Wallace & Co

We also had a very bad experience with the manager of the restaurant. She is extremely rude and off hand to customers.

The food is quite nice and the atmosphere is pleasant, but customers are made to feel unwelcome but this rude and very unpleasant lady.

We used to go here quite often and I have recommended it to friends. I won't be doing either again.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Saturday, March 02, 2013

We went here for breakfast and hadn't realised that Greg Wallace owned it. My partner and I are huge fans of Greg and were pleasantly surprised to see him there.

However... The manager and another waitress were so rude to us that not even knowing Greg Wallace owned it could turn my views around of this place. It was sickening to see them pick their act up when Greg Wallace arrived. It is not all the staff as some others served us who were pleasant.

If it wasn't for the poor customer service of these two people we probably would have had a pleasant time. The atmosphere and food is simple and nice.

We actually dropped by a week or so later to get takeaway coffee but again were so rudely greeted by the manager that we decided not even to get the coffee and left immediately.

Such a shame... I think Greg personally needs to take a look at these two staff members particularly the manager (who is supposed to be setting the standard) - there is such potential here but poor service is completely unacceptable.
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putney local
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Popped in here with my mum tonight (25/10/12) and was pleasantly surprised considering the god-awful reviews Wallace & Co have had.

Was greeted very warmly by the manager, shown to our table, had our coats taken and hung up, had our day enquired about, All what you expect so far. Menus where provided including a cocktail one which im going back another night for. Again all very pleasant and done with the minmum of fuss,

Now to the food, a starter of goats cheese and beetroot was steady and the potted beef was lovley but could have done with more toast. The mains of tagliatelle and fish n chips where huge portion wise but a bit bland re the pesto on the tag. The batter on the fish was proper old school chip shop light, crispy and a pleasure. Could have done with a bit more flavour to the peas, a bit of mint perhaps.

The manager was attentive without being cloying and did a very good job of matching the array of bottled beers with our food. Overall quite pleasant for a cafe.

Service great, food ok. Will go again for drinks at least.
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Jospeh Petty
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Thursday, October 25, 2012

Such a shame. Pleasant room, attentive staff - but the food is really not good. On our table: overpriced overcooked steak (fries and salad extra); odd-tasting plaice which might have been re-heated; sad little plate of vegetables including watery broccolli. Took forty minutes for all this to arrive (to be fair, they did warn us.) Greg Wallace made a low-key appearance just as we were about to leave - presumably he didn't care to be recognised. Having dined there we could see why.
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- View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, October 03, 2012

I've never written a restaurant review before but this place was so bad that I just had to!

Highlights included:

- a glass of Pinot Grigio so bad it had to be sent back (never done that before either)

- being served frozen bread

- I caught sight of my first choice main at the table next to me and it looked dreadful (butternut risotto) so I ordered my second choice - but that had run out so I ordered my third choice - plaice which I was told was "very good" and came with salad. It arrived with 3 leaves of salad and when I turned it over the other side hadn't been cooked! Unfortunately in the dim lighting I had already eaten a mouthful of raw fish by this point.

- The manager was very apologetic (her response to the frozen bread was "I'm going to go and throw it at the chef"!!) and offered us a free dessert. I got some very dry sticky toffee pudding served with chocolate ice cream which I ate all of due to being hungry after the half plaice / 3 salad leaves combo of a main course.

My husband and I have a baby and a toddler and don't get out as much as we'd like anymore. To arrange babysitting and waste money at a place like this is very galling. They only charged us for the wine and my husband's main (although if I'd been the manager I'd have written the whole bill off), the waiting staff were pleasant and the atmosphere is nice (it's an attractive looking restaurant) but I would recommend giving it a miss as the food was really awful and the kitchen staff are obviously completely incompetent.
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2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Monday, October 01, 2012

GO ELSEWHERE - Here is my letter of complaint written to the man in question... so far without any acknowledgement which appears to be the norm.....

"I have been impressed with your restaurant 'Wallace & Co' on a number of occasions, often I might add, even when others in my party showed mixed review.

My impression however has now been lowered to the latter after my recent visit on Friday 15 June at around 1930.

I ordered Whitebait to start (not bad at all) and then the lamb breast. This was the biggest let down with two square pieces of fat on a bed of mash, swimming in gravy. The lamb was near inedible and after picking what little meat was in this dish I left the substantial fatty remains. I complained to the waiter about my disappointment and how I would be shocked if Gregg himself put his name to this. Little interest was given in my comments, one would expect a small discount off the bill, or the Whitebait on the house perhaps..... But nothing.

lamb breast is a cheap cut much like pork belly and needs the same slow cooking. I suspect this lamb was just quickly fried in the pan. As a chef, and a celebrity one at that, I am sure you can imagine the results. It truly was a disaster. How would you rate this on Masterchef, I wonder?

Although I understand you do not work in the restaurant, as long as your name is above the door, I strongly suggest that you revisit shortly and assess quality levels soonest. Putney is a competitive area for dining, with places not making the grade not lasting long. I would hate to see your restaurant be another victim as it really has got potential in the area, but at the moment, I would have to be incentivised to return to be convinced that my experience was a once off."
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Ahmrbond
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Monday, July 09, 2012

I ordered fish & chips. Very average. The chips were kebab shop style & I questioned whether they were frozen. We e-mailed Gregg direct about the chips & how ordinary they were. Not the chips you should serve with fish. He responded saying the e-mail had been forwarded to the chef! So Greg does not know what happens in the kitchen then? We never did get a reply even after 2 further e-mails asking for a response. Gregg, in interview, has admitted he does not care about any criticism. He will ignore complaints & clearly does not respect his customers. He seems very arrogant & in my opinion, does not deserve a successful business. In fact, after all the bad reviews I have read up to now, I am surprised he is still IN business?! Pubs provide better chips & better food. Gregg's restaurants are purely about the name & not the quality. I think he needs to remember who made him successful (his customers) & start explaining his bad food & taking the criticism like a grown up rather than a petulant child. Do not waste your hard earned money in his restaurants. There are plenty of fine restaurants who do care about customer service. Gregg Wallace is not one of them.
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Helen McGuire
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Saturday, May 26, 2012

Went to Wallace and Co - Putney- to celebrate my daughters 30th birthday. We had a group booking of 7. We are all "foodies" and great Masterchef fans and have to say that Gregg's restaurant falls way below standard.

The food was just ok, steaks not cooked correctly and meat was full of sinew. Several items on the menu were either in short supply or not available and the pork crackling was not even remotely crisp.

Service was not great and the waiter dropped a steak knife -point down- on my husbands leg.

Will now view Gregg in a different light as a Masterchef judge.
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Elizabeth Pearce
4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Thursday, April 19, 2012

I went to this cafe a week ago and honestly was not impressed. It was mediocre to ordinary like the formal critics say. I didn't even know it belonged to Greg Wallace until I have paid for the bill. How disappointing coming from him.

I had the 2 salad + slice of quiche offer, which was quite small for a main course. Tasted OK but nothing to rave about. There was just a bit of salad and half of a normal slice of quiche. For £8 pricey and made me regret that I should have walked a bit more and gone to good ol' Wagamama. Garden Cafe at Lambeth Palace will serve you better and the quiche is delicious, alas it was not nearby.

Will not come back. Don't waste your money, you'll be paying for a wanna be place that wants to be trendy.
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Berry
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, April 10, 2012

First trip to Wallace & Co last weekend and it turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag. I was expecting, if not great then, certainly better than average things from the place, but I'm convinced we got them.

Things started a bit ominously with the wait for our drinks. It wasn't a difficult order and there weren't many other diners in the restaurant at that point to complicate matters, but we still ended up empty glassed far longer than was necessary. Service continued to be hit & miss - please don't clear anyone's plate whilst others are eating.

We skipped the starters and went straight to our mains since the menu wasn't setting our world alight (pâté, soup, crayfish cocktail & so on - not especially imaginative). The group went for a mixture of steaks, fish & chicken. Mine was the poussin which was well presented and cooked but lacked anything to really excite your palate - maybe it was a bad choice. Although the menu made mention of various vegetables etc 'in season' as far as I could tell all but one were conspicuously absent from what was on offer. Weird. Why mention them if you're not using them?!

We did have desserts which were again chosen from a fairly predictable list - chocolate brownie, sticky toffee pudding, ice cream etc. I get that this is a bistro / café not a restaurant, but I still think that someone could do more with this - what is seasonal or quirky about those?

Atmosphere was a bit flat since it was quiet. Bill was fine for two courses + booze.

I hate using the word 'nice' to describe anything since 99% of the time there is a better word, 'nice' says to me that the user can't think of anything to say about the subject since the impression it left was so neutral. Perhaps you will understand then when I said we had a nice evening.
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Bootsy - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Thursday, March 29, 2012