All reader reviews by monty

Vinoteca (Marylebone)

We dined on the evening of 29 February 2012.

The waiting staff were friendly (although one of them had a poor level of English, so we had to repeat our orders and questions a number of times).

The food was good, but the evening was marred by the very bad attitude of the manager/supervisor. We queried the bill with one of the waiters because it included a 175ml glass of red wine costing £11. He brought us the menu, and the suggested wine (in brackets under the relevant food item) was listed at around £5/6. However, on the back of the menu, the same glass was listed at £11. We hadn't looked on the back of the menu, so the waiter immediately agreed to re-do the bill accordingly without fuss.

However, the rot set in when his manager came prowling to our table. He actually defended the decision to charge us the higher price, even though he acknowledged that we'd ordered from the part of the menu containing the lower price. We remained silent (and stunned) until he asked "so, what do you want me to do about it?".

This is very poor customer service. We were forced into the embarrassing situation of having to demand that we pay the lower price (the only price we'd seen on the menu). He made no acknowledgement of the fact that the establishment was in the wrong for listing the same glass of wine at two conflicting prices.

The manager/supervisor then actively sulked whilst we paid the bill. He even put the entire amount onto one credit card even though we'd given him TWO cards with the words "we're splitting the bill".

He did not smile once, and we left feeling bullied by him.

Sunday, April 08, 2012
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7

Waterloo Bar and Kitchen

I made my first visit on Wednesday 3 March 2010. The place was full and lively, without being too noisy.

The service was exemplary; very attentive without being annoying, and personable without being cheeky.

The food was excellent.

Dinner for 3 with a bottle of wine came to around £80.

Saturday, March 06, 2010
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8