Aubaine (4 Heddon Street, London, London, W1B 4BS) The food is good, the ingredients fresh and the presentation can't be faulted. But these very competent offerings from the kitchen are completely let down by inattentive and careless front-of-house service. We asked for a minor change to one dish (a different sauce from another dish on the menu), but this was not what was served, and the subsequent replacement arrived with no sauce at all! Whilst only half-full on a Saturday night, the staff were too busy chatting to each other at the bar to attend to their customers. At £55 per head, it's surely not too much to ask that the staff know their menu, that wine and water are topped-up without asking, that the order is remembered accurately (maybe write it down to make sure), and your coats are retrieved for you at the end of the night. My impression was that perhaps the waiting staff don't really want their employer to last. So if you really want to go, do so now, before they go under – I give them 6 months.
Link to this reviewJanuary 2010 |