AA's review of Santa Maria Del Sur

What a terrible experience Santa Maria Del Sur was Easter Monday. I had booked a table for my girlfriend and me, to celebrate her birthday. I had made the reservation for six pm and was told we are very busy; you can have a table but only for one and a half hour. This was ok, but we arrived at the restaurant at 5.55pm and they did not open the door until 6:10pm leaving us and others to stand outside on a horrible grey pavement and not a nice stretch of the Queenstown road.

I should have known the night was going to be bad right then.

We were seated by a professional guy but no smiles or welcome, or sorry to leave you standing outside a main busy ugly road; and for opening late.

The grill hadn’t even been lit! As most people know it takes a grill at least half an hour to forty five minutes to reach the correct temperature. It seemed they were still preparing to open as customers were in their seats ordering. Really bad ethos.

We ordered, I had the tuna steak at 6 15pm to start and asked for it to be left pink inside. It arrived at 6 45pm overcooked. We had waited 30 minutes for our starters; I didn’t say anything.

Then I asked for my fillet steak to be cooked medium, it arrived charred outside and red rare inside. When I cut in to the chips oil seeped out of them, obviously the oil hadn’t been heated and was cold when the chips were put in.

Next the insult to injury, the head guy comes and asks me if I mind moving from our table to one right at the back. He says he knows the grill was late in firing up, right there I reminded him also that they opened late, he then says “oh you came early.” “I said no I got here for 6pm which was the time I was told to arrive at” he ignored that and said we can have dessert if we want to but at the table in the back.

Now it seemed they didn’t really want to open on Easter Monday, it was a half hearted attempt to run a professional busy restaurant, greed has got the better of them.

Finally they wanted almost £9 for indifferent (not rude but indifferent none the less) service on a £75 bill for two(without dessert and only one alcoholic drink)mm. I was not going to pay the service charge, but my GF reminded me how difficult a job this can be..blah blah. (before you start, I have waited tables and tended bar with 12 tills and 400 people on a night) So ok I rewarded them,ARRRRGH.

Their sign outside says best steaks in London as seen on the F word, what rubbish! The success has really gone to their head and standards are dropping. I should have complained but for two reasons. One it was meant to be a special occasion for GF and I didn’t want to ruin it for her. And second in my experience if a place is so busy and has fame currently on its side the management don’t care about the complaints. They tend to be rather short sighted and think there are enough people who will keep coming.

Not the few smart ones who read reviews though I hope. Save your money go elsewhere.