Victoria Sponge
The Clermont Restaurant And Bar, Charing Cross

The Clermont Restaurant And Bar, Charing Cross

The Strand, London, United Kingdom

Tea • Wine • Coffee • European


"After booking a table at the restaurant (17/02/18) because the reviews were quite good it is always disappointing to be someone who didn't get a great experience. We arrived on time and were taken to our seats after a few minutes of waiting. Nice atmosphere a dozen people around us some with and some without food and a lovely view of the strand. Unfortunately the view was the best bit, by a long way. After waiting over 20 minutes to get a drinks order (I had to flag down a waiter) and then another 10 minutes to receive 2 glasses of prosseco, a pint and a large glass of wine we had our food order taken. With a waiting time of just over 30 minutes for a starter it was a long time to wait for a mediocre dish. The scallops were average, nothing special. They were meant to be seasoned with spice but tasted plain. The other starter we had, the pea and crab chowder was more a soup with tinned peas poured into it and a few pieces of crab meat occasionally appearing within. Not a great start considering other people around us had food that came quickly and looked and smelled great. Another wait for mains, not as long as for starters but still noticeable, where even the waitress came over and told us she would check on our food. The lamb rump tasted ok but had clearly been left under a heat lamp as it was just warm when it arrived. The salad that came with it was missing half of the things from the menu! The other dish we ordered, Quinoa and grilled portobello mushroom salad, was the saddest and most dissapointing looking dish if ever seen. It was literally a hand full of quinoa a few salad leaves and some cold slices of mushroom atop it. Again missing ingredients that it stated on the menu. After taking into consideration the wait and the poor quality in the food and long wait times we left paying only for the drinks and starters and more importantly hungry. Still after only drinks and a starter it came to roughly £47, less than impressive for value. Dissapointing!"

Cafe Cockburn

Cafe Cockburn

34 Cockburn Street, City Of Edinburgh EH1 1BU, United Kingdom, EH1 1PB

Cafés • Coffee • Cheese • Breakfast


"Probably the most miserable cafe I have ever frequented. We entered what appeared to be a nice cosy establishment, sat down and waited... and waited. We eventually got the menu we had to request, a crumpled, well used, dirty A4 sheet. The menu looked fairly promising so we forgave their reuse of dirty paper. Ordering, we eventually discovered was by walking up to the counter full of tempting looking cakes and attempting to attract the attention of customer avoidant staff, zero eye contact and the personification of misery, however, I forged ahead and asked if I could order. The waitress silently turned behind the counter and walked to the far end and stood at the cash register, apparently I was supposed to follow. Order placed and paid for I sat down. First the coffee arrived, nicely presented and fairly good, a pity about the ugly chipped metal spoon on the side. Then the main event, 1 fry up and 1 eggs benedict. The fry up: half the plate was filled with a chorizo style greasy sausage, a couple of shreds of fried mushroom and the remaining mediocre fry, and the other half of the plate was inexplicably taken up by a horridly bitter mismatching drizzle of balsamic vingear? Why? The eggs benedict, again half a plate taken up by a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, the other half a small slice of white loaf with two over cooked dry yolked eggs and a watery yellow teaspoon of sauce. Sadly after that nothing could tempt me to stay and try one of the cakes that drew me in the door. Verdict: The most miserable, avoidant staff I have ever seen, not just one staff member but every single one including the chef. And a greasy fry, overcooked dry eggs, a lack of sauce and inexplicably half of every plate reserved for a zig-zag drizzle of bitter balsamic vingear. My advice: Avoid! Overpriced, over cooked, and customers over looked."