York & Albany

Worst service ever!

We were late for 10 minutes for the booking, and we've waited for 5 minutes until we've got seated, another 5 minutes later, the waiter (without any sympathy or apologies) came over to our table and said, 'sorry the kitchen is closed, no food is available, because you are late!'

We could not believe our ears. I have never been to a restaurant that normally the standard practice is to wait for 15 minutes for the guests, even without customer's notice in advance. Plus York and Albany did not warn us that if we were 10-minutes late, no food would be available!

We were starving but had to find another place in the rain. What a nightmare! This is really a bad experience. Do not know why would any restaurant treat customers like this, shame to be a Gorden Ramsay restaurant!
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King - View all reviews by this user
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, February 27, 2011

Had dinner here with my wife last Friday evening. We ate a full three course meal and although the dishes were essentially English, it was absolutely delicious and a real insight into good old-fashioned English food (when cooked properly, which it was). The only downside is that while the few staff who were genuinely busy looking after many tables, one more waiter/waitress would have made a big improvment to the service. We had to wait 35minutes for our delicious desserts that would have arrived sooner had the poor overworked staff been given an extra pair of hands. Although the bill was very expensive (over £100 incl service charge but no alcohol) I would recommend this to my friends and will gladly return when feeling feeling flush with money! The atmosphere was very pleasant indeed.
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JR
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Friday, February 25, 2011

Was treated to Y & A for a Sunday meal and while the food was largely good if a little over priced the service had a lot to account for. When we had a waiter over they were polite and helpful but even tough the restaurant was half empty we had to wait a long time from sitting at the table to when the menu arrived. Again it was a long wait before some one took the order, cleared the plates and asked for desert. What's more disappointing is when we asked a cocktail to be sweetened slightly more the bar man gave us a look as though we had just asked him to run a marathon. This does take a lot away from the well thought out food and simple yet chic decor.
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Brave New World
5 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Sunday, October 31, 2010

A few weeks ago I received an offer from Toptable.com for 2 course per person for £18 at the York and Albany .

This was similar to your offer last year at the Boxwood Cafe which was a similar amount of money and we were delighted.

Both dinners were around £60-70 for two people.

I would like to say that the 'early dinner' dinner menu at York and Albany on Friday night was terrible.

For starters - sweet cherry tomatoes with a tomato jelly and soft white cheese and salmon in a sweet corn source. Mains were pasta in a butter source and a pan fried fish. 3/4 of the dishes were quite frankly terrible. The tomato starter was overly sweet and the jelly and cheese did not mix well. The salmon with sweet corn reminded me of my time as a uni student - something simple and cheap for a Monday night. The pasta also reminded me of something I had the night before made in my microwave (as we are unable to make anything else as everything is packed due to our home move).

This place is like a minger in make up. OK, until you scratch the surface.

I would have had more fun if I threw my food at the waiters.
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- View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Sunday, September 12, 2010

Oh c'mon! Previous reviews are harsh!

Lets get one thing straight. The York & Albany is not a Michelin starred restaurant and nor does it profess to be so. It aims to deliver uncomplicated, tasty food. And by and large folks, it does what it says on the tin.

Y&As problem, is that our otherwise very capable friends in the kitchen can get a little careless.

I went there recently for Sunday lunch with my girlfriend. For starters I had sardines on toast with gribiche sauce while she plumped for pumpkin soup and truffle oil. So far so good. However, although my main of lamb and seasonal veg was fresh and pretty damn tasty the carrots were as tough as the day they were pulled out the ground. And yes, my girlfriend’s roast rib of beef was tender and succulent, but where was the gravy and why were the Yorkshire puddings like crunching through lumps of granite?

The desserts were also fist-clenchingly frustrating. My sticky toffee pudding was flavoursome but the texture? Well, you’d find more moisture in a mouthful of Atacama. The other half’s apple and berry crumble again was good but served with just a stingy drizzle of crème Anglaise. In fairness to the waiters, they did supply extra custard without a hint of irritation…but it just took too long to be forgivable.

It's all very frustrating as this place could be really good. If the kitchen staff cut the chit chat and get a good night sleep, I suspect the Y&A would quickly raise its profile. I will go again…but with a packet of Birds Eye and a flask of Bisto just in case.
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Olly - West Hampstead
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Sunday, July 11, 2010

Visited here with a group of friends for a birthday celebration this week and decided to eat in the bar area.

As with other reviewers I was very impressed with the room and the general ambience of the place, it was light, spacious and opulent.

However things started to go wrong from the off; Our drinks orders were taken, 2 lagers and two glasses of Chardonnay. The waitress took the order without showing us the wine list or any menus come to that. The drinks arrived reasonably promptly (is 10 minutes reasonable?). Anyway we were given the bar menu along with the drinks menu. More of our group arrived & somebody noticed that the Chardonnay was £12.50 a glass so we ordered a bottle as it would be cheaper no?. Some considerable time later drinks were brought out in staggered and unfriendly manner. The waitress seemed lobotomised and miserable. As our group swelled from 4 to 8 the service became more & more erratic, drinks forgotten, no urgency to sort things out when asked twice and three times for the same thing.

Finally the food arrived, steak sandwiches and pizzas which were excellent, no complaints whatsoever. Then the bill arrived....problems. Service was deducted as per our request however we had been charged £102 pounds for two bottles of chardonnay. Had the wine been listed at this price on the menu it would have been apparent it was the most expensive bottle they did and a little extravagant for a Monday night. We complained that no wine list was shown, no indication from our waitress that there was only one Chardonnay and it was extortionate and no sympathy from the manager either.

The wine menu lists prices per glass and for a 500ml carafe, no prices for bottles at all.

My friend was told that he should complain to the head office as this was simply how they roll at the York and Albany, which I am sure he will.

This was the final insult to an already ruined experience. We felt ripped off and won't be returning.

In summary, woeful service and a sly trick on the wine which was marked up by 400% from the shop price incidentally. I know Ramsay is suffering from greed..........excuse me, over ambitious expansion but this is plain rude.
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johnboy
3 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Thursday, July 08, 2010

Agree with the other reviews: beautiful looking bar and room, ok to good but overpriced food, overpriced wine list, poor service. Overall disappointing experience.
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Pascal
5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Monday, June 28, 2010

Have been a couple of times now for breakfast in the hope that the poor service of my first visit was a one off. Sadly, not the case and despite the pleasant room and ambience, the service is slow and inefficient and the portions are ridiculously small. The food is pleasant enough but what you get it is hugely over priced and the lack of any attention adds to the poor experience. Constantly having to ask for condiments, drinks and missing items from the order. The staff are pleasant, they just don't know what they are doing and the chef has no idea how to present a decent plate of food that even vaguely represents value for money. This place is not as bad as the appaling Warrington also from the Ramsay stable but yet another very poor offering from the outspoken celebrity chef's empire! Gordon, sort yourself out!
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WL
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Sunday, June 20, 2010