All reader reviews by Gastronome

Beach Blanket Babylon (Notting Hill)

We went as a party of ten last weekend and were extremely disappointed with the experience. It is hugely expensive for what they serve, for instance house wine, of poor quality, is £21 a bottle, inexcusably high. The best part is the decor, which is almost Gaudi like in appearance, however, maybe they should stick to being a bar rather than trying to serve inadequate food.

My pasta with prawns and squid had a thin bland tomato sauce with it, far removed from the delicious sounding description, and again it was £21, far too much for what it was. Finally they add a cover charge of £1.50 and then a service charge on top of 12.5%, however, when the credit card machine is brought out you are invited to add a further tip. I removed that and complained to the waitress who said that it is because the staff do not get any of the service charge, an absolute disgrace. I checked with another staff member, who confirmed that and added that we should have crossed out the service charge and left a cash tip.

It is disappointing to see that this sort of exploitation of waiting staff still exists in London, they should be ashamed of themselves. I left my card for the manager and asked him to call me about it, but naturally I never heard from him.

Thursday, December 08, 2011
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0