I recently had the misfortune to dine in this restaurant on a Friday night. Let me clarify before I continue. The awful experience was as a result of the appalling service and pompous nature of the staff, rather than the quality of the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant.

I dine in similar restaurants on a fairly regular basis and have never before been made to feel the way the staff at Tom Aikens restuarant made me feel. I hardly remember a thing about the food, what I do remember is how the manager proceeded to humiliate me and my partner in front of the entire restaurant.

The issue arose when the manager approached our table and informed us that a spoon had not been returned to the kitchen and he was upset and disappointed as they are very expensive. Confident that we had nothing to do with the issue (as we have no desire to go around stealing spoons) I asked the manager what he was suggesting by approaching us with that statement. He had no other response than to repeat himself, shrug his shoulders and look at us questioningly. Not clear on what he was expecting from me I repeatedly asked what he was suggesting, even once offering to be searched and have my handbag searched. By this stage I was quite upset that a lovely evening had quickly spiralled downwards into false accusations and humiliation, particularly as he had chosen to do it in front of the entire restaurant.

As we left the manager apparently found the spoon under the table and proceeded to accuse us of bending the aforementioned item of cutlery! Constantly expressing how disappointed he was as it was a very expensive spoon, he made us feel even worse.

I am disappointed to say the least.

Firstly, had he dealt with the issue more discreetly the situation might not have been as awful as it was.

Secondly, when dining anywhere one should not be made to feel like a common criminal, nor scolded like a small child. Particularly when one has not done anything wrong.

Thirdly, it was about a spoon. A… More