Oysters
28-50 Marylebone

28-50 Marylebone

15-17 Marylebone Lane London, W1U 2NE, United Kingdom

Soup • Steak • Seafood • European


"We had high expectations for 28-50, and chose it for our one night in London. Sadly, it disappointed in every way. Although they had 30 by-the-glass options from many different regions, the majority of the offerings were a sad representation of mass-produced product. The service, though, is what really destroyed our experience. I try out wine bars in every city I visit as I’ve been in the wine business for 20 years, and put on dozens of tastings a year. This place was the bottom of the, err … barrel. The evening started fine enough with a decent cheese platter and passable. Chablis. But the strong start went rapidly downhill from there. One member of our party ordered a red, a simple Bordeaux, which was served lukewarm. It is unforgivable for a wine bar to not keep their wines at the proper temperature! But the biggest faux-pas came when the second glass I ordered, the Tuscan blend, showed up with a very low pour. It was certainly less than 2.5 ounces. I asked the server if they thought I had asked for the 75ml taster size, and instead of replying, they sent over the sommelier, Simone. He looked at the crappy pour in my glass, and said “let me check for you”. We just assumed he would return with the bottle and top it off correctly, but instead he went back to the bar and played around for several minutes with the glasses and pourers. He returned and proclaimed, “that was my mistake, I gave your companions too much wine in their glass”. (Believe me, NONE of the pours were generous). The four of us (three who are also in the hospitality business) were entirely dumbfounded that he would think this was the correct way to deal with things. From that point on everything went downhill. The food was borderline inedible. Seared tuna was just a mushy piece, with no sear. The tomato salad was made with low-quality tasteless produce. The steak was equally low-quality and incorrectly cooked. We left so much food on our plates, but the undertrained servers just swept them away, never asking if there was a issue. So this is the place to go to if you want bad food and boring offerings of wine priced 4 times what it would cost retail, some served at the wrong temperature, and get ripped off by underpours. Most of the wines on the list are $20 bottles sold in the supermarket. For example, La Crema (by Kendal Jackson) for Pinot Noir, or Lucas for Bordeaux. Other anemic offerings (although served at the correct temperature) were the bland Nebbiolo and Super Tuscan. Their highest priced, top-shelf wine at 28 a glass, is a ultra-modern Bordeaux by Kendall Jackson, Lassègue which tastes more like a cheap Napa Red. Those of us in the wine industry consider that wine a joke. As is 25-80."

The Cow

The Cow

89 Westbourne Park Road London, W2 5QH, United Kingdom

Steak • Pasta • French • British


"We had a really rubbish night here and I can’t remember a time where I felt more ripped off. Firstly they take credit card details with a 48 hour cancellation policy and £30 per person charge for cancellation or no show. I’d never dream of no showing a restaurant reservation without letting them know, but this feels extreme, even for Notting Hill. We arrived half an hour early for our table, had a drink downstairs in the pub (where a single bag of Tayto crisps are £2.50!!!!! . Our reservation was at 6pm so I went up at 5:50pm to see if they’d seat us early. The place was empty bar a table of 9 10 adults and children. I was told they couldn’t seat us yet and to come back up 15 20 mins later. Right. Back downstairs. Waited another 20 mins, until around 10 past 6pm. They said they were just setting our table, which was a table of 2 right next to the big table. Every other table was empty, so I asked if actually we could sit away from the group and pointed out all the empty tables. We were told this wasn’t possible. We sat down to a wobbly table and got on with looking at the menu. Then we asked if we could have the chicken Kiev (the whole reason we came as we’d heard how good it was by a friend who’d had it years ago when they lived in the area we were told no, that’s only available in the bar. It’s priced at the same price point as mains upstairs so I asked if they could make an exception and was rudely told no. Even though it all comes out of the same kitchen and we’d have starters and desserts as per the menu up here. Just no. Starters were just about ok at the time just about I had the pint of prawns but felt very ill the next day. My partner had the Barnsley chop which was so tough it was borderline inedible in fact he didn’t eat it. I had the fish stew but there’s no chips or fries on the sides menu so I was sold mash instead. A lump of cold, dry potato turned up on the table. While we were eating another table sat down in the corner and throughout the meal my partner was asked to move out the way so they could get to that table, or push his chair in so they could get past madness when he was literally just sitting normally as anyone would?! Our bill was £150 odd so for pub fare it’s not cheap. We came away feeling so frustrated and actually just really pissed off at how rude the staff were and how ripped off we felt. A **** experience. What a shame!"

The Square Fish Café

The Square Fish Café

The Square, Maidstone, United Kingdom

Fish • Full • Wine • Dessert


"Fine food and Issues Decided to visit as the reviews were mainly great. Arrived to find it looked ten minutes after due to be open. They were just opening the door. I went in and quickly used the toilet, not flushed by last person that used it! It's a well laid out, well decorated restaurant. I chose the Escargots as my starter, well cooked with a very small amount of sauce sadly no tongs to hold the shell. They were 6 very nice molluscs. The main was an absolutely sensational tasty seafood salad. Interesting dressing on a generous variety of sea food and nice salad. I had ordered a lime and soda, it transpired they had no lime so someone went out to buy some and could only get lemon, which was ok. When it came to the desert I liked the idea of four of them but ordered the lemon tart. A few minutes later the lady running front of house (I later discovered it was her first day in post!! Returned hugely apologetic telling me sadly they had no lemon tart. I chose the cherry clafouti and a few minutes later the young lady came back devastated to tell me they had none of that either! I eventually had a brownie, which she didn't charge me for. Must confess it didn't excite and the supplied ice cream was quite crystallised as if it had been refrozen. The table next to me were told they had no more Escargot, so clearly they opened with only one portion available. Front of house was good, 2/3 of the food I had was great but clearly someone needs to sort out the kitchen too many problems to give customers confidence of availability. Was it worth the trip? Oh yes but they have some serious organisational issues to resolve."

Wiltons

Wiltons

55 Jermyn Street London, SW1Y 6LX, FSA Food H, United Kingdom

Fish • Coffee • British • Seafood


"Such a lovely way to start the New Year with a lunch visit to one of my favourite restaurants in London. The front desk provides a warm welcome though I wished that the “jacket tie” dress code for men had been sustained. A well-proportioned man was hovering at the front sporting an over-large zipped up windcheater and open neck shirt. Not at all smart so I hope he was apprehended before he entered the restaurant! What next? Baseball caps on the wrong way round? Back to the good old days of proper standards please. Thanks to ever helpful House Manager, Michael Stokes, we had a delightful table which provided ample screening for our business discussion and the service was discrete but always experienced and timely. The ambience continues to exude quiet luxury. I feel the Seasonal Menu is terrific value important in a tight and high tax economy) with 3-courses offered for £47.95. My starter choice of half a dozen Carlingford Irish Rock Oysters was superb. Freshly shucked mouthfuls of sweet salty pleasure with a contrasting red wine vinegar and onion dressing. Absolute heaven on a cold winter’s day. From there, I moved to the Carving Trolley and myriad slices of tender honey roasted gammon with creamy mashed potatoes. Spinach £7.00) and French Beans £6.50) were extra but worth it. Finally, we both had the gorgeous Bread Butter Pudding which was light, sweet and sitting in a moat of delicious custard. The wine list is imperious and impelling but not so easy to find a value for money midday measure. I opted for the Tuscan Le Volte Dell’ Ornellaia 2018 for £98.00 which drank well. Plenty of fruit flavour and not too heavy. Overall the bill was a meaty £274.16 for 2 with service now at 15% but this is a very special restaurant."