Cheyne Walk Brasserie

We came here yesterday with a party of 5 to celebrate my birthday; we had been before.

3 of us had the set lunch, my daughter went a la carte, and my son had the children's menu. The food was OK, not brilliant, the manager of duty was totally devoid of any charm.

When the bill came, we were charged for 4 (as opposed to 3) set lunches, my daughter's a la carte meal, and my son's children's dish, as well as (a) a portion of chips where this was supposed to be included as part of the set lunch main course and (b) 3 portions of bread instead of 2. I queried this with the waitress, whose English was poor and thought I was telling her she had left the children's dish off the bill!!!

Anyway, she eventually understood and rectified, without even a hint of an apology. both my wife and my other adult guest commented later that they thought the errors were deliberate. If this is an unfair comment, why the hell doesn't the owner or manager check their bills before they give them to you????

No goodbyes or thank you when we left.

Avoid.
Comment on this reader review

Philip
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Sunday, June 10, 2012

We went to Cheyne with a group of 10 for a business dinner with clients and spouses. We were very pleased with the food, service and atmosphere of the restaurant. The grilled fish dishes were, in particular, well done and enjoyed by the group. The waiters were attentive and they did an excellent job of keeping up with the varying pace of drink orders throughout the night. We have now added the restaurant to our regular rotation of places to take clients for an enjoyable night out in London.
Comment on this reader review

Jay - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, April 02, 2012

I do not even know where to start as everything was wrong. I'm usually understanding with restaurant service, as I have been on the other side as well, having worked in pubs and Relais&Chateau restaurants, too. The experience makes it even worse: I know what I can expect, and Cheyne Walk was a disaster to that!

I admit I do not dine every week at this pay bracket, so when I saw the offer on Groupon to cover two courses for two plus a glass of champaign for £49 it seemed reasonable.

The first annoyance we encountered was the over attentive staff. Hardly did we sit down with my girlfriend, when we were already asked if we have already chosen. I had to politely ask the waiter to return in couple of minutes. It must have really only been a couple cause I had to ask again soon, and felt pressured to order-eat-get out. Finally, we did order from the very limited menu (3 starters/4 mains) despite the offer originally presented on Groupon and the delicious sounding menu online.

The starter gave some space for credit, the scallops were well presented, and tasteful. So our mood was again up on the roller-coaster, just before the steep downhill...

The ribeye was indeed medium rare as I wished for, but the burnt surface left no other taste in my mouth but bitterness. I had to slice off the surface in order to prevent leap year advance to cancer, but the experience was no better. Way too over-salted. By this time Ive noticed that the side orders were very salty, too (spinach and wild mushrooms). May be we were expected to live on fish and chips, so to compete with our taste buds for saltiness. Alternatively still water must have a huge profit margin.

I know my girlfriend is very sensitive on complaints, so I tried to be very polite when my steak was taken away, and simply said: "Well, I do not expect anything, but just as to give you a feedback, I cannot say I was pleased as I found the steak burnt and way too salty". (Was wondering if a medium-rare was burnt, what I would have got if I had ordered well-done?)

The manager listened and simply announced her regret. Full stop.

We decided with my girlfriend to pack up quickly, and rather have a dessert at a local jazz bar on the way home, so I asked for the bill. To my surprise, not only did they not express their regret with at least taking off the bottle of water or the glass of wine, but listed everything in full, moreover calculated the 10% service charge on the full amount, that is the £49 of voucher plus whatever we consumed top of that.

In principle it makes sense, but when you have an upset customer, you don't rub your excessive demands into his face.
Comment on this reader review

Peter
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Monday, October 10, 2011

Disappointing.......average seafood starter, bland and chewy rib of beef, house wine, slow and inattentive service - £80.00 per head.
Comment on this reader review

Louise
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I had booked this restaurant as a special treat to celebrate an achievement and it went so horribly wrong. They did not have a record of my booking and somehow I was made to feel that I had done something terribly wrong to not know that I should have received a phone call to confirm it that day. Then there was a misunderstanding about being able to bring my own special bottle of champagne. I was prepared to pay the £10 fee for them to release the cork from the bottle but had not read the fine print that this was only an option at lunch time. Again I was made to feel like some kind of low life that had mistakenly crawled into their restaurant. Customer service does not exist here. A simple apology, explanation and some kind of gracious gesture.. a liitle aperiif could have sorted it out rather than the surly attitude I experienced. The steaks were tough and fatty as well. I could not get out of there fast enough.

Best come here with low expectations and it will be fine.
Comment on this reader review

1 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, June 05, 2011

This is a little gem in the heart of Chelsea. Relaxed atmosphere, great food and a very interesting wine list. The service is always friendly and attentive.

The overall experience is most enjoyable.
Comment on this reader review

Chris
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, February 01, 2011

I had lunch here with friends. Relaxing atmosphere, excellent food. Some of us had char-grilled fish, some had steak and al of us were happy with our food.
Comment on this reader review

eloise6 - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Excellent restaurant, with nice ambiance and atmosphere, cosy with really friendly staff, love this place it is for me one of the best in London!!!

I am sorry to read what people wrote before
Comment on this reader review

Thibaut Desfoux
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, December 11, 2010

Really disappointed with this restaurant. Food served cold and tasteless, service appalling, received the wrong orders, waiting staff don't speak english. Awful place
Comment on this reader review

1 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, November 09, 2010