Wallace & Co

I went to the restaurant with some local friends. We were all so excited to have what we thought would be a good cafe in Putney. Unfortunately on both that and our next visit we were very disappointed. On the first visit - we had very ordinary quality food (between us we tried all the different roasts) and disinterested staff. On the second occasion we went for brunch only to be served up with stale toast even before our food arrived. The staff were even more off hand and curt. They changed my toast - but we did not really get an apology and they did not seem half as aghast as we were!

It really was appalling and unfortunately we will not be back. It makes a mockery of the quality and standard that Greg appears to stand for on the masterchef!

disappointed local resident
Comment on this reader review

2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Found the reception a little icy (a 'Hello' would have been nice) and management/ chef inflexible. We booked our table for midday, were seated at roughly 12:05 and we all ordered the All-Day breakfast. One of us asked to have the eggs scrambled instead of fried and was told that they could only do scrambled eggs before 12 o'clock. When we approached the manager to find out why the chef was so inflexible we were told 'Those are the rules'. In my opinion if you're doing an All-Day breakfast giving diners a choice of how they'd like their eggs done is essential. Food good overall but not sure I will be going back.
Comment on this reader review

7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Monday, October 18, 2010

This is the second time I have visited Wallace and Co. for breakfast - the first time I went was quite disappointing but it was shortly after they had opened, so I decided to give them a second chance. Mistake.

As per my first visit, we had to flag down a waiter to take our order ( no one asked us if we wanted coffee or drinks while we perused the menu). While once finally ordered, our coffees arrived shortly (with cold milk. I hate restaurants that serve coffee with a pot of cold milk. It really doesn't take that much effort to warm it up and makes a world of difference. But I digress), we again had to flag someone down to bring us the carafe of water that we had requested.

My husband ordered a full English, while I had the vegetarian option. A good 10 minutes before our plates were brought out, a waitress dumped the toast on our table. Im not sure why we would want our toast 10 minutes before the accompanying meal, as this meant that the toast was quite cold by the time our food finally arrived, and made spreading butter quite difficult. I must note that the first time we visited Wallace and Co, they failed to bring us any toast at all. When I enquired about this, they told me that they prepare their toast in a separate area to the rest of the food. This must surely explain the badly coordinated service this time around as well but frankly, I do not care much about the logistics of their kitchen, I just want everything to arrive at the same time - warm preferably.

That said, the rest of the food was tasty. Although one final gripe is that while the vegetarian breakfast makes note of mushrooms (note the plural), it was served with one small field mushroom. Not the end of the world, but this place cant seem to get the basics right and I will not be giving them a third chance.

Shame as before it actually opened, most people in Putney were highly anticipating it as a welcome addition to the Upper Richmond Road.
Comment on this reader review

Elissa
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Sunday, August 22, 2010

I can't believe how poor the food was in this restaurant. We had the steak and kidney pie which consisted of cardboard pastry, tough meat and brown water which I believe might have been gravy. Our course this was just our experience and i'm sure that at all other times the food here is excellent. But I won't be going to find out.
Comment on this reader review

David Coward
3 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Thursday, July 22, 2010

There was a group of 8 us that ate there on a Wednesday night. The restaurant was half full at best? We continously had to flag down the waitress to get her attention to order, get water, get more wine. We waited over 30 minutes for starters then another 30 minutes for mains. This is was not good - esp as our bill was going to be a big one. No apologies until I asked where our food was and got told that because it 'was made fresh' it took longer. I hope that all restaurants make things fresh - this 'excuse' was rude and infruriating.

however, the food once it was arrived, was very good. My fish was amazing and the pies were very good it was just marred by the delays and the service.

Unfortunately I won't be eating here again and won't be recommending the place.
Comment on this reader review

Elisabeth
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Thursday, July 22, 2010

We ate there yesterday evening, the third time we have been. The menu is limited but previously good for a steak or a piece of fish,

I do not know if they have a new chef or there was a temp in yesterday but the food was very inferior compared to our previous visits. The fish my partner had was dry and overcooked served with cold boiled potatoes that tasted like the had been prepared much earlier. The steak I had was good but the chips were half cooked on the inside.

As a local I would like this place to succeed and at £15 for two courses this seems reasonable value but it seems to be going the wrong way at present.
Comment on this reader review

Neil
5 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sadly i have to agree with all of the other dissatisfied customers. We went on a thursday evening when the restaurant was half full.Nevertheless the waitress was completely run off her feet and apologised but they were "terribly busy". At that point we should have left because we were kept waiting for an hour before we got any food. The waitress appeared not to have had any training, reaching past our faces the whole time....had the master chef not trained his staff?

To add to the long wait , the place was noisy and exacerbated by the waiting staff dumping used crockery with a great crash in the corner, making us jump every time.

So no we will not be returning.
Comment on this reader review

0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, June 18, 2010

A very disappointing menu, not much to choose from. I ordered hot smoked salmon (turned out to be a salmon steak that they'd smoked) with a cucumber and spring onion 'salad' (just a garnish). The waitress didn't advise me that I needed to order a side dish. The rhubarb in the rhubarb crumble and custard had been cooked in orange juice (not mentioned in menu).
Comment on this reader review

6 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Monday, June 07, 2010

As a local I am always popping into the café and I absolutely love it. It is completely unpretentious and I love the fact they serve seasonal food, they seem to put a lot of focus on the ingredients and it all feels very healthy. Maybe they focus too much on this and not the service judging by other reviews, but I’ve been many a time and haven’t had a problem. Considering the cafes location it absolutely trumps all other options in the area. Great location, lovely food and an unpretentious atmosphere. Well done Wallace & Co.
Comment on this reader review

Jared Aitken
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, June 02, 2010

When it first opened I was delighted to have a local eaterie like this-at first glance it has a fabulous cafe atmosphere and style...however sadly that is what this is all about-pretence and style.Great concept but very poor execution and made all the more insulting and worse that it is owned by a Masterchef judge(you really need to show up there and do a bit of judging Mr Wallace).

Following my many visits I have the following criticisms:

Poor deli selection-Tuna salad was sour.

Shepherds Pie that didnt fill the pot,potato topping was skimpy and thin-very poor.

Pork chop was just all fat and the accompanying mashed potato was just slop-was the worst mashed potato i have ever had in London.

Rib-eye steak was also fatty and poor....the deep fat fryer was not working so there were no chips.

Rhubarb Crumble was dry.

So sorry but could never eat here again..its poor ,over priced,and simply style -over-substance.
Comment on this reader review

TroyMurphy
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, June 01, 2010