The Providores

The first thing you notice is the extremely loud music – it's like going to eat at a disco.
You end up shouting at your friends across the table – or shouting your order at the waiting staff – despite asking for the music volume to be reduced several times this never happened despite multiple assurances.

The food was good, although a bit greasy and there is an annoying money grabbing aspect where you have to pay for things like eggs on toast and separately, charging for eggs and charging again for toast – very bizarre.

The selection of teas is quite good although you get half a pot full of boiling water – again, you have to ask for the pot to be filled completely. Nice decor but sloppy service, and they add the service charge in too!

Providores used to be among my favourite breakfast haunts, but have to say in the last couple of months it has really disappointed. A particular favourite, creamed wild mushrooms and pancetta served on sourdough toast just got stingier and stingier (in quantity AND quality of the mushrooms) until the game was hardly worth the candle. The last time I was there, i ordered a totally a la carte breakfast to have everything served in separate dishes and not particularly warm, either. Plus parts of our group of three's orders were forgotten. The staff are really nice and try to be helpful but appear overwhelmed at breakfast time.

When I was talking about it with a New Zealand colleague, he seconded my own experience and recommended a new place nearby. More worrying, having recommended the upstairs restaurant to some visitors and longer term residents a while back, one of my colleagues based in the area commented as well on their strong disappointment with the standard of cooking recently, which is a real shame. The NZ colleague said the chef who had inspired the food is not on the scene as much, and that might explain the fall-off in standards.

As someone who has eaten there pretty regularly for the past 2-3 years, I hate the thought that my favourite breakfast spot is no longer the place it was. No doubt it will continue to attract people for its name, but fear it may lose regulars if it doesn't up its act.