The Westbourne

Food fiend ( 30s, Female, United Kingdom )

Myself and two friends went to the Westbourne over the sunny weekend – it's a very funky, quaint looking place in an area behind Westbourne Grove, the kind of place you'd stumble over and slightly off the beaten track. It was initially quite quiet around 12ish but there was an array of waitresses and waiters/bar staff there to happily ignore us, which is why im giving it such a poor service score. When i finally got someone's attention (i had already booked a table), they seated us but didnt say anything about how to order etc and didnt ask about drinks etc. We then realised it was all order at the bar, which is fine, but we should have really been told this at the start. Service then got much better in the sense the food was outstanding, in my opinion. I had fillet of lamb with spiced cous couse and raitha, cooked to perfection, whilst friends had skate and poussin respectively, both of which they devoured! Pudding choice was limited but delicious – but i had chocolate mousse cake with creme fraiche which was similarly delicious and i pigged out again. Overall the bill came to approx £70 excluding drinks (2 courses each for three people). Id definitely recommend The Westbourne because of the excellent food, the lovely terrace which gets packed in the sun, and the quaint decor, very trendy and relaxed. I would say the service leaves much to be desired, they need to have at least one professional member to bring it all together rather than all these seemingly zombie/surfer dude sorts who dont know seem to know what they are doing. I dont think this will detract from the popularity though as it was heaving when we left around 4, but could make it all the more perfect.