Restaurants

Ate here on Saturday 8th November 2008. The service was inattentive and cursory: long delays between courses, the soup was cold, the wine was over-chilled, the main course (which had a posh name and a price to match) was actually only a basic beef stew served with watery smashed potato and two stems of under-cooked broccoli. The bill was delivered without being asked for…too expensive for the standard of service and food.
But this is the worst bit…
We politely asked the waitress to pay without the “Optional Service Charge”. A few moments later the manager accusatorily asked why did we not want to pay it. We replied that the service and food had not been very good so we had opted not to pay the optional charge. The manager said the service charge was the way waiting staff make their money and we were therefore in the wrong. He then informed us (and everyone that was listening) that we were “banned” from the restaurant. A pointless gesture; why would we want to eat there again? Our coats and bags were then dumped at our feet.
The service charge represents a restaurant’s accountability for its standard of service and food. The arrogance of the manager is symptomatic of some successful restaurants in the West End; there is a large enough customer base for managers not to need to worry about offending a few members of the public as there will always be someone else looking for a table.
I cannot dissuade people from eating here strongly enough.

Took my girlfriend to dinner last night had an absolutley amazing time. Food was the best that i have had in london in over a year. the staff were very helpful happy and chatty but not intruding. Atmosphere is sublte and romantic. would definately recommend to couples or small groups

I was disappointed with my first and only visit to Andrew Edmunds. I did not have a problem with the cramped seating arrangements as we were a group of four good friends looking forward to an evening out. My problem was with the service and the food. The welcome was warm and we were seated quickly. Orders were taken and the first course came promptly. The range of wine was excellent and good advice was given. We then waited at least 40 minutes for our second course to arrive. One order of scallops was almost raw. When this was pointed out to the staff, no apology was given and the comment was "So you would prefer them to be cooked more" as though it was our fault. The pasta in both orders of ravioli was much too thick and therefore rather unpleasant, and also arrived lukewarm - perhaps because of the long wait? One order of lamb was excellent, as was the dessert, and no complaints there. The problems with the food were basic and just showed a lack of attention and care in the kitchen. It could have been so easy to have made sure that everything was enjoyable but that enthusiasm was not there.