S&M Cafe (Broadgate)

I was a big fan of the S&M Cafe chain and ate at the Smithfield branch every month or so. OK the portions are not so impressive for the price but the concept is pretty good and it does the sausage and mash job. I say was as this changed on my most recent visit. Me and my dining partner got there about 1.30 when things were quietening down. The place wasnt too busy and we sat straight down. After giving us menus, it was 15 minutes before the waitress could come back to our table, she seemed only able to deal with 1 customer task at a time and was dealing with people's bills. In spite of asking her if we could just giver her our order so they could get on with things, but would be happy to wait for our drinks etc until she had time, she was adamant she would be with us when she could and a further polite request to order was responded to with inpatience.

So after 15 minutes, order was given and we hoped it all wouldnt take too long. Drinks were subsequently delivered, mine spilt over me by her and a more suspicious person would have concluded that the drink was spilt on me on purposes. No offer to refill the drink. No cloths or serviettes put my way. Deal with it yourself, "that will teach you for asking me to order when I don't want to". So far, so terrible.

20 minutes later and our order is brought to the counter. The waitress takes a look at it, looks at us, picks it up, puts it down, and then goes off to lay a few tables. Over 5 minutes later our sausages and pie arrive at our table. Cold. Mash order mixed up. For fear that this unstable and vindictive waitress would sabotage our food further we picked at the cold congealed dishes all the while the waitress avoided coming anywhere near our table and when we indicated we wanted the bill, she sent another waitress to deal with us, we told her the food was cold and the order was mixed up which is why we hadn't eaten much, she was non-plussed.... oh how a restaurant can go from hero to zero in one sitting.

There are plenty of better pubs for pie / sausage and mash in the area and which are cheaper too - go there and save yourself the potential upset of having to deal with "waitress from hell" and eat cold food worse than school dinners and then pay for the privilege! Sorry S&M but I was really prepared to give you a chance.
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Foodie_UK
1 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, July 23, 2010