Bluebird Cafe

Just don't go. One waitress was friendly, but the others were simply horrible. Was promised a table, and my husband waited outside in the snow with a baby sleeping in buggy. The waitress confirmed that we had a particular table, so I called hubby in from the snow. As we entered, the maitre d had decided to give this table to another party (3 paying guests preferred to the 2 of us, I guess!). Protested, explained and was told by another waitress that I can not just wait outside..... I explained that I was inside, my husband had been waiting outside, that the other waitress had confirmed that I could have this table with space for buggy etc. Just met with a shrug. Really, these people could not care less. Great service! And back out into the snow we went again. Ridiculous. Went to Byron instead, great food, fantastic staff, as usual. Should have gone there from the start!

Remember: if you walk past Bluebird.... Keep walking!!!
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Sunnuva
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, January 19, 2013

I took three friends who were visiting London on Saturday and was shocked at how awful the whole experience was. Firstly, they offered us a table next to the grill, which was smoking so badly that we ended up moving to a different table. The waitress didn't turn up for good 5 minutes and when she did, she seemed a bit perplexed that we just "changed the table", although we explained that we didn't want to choke next to the grill.. Anyway, she then said, well, what would you like, to which we suggested that it would be nice to have some menus, if that's ok. She eventually got the menus and after we placed the order, she informed us that there's no more chicken - they've run out! We ordered steak and burgers which were pitiful in size and meat was not nearly what you'd expect in a place like that, but we still decided to go for some puddings. It took 10 minutes to attract attention of any of the waiters, even there were 3 that we could see chatting and not doing anything in particular. Eventually, one of them approached us and we asked for the dessert menu. The menu never turned up, so we decided to leave. Another 5 minutes later, we managed to ask for the bill, and the bill turned up - only, it wasn't our bill! When we managed to get the waiter back to point out that we were honest enough to report their mistake, we got a very irritated grunt, no apology, and our bill "landed" on our table with no further comment! Needless to say , we didn't leave a tip.
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Lara
1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Went here for lunch on Monday. It was early and I wasnt too hungry so thought I'd have the crayfish salad.

It was drenched in a creamy dressing and the avocado was rubbery. It was more calorific then my husbands burger which he said was equally bad. The bread and the fillings were good enough but the beef patty tasted like something from a cheap burger van. The childrens fish and chips were good.

The service was as slow as a funeral. We wont be going back and I wish I'd read this review before we went in.
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Sarah
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, April 17, 2012

I am not surprised to see the posts below about the abysmal service.

I ordered a bottle of wine and two glasses on a not very busy day. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity I went and enquired about our order, telling the waiter that we had been waiting at least ten minutes. His response was that, in his opinion, it was 'more like five minutes actually' .

I don't think I need add much more only that another five minutes later the wine was plonked in front of us without an apology, and we had to pour it ourselves. In their defence they had bothered to unscrew the cap.
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Luca
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Monday, January 16, 2012

Having been to restaurant previously I was keen to take my partner to the cafe, however I wish I hadn't of bothered.

We had to ask twice for our wine order (after 20 minutes of sitting there watching later seated guests receive their orders), an did not receive our food order at all so decided to speak to the manager and ask for our bill. He did not apologise, just went inside and sent our bill via a "waitress".

We were thinking of holding a big family event there in the summer. Not any more.

We also saw several people arrive an then leave due to staff not taking their order. The staff on the whole were off-hand and not very welcoming.
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Victoria G
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Saturday, April 30, 2011

I have been to the Bluebird Cafe now a couple of times. Normally I never write reviews but after going there today for breakfast and having had AGAIN bad experiences I thought I will write a review.

Supposely a cool place...but the service is AWFUL! I have worked as a waitress myself when I was younger and I am shocked:

Today, - I had to ask 3 times for the baby high chair - at the end I got it myself.

- I odered a weak cafe latte and I got a double shot latte.

- My friend ordered scrambeld eggs - the toast didnt arrive together with the scrambled eggs. After asking 2 times for the toast, I went to the counter ordering it again together with butter. When the toast arrived (how long does it take to toast a piece of bread??), my friend had finished her scrambeld eggs. Surprise: the toast came without the butter. So I went to the counter again asking for the butter. Butter arrived around 5 mins later...when toast was cold.

- My other friend ordered grilled tomatoes together with 2 boiled eggs. Tomatoes came but no eggs! I went up again to the counter and asked for the boiled eggs. Eggs arrived when my friend finished her tomatoes (she wanted to eat everything at the same time).

- we ordered two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice. The staff came back and told us they only had "one glass left"???!!!! How can that happen?? do they squeeze only per glasses and let them rest in the fridge?? So, we were served the alleged freshly squeezed o-juice but it was clearly not made only by real oranges - thinned with water and some artifical o-juice or powder! Unbelievable considering the prices!! Do they think their customers are stupid???

The last time I went with my husband, it was kind of the same experience. The brought eggs without the toasts and we had to ask them 4 times (!!!) to bring us the toast - arrived when egg was cold! Great!!!

Also the manager of the cafe shop is really rude and not really child-friendly. My guests today wanted to leave because he has been so rude to them...

As the service hasnt been good at any given time I went, I will not go there again! Waste of time and money!
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3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Monday, April 04, 2011

I went to this cafe last week whilst looking for a cheap and cheerful place to eat. Everywhere I used to know was full so we thought we would try the Bluebird Restaurant but then noticed the cafe below. Brilliant. The menu was better than it said on the tin. Much better than a cafe but cafe prices. We were lucky enough to have the Evening Standard menu which then made it even cheaper. when one of our orders was wrong they took all of the food away so we didn't have to stare at food going cold - great service. The wine is also a good price. 2 people, 2 courses each, 2 G&Ts and a bottle of wine and still water - £40. VFM!!

Lovely waitress, friendly, welcoming and relaxed. Will definitely return.

Also close enough to the Big Easy so when I am in the area I never have to return to the so called 'Crab Shack'
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JC - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Sunday, January 16, 2011