Tom's Kitchen

I find going to Tom's kitchen very frustrating of late. It used to be a fantastic local neighbourhood and we are real regulars but the ladies who deal with table reservations and giving tables on a walk in basis are just awful! I have eaten at almost every top restaurant in London and I have never seen such an unpleasant welcome. Even if half the restaurant is empty they still make you sit on the stools by the bar or worse turn you away. The last time I was there, they squeezed us all on a stool only to move us at the end of the meal as half the restauarant was still empty.

The staff who answer the phones to book a table have the worst manner and should not be working in a service providing sector. A quick 'no we are busy' is given and the phone slammed down. The ladies working at the front desk are better suited to work the doors of night club goers with their rude, abrupt manner, rather than a nice local restaurant where you want to go for a relaxed meal.

So many friends who are local to this restaurant refuse to go for this very same reason.

I have give the restaurant many chances but we will certainly not go back there again until the 'door ladies' are replaced!
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Laura S
3 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Monday, December 03, 2012

went here last night with some friends to celebrate my birthday. Lively buzzing place. Our waitress was delightful, very helpful, knowledgeable too. There was a good choice on the menu, I chose scallops, sea bass and profiterles, all delicious. The only criticism was a bit of delay between starter and main, but they were very apologetic, and it wasn't irritatingly long. I would highly recommend, and definitely go again.
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Jean - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, April 01, 2012

An unhappy experience last Saturday night. Having given our reserved table away, we had to wait at the bar for ages before being asked to eat there by arranging the tables and gathering chairs for ourselves. Not the best start to a meal which was, in our opinion, overpriced for the small (were they starter sized?) portions served.
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Angelica
1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 23, 2011

Went to Tom's Kitchen today.

Service was quick, the food was delicious however very overpriced which I was aware of.

Was expecting it to be a bit more posh for the price of the food but quite school diner esque with the long tables one in front of the other but very impressed with the food and service.

Would go again, but not regularly as overpriced.
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6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Sunday, September 04, 2011

Having seen Aitken cook on a recent TV program we thought we would give Tom's Kitchen a try, especially given there is a decent Australian chef working there. My advice to him get out as soon as you can and avoid this Michelin embarrassment. The service was poor, the food (3 poached eggs and a side of bacon) was edible but one piece of toast and the bacon arrived about five minutes after the eggs. The other meal was American style waffles - they came out cold and looked tired and were anything but American waffles. The coffee at nearly four quid was okay - this is high praise for coffee in the UK but Starbucks is as good and far cheaper. 32 quid for breakfast - no never again. Finally, the stairs of death to the toilet, like sheet ice in winter. Sorry my advice is if this guy has a Michelin star tell him he's dreamin. Tom's Kitchen - a great Chelsea joke.
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Disgruntled Diner
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Saturday, June 25, 2011

In short - terrible service, mediocre food, ridiculously overpriced.

Booked a table for 5 and shown to a table for 4 and told that we can just "squeeze in" the extra person. When we said no, we were seated at another table. Not long after, we were told that we'll have to move as the table where were sitting was booked.

After we sat down, everybody disappeared and it took over 20 minutes for our waitress to return from wherever she went. Drinks took FOREVER to arrive; some people at the table received their food while others had to wait; and when we didn't get everything we ordered.

Best of all, no apology was forthcoming even after we highlighted the poor service.

The food was ok - but there are many grills that offer the same menu at half the price.

Atmosphere is good.

In short - don't go there!
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Jan
3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Monday, March 14, 2011

Food was great, but the staff and service were atrocious. After ordering each item the server came back to ask if we wanted to modify it in some strange way. If I wanted something different I would have said so when I ordered it.

I ordered ONE iced coffee and they gave me two. When I said I ordered only one they questioned me. I ordered a banana milkshake and got vanilla. Although the vanilla shake was very good, not what I ordered.

I had to wait 15 minutes to get the attention of the server for the bill and another ten to use my card.

To cap it off, tight quarters made it difficult to get in and out of tables and required customers to work together, but apparently my pregnant wife was not moving fast enough and the server stuck behind her, as she was waiting for someone in front of her to move her chair in to get out, put her serving chair in my wife's back. Apparently to "help" her move more quickly, as I'm sure the server was in a hurry to offer abysmal service to some other customers.

Too bad because the food is great. Maybe repeat business is not part of the business model.
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5 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Sunday, February 06, 2011

Like others, extremely disappointed, we should have read the reviews here first! Avoid...

Our visit was on a Sunday when only the brunch menu is available – if you don’t want breakfast type food then choice is limited.

We ordered drinks which never arrived, our food was not cooked to order - a medium burger came rare and a rare steak sandwich came well done – when we raised this with the staff it was poorly handled.

The "Foie Gras parfait" as advertised on the menu arrived as a "Chicken Liver & Foie Gras parfait" - when we complained the response was "it's correct on the other menu - yours has a mistake on it - nothing we can do about that" - £13.50 – done.

Even after complaining to the manger about the overall poor level of service the bill still arrived with 12.5% service charge on it, needless to say we didn’t pay it.

Overall the food was very expensive and the restaurant is staffed by surly employees, including the manager, who don't give a toss.

We won't be visiting Tom's "wallet emptying" Kitchen again...
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Rupert
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Monday, November 29, 2010

I chose Tom's Kitchen as a special birthday treat for my mum as I had been there a couple of weeks earlier and had been impressed. Although the food was good, unfortunately my mother's plaice was not well cooked and had to be sent back. This meant that my other guest and I were eating our mains whilst my mother was told her plaice would only be 5 minutes. It took over 15mins and by the time it came out both myself and my guest had finished our mains leaving my mother to eat her main on her own, which wasnt very social. There was an apology by our lovely aussie waitress but that was it. When it came to paying the bill the plaice was not taken off, as you would think it would be with a restaurant of such good standing. We werent even offered complimentary coffees or teas which I thought was absolutely appalling. When you go to a restaurant with a reputation for excellence you expect it thus it was very disappointing that not even the manager came to apologise for the fish that my mother was served. Overall is was a very embarrassing and disappointing experience for me as I was showing off what I thought to be a restaurant with good standards.
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5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Saturday, October 23, 2010

A friend and myself have just been toTom's Kitchen for the first time for Brunch today and, although what I had was o.k. in quality terms it was somewhat overpriced and, in certain respects, did not match the description on the Menu. My companion's choice was not so acceptable for the reasons that follow:-

We arrived slightly earlier than our booked time and, although the restaurant was already "buzzing" we did not have very long to wait before being shown to our table and given menus to select what we required from.

I chose orange juice to start (which was described as "fresh orange" but most certainly wasn't - more like something out of a carton, made from concentrate, and sickly sweet to boot even for my sweet tooth - yeuch!)

I then had a pancake affair with blueberries which was presented very well and did not resemble a pancake I'd ever had anywhere else with a little pot of maple syrup on the side for good measure. The pancake itself was extremely filling (I couldn't finish it alas) but tasted fine. The maple syrup, however, seemed a little more liquid than usual although tasted o.k. more or less - I suspect it was watered down to make it go further or was just a cheap brand and not the quality stuff I have experienced in Canada and here at home in the U.K. so another bad mark there.

Worst of all, however, was the quite unacceptable scenario that followed my companion's simple order of 2 fried eggs on toast with a side order of baked beans. After a reasonable wait of approx. 15 mins. both the eggs and my pancake were served to us at the table. Unfortunately, my companion likes her eggs to have solid yolks and these were barely sealed so she sent them back (a total of 3 times in all and, each time the same eggs were returned to our table they were cooked just that little bit more until, finally, it looked as if the chef had taken a mini blow torch to them to "glaze" the yolks rather than put them back on the griddle or even start afresh would have been good after the second complaint maybe!)

Needless to say, by this time the side order of baked beans were cold so also got sent back to be exchanged for a fresh portion which, I am assured, were fine (and so they should be at £2 extra as a side order!).

We were so disheartened by the experience so far, however, we didn't dare order anything else and therefore cannot report whether or not anything else was good, bad or indifferently pretty average. Not quite what we were expecting from a venue in this location, so busy on a Sunday morning will willing punters prepared to part with copious amounts of cash for very little in return. It makes us wonder if the "regulars" who enthuse about this place actually know the difference between good and bad food or, are they maybe just there to be "seen" rather than actually enjoy anything of a culinary experience simultaneously?

We won't be returning anytime soon that's for sure. Even a breakfast taken at the golden arches of McDonalds would beat this we thought - and goodness knows what Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, James Martin, Aldo Zilli or whoever have to say about this place - I would wager it wouldn't be particularly complimentary though !!

Price for this "experience" at the hands of these jokers = £15 a head, including compulsory £1 charity donation (to a world food poverty concern I believe) and a 12.5% charge for "service" which, in all honesty, was not justified either. Shame, we had expected so much from this place only to be disappointed in such spectacular fashion - hardly worth getting out of bed down in South East London and making a special trip half-way across town that we did on this occasion. Big thumbs down Tom's ktichen, sorry - could do better, lot's better !!
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Kernowayr
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Sunday, September 26, 2010