The Terrace Wimbledon

This is my first ever online pub/restaurant review and is brought on by the behaviour of the manageress this evening (09.05.08).

A group of about 12 of us turned up at about 4pm to a pretty empty venue and wanted to sit outside alongwith the 5 that were already there. We were initially told that it wasn't possible as it was for diners only however due to the venue being empty the waiter made the right decision to allow us to sit together at one end of the balcony, thereby keeping the custom of 15 or so paying drinkers.

All was good until about 6pm when a female popped us and told us to move. When we said that the manager had allowed us to sit there she bluntly said i'm the manager and i'm telling you to move. She continued that we were abusing the fact that we had been allowed to sit there and that we were now being told to leave the balcony area.

This was the rudest i have been spoken to for a long time by someone employed in the customer service proffession and has driven me to write this review.

All of us would have been disapointed about leaving the prime seating sunny area but if we had been asked politely to move inside to allow diners to take their seats then we would have gladly moved inside. As it was the wholly unproffessional manner of the manageress this evening meant we went inside, finished our drinks and left thereby meaning the establishment lost 15-20 paying customers all down to the manageress who then proceeded to publicly tell the waiter off for ever allowing us outside.

We left the venue with a long single queue to the bar as there were only two bar men present, omething i have never seen in bar.

Very very disapointed, avoid at all costs.
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P Allen
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, May 09, 2008

Rude staff, awful food will not eat there again and would not reccommend it!
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, January 09, 2008

After arriving at 2pm on Sunday we decided to sit outside on the terrace (as the place is called) where a sign instructs customers to order all food and drinks at the bar. There you are given a bucket with cutlery, sachets of salt, pepper, vinegar etc. Not even greasy spoon caffs have that poor a presentation. We ordered 2 starters and 2 mains - quite a simple order. After an hour wait (!) the waitress came out with all 4 dishes together. We sent the mains back, as we prefer to have our starters first (as the word "starter" suggests). We were told that as we ordered at the bar all food comes together. That'll be our fault then as we did not read the non existent signs. What kind of a policy is it that a restaurant server all courses at the same time. I'm thankful we didn't order a desert as we would be eating ice cream with our soup and ribs!. The table next to us were equally as bemused by this policy as they tucked into their steaks main with nachos starter!

After prompting the waitress 40 mins later for our mains - we received the same dishes as before , that had been left under a hot light for 40 minutes. The chicken was like rubber, my ribs were like leather and it was an experience to sample hot congealed coleslaw for the first time. The wedges were still raw in the middle despite the additional 40 mins cooking time. Quite simply the worst food and service I have experienced in 9 years in London.

There is a 12% service charge added to the bill. which you have to pay at the bar upon ordering you meal, otherwise I would not have paid at all! Quite what this service charge is for considering the customer is the one that has to keep going up to the bar to order, for drinks, cutlery and condiments etc. You should have give yourself 12%!

To top off a truly bad experience, upon leaving I received a call from my other half from the ladies' toilets asking me if I can find some toilet roll in the men's toilets as all 4 cubicles in the ladies had run out! Absolute disgrace.

All in all, terrible management and restaurant staff that would have trouble running a bath, let alone an eatery.
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Charlie
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Monday, April 30, 2007

I have been back to The Terrace on 4 occasions, why, I'm not quite sure. Every time we are met with the most shocking service. On our most recent visit we arrived at 2.00pm for a late Sunday lunch. After being shown to a table that looked stylish from a distance we arrived to notice that the chairs were terribly stained and the windowsill behind the radiator that we were seated next to was absolutely filthy. We duly ordered and awaited our food and drinks. Our drinks were delivered promptly but one of the party had requested fresh orange juice and was given carton juice, we later found it was because they had run out of oranges, perhaps returning to the table asking if cartoned juice was acceptable would have been the best approach? at 3.00pm we were still waiting for our first courses, when our waiter, who we had not seen since he took our orders came over and said he would rush the kitchen for our mains, we said that would be great, but could we have our starters first! Two starters came out and were completely finished by the time the third arrived. We were then in for another fairly lengthy wait of 20 minutes for our mains. The food was of an acceptable quality but the service poor and the surroundings filthy. I'd like to say I won't be back but maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment
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K Austin
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Monday, December 18, 2006

My boyfriend and I had dinner at the Terrace a few weeks ago... and we won't be going back! The Terrace is located above Wimbleton Tube station and looks good from the outside: plenty of outdoor seating overlooking the street and plaza below. The decor isn't bad either- modern, and stylish with velvet chairs, topiary trees, and a sleek glass bar inside.

As nice as the appearance is, the service and food don't measure up. After being shown to a (dirty) table on the balcony, we had a grand total of four different servers. The first guy was friendly enough, but rubbish at remembering basic requests for cutlery and salt & pepper. We had to ask twice for each. The couple at the table next to us seemed to be having the same issues as us. I could go on about the poor service and the rudeness of the manager, but the food was even worse than the staff. The vegetarian options are minimal. I ordered the fusili(pasta dishes have a choice of fusili or spaghetti) with porcini mushroom sauce but was told they were out of porcinis. I settled on the arrabiata sauce instead. The (third) waitress came back to let me know some porcinis had been found, and would I like that instead? It was a decision I came to regret. The sauce was ridiciously salty, and the "fusili" was in fact poorly boiled rotini pasta (the kind in children's mac and cheese). My boyfriend's ribeye steak was no better- he ordered it medium rare but it came well done, and only half of it was edible (the rest being gristle). The side dishes were peas (frozen, not fresh) and a choice of either fries or chips. Richard ordered fries but got chips instead. And the sorriest excuse for ketchup I have ever tasted.

We left without having dessert. Only at home later did we realize that a 12.5% service charge had been added to the bill (very tiny print). I suppose they have to add it on, I can't imagine anyone voluntarily paying it.

On the way out of the Terrace I noticed a sign that said "Wanted: bar staff. MUST be fluent in English." I think a chef that can cook and a diplomatic manager are more desperately needed.
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Sadie
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Friday, August 11, 2006