Smiths of Smithfield Top Floor review by RalphT
My wife and I took her mother and father to SOS for a treat on 10th Feb.
We have been to the bar and the dinning room several times and once to the top floor. I raved about the choice of meat and the quality of service!!
We arrive a little early to be told that there was no longer a bar on the second floor as it has been turned into another eating area - seems that John Torode is only interested in making money now rather than creating an experience!!
When we went upstairs we were shown to our table - all okay so far!!
First disappointment was the selection of meat - 3 rump and one sirloin, mmm not a good start. I re-assured everyone that it would be good not to wo, rry!!
Starters arrived, well 3 at first then a short, but long enough wait, for me to say start before yours get cold!! My wifes squid was marginally over cooked making it slightly rubbery!! My foie gras was extremely underwhelming - and the marmalade was way overpowering. More like one of JT's contestants on Master Chef would turn out than a top London Restuarant!!
Well not to worry, JT would make it up with the meat. The room was almost full by now and waiting staff were hard to come by. How many times do you have to say "excuse me can you fill our wine glasses" Very very disappointing!!
Hurray the meat arrives - oh dear, the medium sirloin is more well done and looking rather lonely on the plate!! AGAIN only 3 dishes arrived - another short but noticable wait for the 3rd dish. The mash was just warm enough to eat, the vegs were how shall I put just courgettes - not a lot of variety!!
I could go on on, but I think you get the message - the 15 minute wait for the dessert order, the repeated requests for the bill and the lack of staff who seemed to be interested in you really just added to a very disappointing evening. I'm used to poor service in London, it is par for the course, but this really annoyed me, your paying top whack and expect to be treated better, so much so I asked for the service charge to be removed!!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Overall rating 
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
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