Had to then wait before anybody bothered to acknowledge us. But then we had to repeat our drink and food order 4 times to the waiter, as he had stopped listening to us, and was too interested in overhearing the conversation on the table next to us! (Which was another guest complaining about how bad the service was). And here is our guy ignoring us completely to listen to them. How rude, and made us feel like maybe we were getting in his way by wanting him to do his job! Starter of antipasta was ok, but hardly anything on it. One piece of salami between 2? I kid you not. They almost saved it with the mains, which did taste nice. Just a shame that the portions would not have been sufficient on a childs menu, let alone for adults. The chicken dish took up less than a quarter of the massive plate they served it on!!! Get smaller plates if you arent going to serve any food on them. We even had to send our beers back as they were flat. And the servers response. Once the correct one had been send over, as the first member of staff apparantly couldnt help us! "Yes we know it always comes out flat"! Then why not tell us that rather than trying to pull a fast one!!! Boy do they know how to look after you. VERY BADLY.

We then had to bully them to get the bill paid, so that we didnt miss our theatre show. With the 15% service added for him to ignore us, and serve us drinks he knew not to be of a drinkable standard. Disgusting. This place just does not care about its customers, and goes out of their way to treat you terribly, and then over charges for very little back. Avoid like the plague, no matter what!!!
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I Dulson
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, June 29, 2006

Me and my friend went to the Rock Garden last night.

We sat on the Piazza (outdoors) and it was heated and covered and was just a beautiful night.

The service was perfect and the atmosphere of Covent Garden made my evening.

The food is fairly priced considering you are in such a beautiful location and outside in the sun.

The starter and mains were great but the desert was yummy yummy ‘Classic vanilla creme brulee with brandy snap biscuits’ I will def be back.
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Nicole
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, June 14, 2006

My recent visit to Rock Garden was without doubt the worst dining experience I have had by a long way. It started off well. A friend had booked for four of us and upon arrival we were quickly seated outside despite them being very busy.

An hour after ordering our starters had not arrived and we asked where they were. After another quarter of an hour our waiter came over and asked us to remind him what we had ordered. When we all looked at him blankly trying to believe what he was saying he explained that he had forgotten to write the order down – but it didn’t really amount to an apology.

We re-ordered (without the benefit of the menu in front of us) and the food arrived reasonably quickly. I had no complaints about the standard, although the servings were small given the price (£15 for a lump of fish on a bed of salad, no potatoes or other vegetables). The wine was also expensive; I think the cheapest bottle on the wine list was around £20. The prices would be justified elsewhere but I expect better value from somewhere with paper tablecloths and plastic chairs.

When we had finished we had the expected wait for the bill to arrive. They failed to give us the discount on the first bottle of wine that was listed as an offer on the internet. When we complained our waiter told us that normally this only applied to the house wine. This was not stated on the offer and he reissued the bill anyway so there didn’t seem to be any need for the remark aside from petty vindictiveness.

After such atrocious service you might expect a discount, complementary coffee or as a bare minimum courtesy an apology when presenting the bill. Instead they had the nerve to add a 15% optional service charge. As we didn’t have enough cash between us we had to pay by card and so had to ask for the bill to be issued again without the service charge which took another age.

I have never withheld a service charge and am usually quite forgiving when it comes to slow service especially when it is busy. But on this occasion it was the waiter’s total lack of courtesy or effort to make amends that did it for me.
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GC
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Thursday, June 08, 2006

I went to this place 3 weeks back. It was very disappointing. The service was fine that night, but the portions were ridiculously small especially for the prices we paid. Being such a small eater, I was very surprised by the portion. The waitress said that it would fill me up, but apparently not. Furthermore, the menu was limited and there were not a lot of choices. The dessert portions were big, but the creme brulee was too sweet. I would only recommend the burgers as they are of a decent portion. Other than that, this place is only 'so-so'.
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YM
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Sunday, June 04, 2006

We found this restaurant in Covent Garden on Sunday at 6pm. We had not read the reviews of it beforehand and, now that I have, I am astonished by them. We were delighted with the location, the atmosphere, the excellent food, very slick service and the very friendly staff. The prices are quite high, it's true, but it does represent quite acceptable value for money. The Salmon Linguine is particularly recommended.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Saturday, June 03, 2006