Frankies

Hilarious. Visit Chiswick's very own Fawlty Towers. Gasp at the lack of other customers, thrill to the fifteen minute wait for a menu, watch in awe as your food is delivered, then returned to the kitchen for a tete a tete between waiter and cook, cry with laughter as your food is finally returned to you with the line "sorry, the chef is stressed".

I shall return, but only with my own popcorn. About as successful as Marco Pierre White's career as a jockey
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Dylanski
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Monday, January 23, 2006

went here for dinner for 2 last week, interesting interior, service was poor, the staff need to understand the basics...for instance allowing the food to be finished before taking it away and waiting for aperitifs to be drunk before arriving with the starters, food average and price was too high for the quality of food...would not recommend this restaurant...
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tom
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, January 04, 2006

A group of four of us visited Frankies for an informal small Christmas meal. upon entering the restaurant we were made to feel welcome, quite interesting cliente! The food was fantastic. I had artichoke heart with mushrooms, then confit of duck - which was amazing and a chocolate mousse for dessert. I felt that the menu offered about the right selection - with quite different choices. We did have to pour our own wine a couple of time but apart from that the staff we very attentive and friendly. Keep it up!
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C Mannering
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Saturday, December 17, 2005

Frankie Dettori and Marco Pierre White should be ashamed of this new venture in Chiswick. The service is among the worst that I have ever experienced - and that statement discounts for the fact that this restaurant has just opened.

The tables are packed closely together, so be prepared to get regularly knocked by the panicking staff. The waitress abruptly explained that this was part of the ‘brasserie’ experience to a member of our party.

After waiting half an hour without a drink at our table our waiter started to take our order. Part way through this process he was distracted by another table and left. After a prompt, he returned.

Forget the idea of bread before your meal. The olive oil and salt on your table is nothing more than a tease. The waiter informed me that the only bread they serve is garlic or pizza bread at £4 per serving.

Evelina sampled the wine. The waiter then served the other guests. The gesture was spoilt by the fact that he forgot to top up Evelina’s glass at the end.

The starters arrived in good time and looked good. We tried the calamari (£7.95), carpaccio of beef (£8.75), and mussels marinara (£7.50). The mussels failed to arrive with a separate plate for the shells. Despite repeated requests for a plate and a ten minute wait I resorted to retrieving one from the kitchen myself. A spoon was also too much for the ineffective staff. This is a shame because the sauce looked lovely. A finger bowl was also overlooked.

The main courses (veil escalope, grilled lamb, spaghetti with clams) were basic. The spaghetti was undercooked and the five small clams looked lost.

Desert at £4.75 looked impressive. We opted for tiramisu and chocolate mouse. Served in cocktail glasses these deserts were dressed to impress. From a taste perspective they were quite average.

It would appear that the bad service which seems to plague this establishment (and previously Pug) was not limited to our table. Several other guests on other tables had to leave their seats to search for misplaced orders.

To top an evening of incompetence the bill included items that didn’t arrive and a 12.5% service charge. This was removed when I queried the bill. It is a shame that the management of Frankie’s can not recognise poor service themselves – this does not bode well for the future. Despite removing the service charge I believe the evening was extraordinarily poor value for money (nearly £40 per head). In fact I feel slightly cheated.

My advice is to boycott Frankie's until they sort out some remedial training in service. Instead, I recommend you try Sam's Brasserie, which is also new to Chiswick but is ‘getting it right’.
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Rene Pritchard
Monday, October 31, 2005

The decor is nice but the food was extremely disappointing. I ordered the pork and it had an inch of fat on the top and about a centimetre of pork. Very overpriced for nothing special. We difinitely won't be going back. Especially at £50 per head.
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Sunday, October 30, 2005

yes its now Frankie's part owned by Marco Pierre White. And not very good! Average pizza's poor service. Interesting decor but way too overpriced! Boring!
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Tuesday, October 18, 2005

While trying to find Pug, now called Frankies Bar and Grill, we were told by a pair of punters who had just left the establishment that it resembled a blackpool brothel, but the food was fine. I've never been to a blackpool brothel but took their point. All black leather, smoked glass and wonky mirror balls. We had to wait over 40 mins for our pre-booked table, but were compensated with a glass of champagne. The service was incompetent and robotic, delivered by pretty boys with mullets, presumably they have a cloning factory for them at the back. As well as our earlier wait, it was another forty minutes between courses. Getting the bill was almost as difficult as getting the food and as equally annoying. 12.5% was automatically added to it (which would usually be fine), but when asked to remove it, no resistance was made - although I did have to get up and pay it at the counter myself in order to get out before the sun came up. No paper in the ladies loos and one of the two was blocked. Food was quite tasty. Try it once and put it down to experience if you have a bit of cash to burn and lots of time.
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Corola DelNocha
Saturday, October 15, 2005