O perfil de lauraaustin

Top top service – what a welcome! Such warmth and wonderful welcome we immediately felt happy to be here and we hadn’t even eaten anything yet! We were seated quickly and the staff were warm and attentive and extremely polite. The food was served quickly and was DELICIOUS! Tasty and excellent portions! Each course came quickly despite the fact that the place was packed! I was seriously impressed and the value for money was excellent! The atmosphere was lovely, everyone was having a great time and it was a marvellous evning! I will definately go back and can highly recommend this restaurant!

What can I say – this restaurant wouldn’t get a single star from me (but I have to put in something) and I never ate a single crumb!

I booked online on the website, for a table of 6 people at 7pm at the St Christopher’s Sofra and was quickly sent an email saying they would contact me a day before to confirm the booking. (Very impressive I thought) The contact was never made so about 1 hour and 15 minutes before the booking I decided that out of courtesy I would call the restaurant to double check it was still a booking and to let them know I was on my way.

When I called the restaurant the member of staff said that yes the booking had been made, and while he was talking to me I could hear that someone (probably the manager) was actually talking to him and telling him what to say and so as a result he wasn’t really listening to me (!) and then I was told that if I didn’t arrive on time the table would be given up after 15 minutes of the booked time. I pointed out that I thought that this was very bad customer service considering I was actually ringing them to CHECK that the booking was all ok as I was on my way, and that having never eaten at the restaurant (in fact I’ve never even booked at the restaurant) that I thought that being told that the table would be given up after 15 minutes was quite rude considering I was taking the time to double check my booking and was on my way! I said that if this was the way that they welcomed new clients to the restaurant then I was not really happy about it. He wasn’t really listening to me (the manager was STILL talking to him) and he repeated the information about the 15 minutes window, and then I said well I am on my way and will be there at the time of the booking.

I arrived with one of my guests 5 minutes before 7pm, the restaurant was very busy, and we were seated very quickly – one of my other guests arrived and so we were just waiting for a couple of other people. Houmos and bread was bought to the table, we had been there maybe 5 minutes, probably less when the manager came over to ask how we were, but quickly got onto the real issue he wanted to discuss which was how many other people we were expecting. I said we were waiting for 2 more people (and as it was only one less than the booking due to unforeseen circumstances we would still need the 3 tables to accommodate 5 people). The manager then asked me how many people we were “really” expecting (!!) – I said 2 more, to which he said – when are they arriving. When I said they were arriving soon. He said – but how late are they coming? Suddenly this perfunctory table visit had taken on the character of an inquisition – with the tone of the manager completely unnecessary and very rude. We are not rude guests, we are all in our late 30s and were chatting quietly, we had done nothing wrong, we hadn’t even started our meal, we had literally just arrived and we were being treated in a less than polite manner for apparently no reason. The manager then left us alone but having been given this dressing down for no reason at all we decided we would leave. We got up to go – obviously we had not touched the bread and houmos, and the manager came over and asked if we were leaving – I explained that I was not happy on 2 counts with the customer service I had received.

I recounted the experience on the telephone – he confirmed it had been him talking to the person who was talking to me on the phone, and I then pointed out that having had that experience I had still decided to come to the restaurant but having been treated this way by him that I had decided to take my guests elsewhere. He then addressed one of my guests, to which I pointed out that I had made the booking and therefore he should talk to me not my guests.

He then explained (in a very defensive manner) that he had had 2 sets of clients, who had booked tables that evening and who had failed to turn up for their tables and that was why he had emphasized the 15 minute window to me. (If this is an important issue then surely it could have been emphasised in the email I received?) I said that this was none of my business and that I had done nothing wrong, neither had my guests and that WE should not be subjected to such rudeness simply because other clients of his had failed to turn up for their booking. I pointed out that unlike those clients I had rung up IN ADVANCE to confirm the booking (something I wouldn’t have needed to do had the restaurant kept it’s promise to contact you a day prior to my visit to reconfirm your reservation.) Surely I said this showed him that I fully intended to come to my booking?! I also pointed out that we had arrived on time and that my other guests were on their way and that there was no reason whatsoever to penalise us with this awful welcome because other clients had failed to turn up for their meals. I pointed out that the restaurant was in the wrong on several points:
1 – that they had not confirmed
2 – that they had been rude on the phone (besides the fact that I was being treated like I was likely to not turn up when in fact I was being pro-active about contacting the restaurant with the 15 minute window – as well as the fact that while I was on the phone with someone I was barely being listened to because the person answering the phone had someone talking to him all the time while he was on the phone to me!!) That is not good customer service!
3 – that when we arrived ON TIME, the manager’s manner was disingenuous and insulting and that the failure of other clients to turn up for their booking should not in any way reflect on the way that I and my guests were received.

He again was very insincere, barely apologised and considering that the way we had been treated had nothing whatsoever to do with anything we had done an apology would have been a good thing. We got the distinct impression that he really wasn’t bothered that we had been treated badly – he just wanted to fill the table. He clearly felt no regret that brand new clients who had had no experience of the restaurant had had such a bad first impression – so we left and I can safely say that I have no desire to go back there and to be treated so rudely when there are hundreds of amazing restaurants in London that will treat a new client (and old) with wonderful welcoming manners and make me and my guests feel very welcome!

Ayyyyy Que rico! No pues, estos son los maximos, los mejores, violentos y vale la pena por su precio, solo he estado allí una vez y me di cuenta que el sabor era padrisimo asi que volvere otra vez!

I’ve just been to the wonderful Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and was so impressed by the gallery and the range of exhibitions, and had they not been enough to hold my attention (which they were) the gallery and the grounds were beautiful.

I saw the fabulous David Hockney ‘Me draw on iPad’ exhibition, the Louisiana Summer exhibition, the Josef Albers and the Frontiers of Architecture Living exhibition (August 2011) – and they were all 4 exhibitions: fantastic!

We stayed for some food, and chose to go with the buffet which was fantastic value for money and later had a coffee and dessert (which didn’t come with the buffet). The food was excellent and the gallery was incredible. It was well worth the visit and if you are coming from Copenhagen in a car and can take the scenic route (where the Karen Blixen house is – also fab) you will see some of the most incredible houses on the way up as well as the beautiful coastal road.

Stunning and surprisingly romantic this huge cemetery is over run with wilderness and a photographers heaven! I went on a summer's day just before dusk and took some breath taking photos - it's a lovely place to walk around and to enjoy a quiet but beautiful walk.

Saw the following advert for Camino in Kings Cross:

"Sun Bailante Dj's will bring tropical fire to Camino's with a Special mix of the best Brazil and Colombian ground-shakers."

.... well the DJ was fantastic no doubt BUT I can't say anything else positive about this place.

The atmosphere was so dull. Walking in we were greeted by an indifferent woman who was seating people for meals, and when we asked about the Baile Funk night she had no idea what we were talking about - she eventually pointed us vaguely to the bar area past the restaurant. No problem I thought now it's about to get interesting... I was really looking forward to this!

oh dear.... It was like walking into any bland old pub in the banking district, not a hint of the latin heat that the flyer implied/promised.

Very disappointing.

The dance floor area (not a designated area) was sort of near the DJ and if you were thinking about having a boogie you were constantly bumped into by the very harrassed looking staff who had to walk across the dance floor area to get the glasses back to the bar. They just have not thought this through, the layout the feel - and considering this is run by the same guys who run the VERY excellent Big Chill House just a few yards up the road I was mighty disappointed and thought it was a huge let down.

Can't say i'll be back again though I loved the music (the 1 star is for the DJ!) - what's the point of good music when you can't enjoy it and have a good old baile/ dance without looking around wondering if you hadn't been better off listening to your iPod in your front room with your mates!!