Royal Exchange Grand Cafe & Bar

An update to my previous post. I emailed the management and told them basically what I wrote down in my post. To my surprise, I got a call from the manager the next day, apologising for the service and asking for further information so that they could investigate the reasons behind our experience. I was immediately satisfied with his response, as I had expected that my email to go unread. He then went on to invite me and my husband back for a meal, which we accepted.

When we went back for the meal, they pulled out all the stops to ensure that we were attended to. We were greeted upon arrival by the manager himself, and were seated on the mezzanine level. I have always admired this building, which was even more glorified with a beautiful Friday evening sunshine. At the end of the meal, we were again impressed with the Royal Exchange, and that it lived up to the quality (both in terms of food and service) of the other D&D restaurants.

Since this experience, I have taken my friends there for an evening get-together. Not having heard of our experience, one of my friends commented that the service was excellent - the way she was greeted upon arrival, and the offer to "personally bring additional chairs from the other side of the building" if more people decided to join us later.
Comment on this reader review

Helen
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, July 19, 2010

Just had lunch there with my husband after shopping at the Royal Exchange for my birthday present.

The lunch service was a disappointment. Although we both did have a leisurely one hour to spend, we got a waiter who really took his time. First to sit us down and then to take our order. After a long 35 minutes, our food finally came. My husband's burger and chips looked good, although not exactly piping hot. My salted cod salad turned into a goat's cheese salad with pomegranates. I asked for our waiter and he told me that I did order this dish. I insisted that I do not eat any sweet and savoury food mixed together under any circumstances, so I couldn't have ordered this in error. He gruntled and took my dish away. No sign of an apology whatsoever, or whether (or if) he's be coming back wtih my food. 10 minutes later I had to tell him that I didn't have much time left, and he ensured that my food would be coming in a minute. It did arrive, and the grilled cod was now cold. Eventually we got him to come and give us our bill, which took another 10 minutes to arrive.

All in all, shame this didn't live up to expectations. I have enjoyed the other Conran restaurants in the past but I left this one thinking it was one I'd never go back.
Comment on this reader review

Helen
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Monday, March 15, 2010