Union Cafe

Great food, but the service was very poor. Having booked a table we were made to wait for half an hour before we were seated and then waited for at least another 10 minutes until we were brought a menu. Not great at all!
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Monday, May 19, 2008

Had a good meal (the tuna was superb and the chips were great.) The wines were decent and we were surprised and delighted to be told that they were selling their wines at retail price. We had a lovely meal , the atmosphere was buzzy and we will definitely be visiting the Union Suare Cafe again soon
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Beverly Miller
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Saturday, May 10, 2008

This place is only good for the wine list (owners I believe are wine merchants as well and the lack of mark ups are philanthropically decent) and the buzzing ambience. The food is average and predictable. The service suggests self importance among the attractive mature staff. British Airways anyone?
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bellaphon
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Sunday, May 04, 2008

Sadly, I will definitely never visit the Union Cafe again. An important evening was ruined by slow, surly service, but that can possibly be excused on a busy London evening, What was inexcusable was the attitude of the Manager when we suggested that the waitresses had been less than cheerful. It was shocking to find that he argued with us, didn't bring a correct bill, neglected to give us our coats, and refused to acknowledge that we had had poor service. I would encourage anyone reading this to seek somewhere else to spend your money, especially as Union Cafe is not cheap.

There was a time when the customer was valued, but I suppose that is now unnecessary given the popularity of Marylebone Village etc. Perhaps an economic downturn will sort out who knows about customer service and who doesn't.
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EMS
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

It's strange how opinions vary, my brother and I were in the Union Cafe on Friday 10th August for an evening meal, staff were friendly and attentive, did not spot any fruit flies, had the chicken dim sum which I thought a bit bland, ordered the fillet which was cooked as requested and was a very nice piece of steak which I thoroughly enjoyed. We ordered a bottle of Barolo and were not disappointed in this either, the comparison with my experience at Belgo Centraal on the Saturday couldn't be starker and I wish we had swapped nights as the Union Cafe so was so much better.
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Simon
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

After several years I'm finally giving up on the Union Cafe. Successive visits have been increasingly poor. First they stopped providing bread, which used to be served with delicious olive oil and balsamic vinegar (cash problems?), then numerous bottles on the wine list were never available, then they stopped offering diferently priced large or small versions of many dishes. There were diferent staff at each visit - each seeming less friendly and interested than their predecessors and, after about 5 years, they STILL have done nothing about the permanent fruit-fly infestation which makes most diners spend half their time waving away the harmles but irritating insects from their food.

This week saw the last visit, The menu has not changed for a few years now but the versions of dishes have got poorer eg chicken dim sum which no longer come with an interesting dipping sauce but with soy sauce straight from the bottle; the steak - nicely cooked and tasty but so much gristle untrimmed that half the portion was inedible and a 'medium' burger (we'd learned from last time that medium rare was still mooing) which oozed both blood and grease. Oh and they forgot the wine as they were so busy instructing a waiter on the table numbers and then plonked it in front of us without an apology.

Such a shame but time to say goodbye.
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Cat
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Friday, August 10, 2007

We stumbled upon the Union Cafe while looking for a venue for Sunday lunch... It was GREAT - fantastic food - duck salad was divine, as was the ice cream and chocolate sauce. Really good menu was difficult to decide what to order as there was something for everyone. Good service and good value, will definitely go back.
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Kate Bills
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Sunday, July 15, 2007

I ate there last night with two friends and we were all suitably impressed. We went on the recommendation of a colleague and although it was by no means packed our service was spot on. The Swedish waitress and Italian waiter were utterly charming and very attentive. The food was great too; tuna tataki was melt in the mouth, burger was above average and the hot toffee cake was exceptional. Three people, three courses each with wine came in at £150. A veritable bargain for what we had. Canteen like atmosphere, I had to pinch myself as the decor looks distinctly all bar one. The venue will not overly impress but for good food and value for money its hard to beat. Would definitely go again.
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Ian
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Glad we didn't read some of those reviews before going on Good Friday.

Whether it was because they were a bit quieter than usual I don't know, but the service was spot on - utterly professional, attentive without being overly so (eg they refilled our glasses once because we'd run dry, not every 5 minutes because they wanted to flog another bottle), and happy to check with the chefs on ingredients for my wife's allergies.

The food was wonderful - perfectly cooked top-quality lamb. Brilliantly priced wine list. Excellent evening out.
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Andy
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, April 08, 2007

Friday evening,dinner for 4 of us.The room is very noisy as the decor reverberates any noise.The food was well presented and the menu had something for everyone.The service was slow...even with 3 "chefs" that we could see ,it seemed to take a long time coming and the restaurant was less than half full.The wait staff was not attentive to the tables nor to the finished dishes supplied by the "chefs"-they spent a lot of time in a huddle chatting amongst themselves.They need someone to take charge of the room.Not sure why they insisted on dimming the lights throughout the evening....this is not exactly a "romantic" place,and it is annoying not to be able to see well what is in your plate.The wine list is very good ,with a big choice and probably the lowest mark-ups in a London restaurant I have seen.So you can really splurge-For £30 here you can get a very good wine that retails for £20-25.....whereas in most other restaurants in London ,your £30 will get you something that retails for below £10.So the Union cafe is an opportunity to test the high end of the winelist knowing you are getting some very good wines.
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C.Elder
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Monday, March 26, 2007