Vista at the Trafalgar Hotel

My wife and I went here for a romantic dinner and the service was so poor it ruined the evening.

We started off having a drink which I had to remind them of twice before they got it wrong and came back with a compleltely wrong order. G&T at £10 and a tiny warm at £6 seemed a bit steep.
The view was obscured by scaffodling, we could see Nelson, however there are better views in London.

Our rmeal was hopeless, we were shown to our seats and had to remind a waiter 3 times that we wanted to order. Nearly 40 minutes later I walked towards the bar by the entrance as could not catch the waiter's eye.
Our starters did arrive quickly after that but my wife's had to be returned as was freezing cold. The main courses turned up and were 20 minutes apart. I had chicken that was completely taste-free and a very small portion.

I mentioned this to the manager who did not seem suprised.
Very poor service, bland food.

I would never go back there.

Windows on the World is so much better than this and is a comparable price, unobscured views, perfect service, great atmosphere – go there instead!

Having had one or two sunny and warm days this June, at the next opportunity and with a friend in town we decided to have a quick ‘lunch break’ lunch at Vista. Id popped up to the bar/lounge/brasserie once before and had rather liked the atmosphere and music so thought id try it again since it is only a stones throw from the office. Plus i wanted to show my out of town friend that London can be quite cool in the summer.

However, now i realise that it was a mistake. We arrived at 1:30, took the lifts up to the hotel. A good start. Arrived up to the top of the terrace and found ourselves a nice table in the sun. There was enough choice as the rooftop was only half full. No menu's were brought over, so i strolled over to the waiter and asked for a couple to be brought over. No bother. Having perused the menu, we both opted for a quick and healthy option of some table water, a salad, some chicken skewers and…a side of wedges. We gave this order to our waiter all at once within ten mins of arriving at the bar and sitting down. And it is from this point that thing went drastically downhill. After 20 mins we received no food, after 30 still no food. After 25 mins and no food i think its more than fair to enquire of its wareabouts. I was told by the shy waiter that he will check and it shouldnt be too long. 10 mins later and no sign. Not ideal when you are on a strict one hour lunch break. I grabbed the attention of the ‘manager’. I put this in apostrophe as i am not sure how he deserves the title. I explained our frustrations of the time wait and he assured me that he will check on the food and that they were extremely busy due to the weather. Really? the terrace was part full and downstairs on our way up we say a restaurant/bar with no more than 5 tables filled!

Eventually the food arrived and to say we were dispointed was an understatement. My parma ham, asparagus, rocket and roast pepper salad arrived and was disgraceful. It was like someone has thrown some rocket on a plate, showved a few peppers here and there and layed 2 peices of parma ham accross the top. No sign of the asparagus and no dressing. Dry. Very dry. The chicken skewers to be fair were nice but how on earth it takes 45 mins to make such simle food was beyond me, and i was about to ask the ‘manager’ why. He apologised for the delay but what really griped me was although he said he was sorry he also mixed the sort of apology with excused. A few of which, and i quote as as follows ‘we are not All Bar One, our food wont come out within 5 mins it is fresh’ ‘In any restaurant where the food is made fresh you are expected to wait between 20 and 30 minutes’ ‘ we are very busy’. all of this is utter rubbish. I have eaten in many different restaurants, some of which are find dining and nowhere have i hads to wait 45 mins (or even his claimed 30) to receive any food. Its unnaceptable. And for a salad and some chicken. Pur-lease!

Eventually after much argueing with ‘mamager’ that it is not how restaurants operate he gave in and at least made a gesture- free meal. Still, due to me sending back my so called salad after seeing its pathetic existance i was left with no lunch except for a couple of average wedges.

Do not go here if you are pressed on time, Do not go here if you want to eat nice food. Go here for a drink on a warm sunny day and only that. Oh, and if you go after work it'll cost you a cover charge to enter the bar.

The only reason to go to the Vista is the view over Trafalgar Square. Reasons not to include £5 per person entry charge, amateur and intrusive service, pushiness on ordering more drinks, unbelievable prices and small portions.

I have been twice, first time had a seat near the edge of the seating area so could see Trafalgar Square, second time the area with a view was closed, but no-one said so when they took our £5. Thus had to sit looking at the kitchen wall. A glass of average chablis costs £11 for probably the smallest measure ever seen.

They tried to give us someone else's food, and brought our bread when we had finished the meal and the plates had been cleared! Waitress, who was clueless, seemed most put out that we didn't want it. Rocket and parma ham salad was 4 small thin strips of ham with a huge pile of rocket, not much of a meal and a rip off for the price (£15+). The wife's salmon sald was good to be fair.

Overall, good for taking visitors to London as it's has a fun atmosphere and (usually) a decent view, but don't bother otherwise.