Restaurants

I would like to be able to say that I had a good experience at Marco Polo, hell I would like to say that I had even an adequate experience at Marco Polo, at a push I would even settle for beiong able to say I had any kind of experience at all.
To put a VERY long story short I made a booking for Sunday lunch for 6 and simply had to walk out as after an hour and three quarters they had still not brought our main courses. Added to which they did not bother to explain why there was a delay or how long the mains would take to arrive. This was after taking half an hour to take our orders, bringing a bottle of wine with no glasses and then dissappering for another 15 mins whilst we stared longingly at our uncorked bottle.
The manager was about as rude as a restaurant manager is able to be and did not care that he had a party of six walking out of his restaurant (perhaps as this appeared to be a common theme amongst the guests at the restaurant that day).
He made no attempt at all to appease the situation which was solely due to his and his staff's incompetence. They were equally unconcerned that they had single handedly ruined a special occassion lunch.
I really do want to go on and on but I have never been motivated to write a negative review for a restaurant before but feel obliged to in this case.
If you do not mind incompetent staff and rude management not versed in even basic customer service please consider a booking at Marco Polo (although I suggest having a back up booking when your food does not arrive for two hours).
If you don't mind these things and do not mind waiting an ungodly period for the simplest request to be dealt than this is the place is for you.
In case there is any doubt about the tone of my review allow me to encapsulate in one word:
"AVOID"

There is not sufficient hyperbole in the English language to describe my utter disappointment with this restaurant.
I have just moved to the Putney area and was looking for a riverside venue to celebrate Mothering Sunday. Our party booked a week in advance and our party was made up of 5 adults. We arrived on time for our booking and decided to sit outside to enjoy the rare sunshine that we are afforded in England.
After being sat down for 20 minutes waiting to order, we overheard another disgruntled party on the table behind us complain that they had been waiting an hour and a half for their meal. When their food did finally arrive, they complained that the food was inadequate and had been left under a heat lamp for some time as their pasta had hardened.
Hoping that we had arrived at the restaurant late enough for this same tardiness not to apply to our meal we eventually ordered food and drink and sat and waited for our drinks to arrive. 30 minutes passed and we tried to ask a passing waitress where our drinks and/or food were. She held up her hands and shooed us away not engaging with us at all.
Eventually a bottle of wine arrived, but no glasses. A further 20 minutes later we were able to stop contemplating ways of opening the bottle of wine with our bare teeth as the waiter arrived with some glasses.
A further 30 minutes later our cold (whereas they should have been served hot) starters arrived. Grateful for something to stave off the hunger pangs, we ate the no-better-than-average cheese-coated fare.
We waited a further 30 minutes hoping for a main course but every time we tried to accost a waiter they shrugged us off and did not respond. When we did go inside and one of our party asked to speak to the manager, the manager insisted that we pay for the food and drink we had consumed and then "we could go"and [kindly] would not charge us for the undelivered main courses or [discretionary] service charge. When we protested that we had not even received the food or even any service to speak of. the manager reacted in a rude and obtuse manner. I have never been treated in this way in a restaurant in my life.
Despite the fact that this could have been my new local, I will never eat here again.