Barrica (62 Goodge Street, London, W1T 4NE) A disgrace. I went with six people on a Friday night. Our experience there was so awful that one person, for the first time in their lives, refused to pay service, and insisted it be taken off the bill. None of us would do that lightly, but this place was so rude and graceless, I regret not asking to knock further items off the bill. The table was booked well in advance, and reconfirmed at 5pm on the day. We arrived, they had given the table away, having claimed to have lost the booking. They passed us on to a table for four, which they claimed was for six. Since all of us had the gift of sight, we could see there were only four sets of cutlery on the tables. And only four chairs. Furthermore they stuck us on these uncomfortable high tables, made more so by the fact we were squeezed in a way too small space. A promise to move us to a proper table, as we'd booked, was later broken. Because, as one waiter confessed, they'd managed to give that away too. The service continued to be hostile. Ok it was Friday night, and if busy that can be tricky for a restaurant. But everything, but everything, had to be asked for again, and again. I've been in places where this has happened and you'll live with it, because the staff have some charm and concept of treating customers with with a degree of respect. But not here, and not this night. I wondered if I was being overly precious, but the whole table was experiencing the same rudeness following on from incompetence. And some of the friends I was eating with have survived war zones. I'm a fan of the place three doors down, Saltyard, but this place wasn't even close food wise. Nor compared to Barrafina, or El Parador. For instance the clams came as a miserly portion, with one closed, meaning it was potentially poisonous. When that was pointed out quietly to the manager, it was greeted by the Fawlty Towers line of “well that sometimes happens”. Some of the food showed promise, the pistou of walnuts and pumpkin was decent. The wine list was…
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Link to this reviewNovember 2010 |