Chelsea Bar

well we liked the menu....

i cannot describe how appalling the attitude of staff are at this stuck-up, would-be west-end cocktail joint. on arrival we were studiously ignored for twenty minutes. the manager seated us out of the way in a corner, presumably because we were fairly formally dressed and not in keeping with whatever attitude the management have tried to foster amongst their clientele. we were practically advised NOT to eat upstairs, had unwanted cocktails forced on us while 'our table was prepared' (the bistro was empty when we finally went up), and when we asked to speak to a senior member of management the proprietor finally arrived and brusquely and rudely made clear that our business was of no relevance to him. the proprietor, like most of the staff, is italian with very limited command of english, and a rude and abrupt manner punctuated by inappropriate giggles and nervous tics. my advice to him is to stay away from the floor as he clearly has no experience or aptitude for front of house work, although the same could be said for every member of staff on the friday night - Friday Night! - we attended. we left without eating and refused to pay for our over-priced, though perfectly pleasant cocktails. in many years of eating out in and around chelsea, i have never been treated with such contempt by any member of any restaurant or bar staff anywhere. the fact that this was the owner of the premises made it all the more unbeleivable. my advice to all but the under 25s is to avoid like the plague. no atmosphere, no standards of service and apparently no customers is not a winning combination. i have no idea what the food is like, and frankly i don't care. if it matches the rest of the venue's standards, i should think we had a lucky escape.
Comment on this reader review

David Clifford Brown
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, March 20, 2009