Bistro Freddie

Firstly, the compliments, - the owners have created a successful kitchen apparently consistently serving good quality modern bistro style dishes using well sourced ingredients.

Myself, partner and friend lunched at Bistro Freddie a couple of weeks ago, and ate moderately well. I say that but I am from the North and expect a pie to be lagged on its base with pastry. Putting this bias to one side, the pie served for 2 at £45, was a plate pie with no depth that used shredded chicken; it would not have passed muster at a wake in a local Cricket Club never mind being presented in a self-declared 'Bistro'. We were subjected to a totally unacceptable aural assault from lunchers on other tables. The acoustics in the dining room were appalling. We maybe the wrong demographic compared to the shouters and screamers present - they being mostly much younger than us who no doubt had Gordon Gekko fantasies of being on the trading floor 40 years ago, however their high decibel braying rendered our lunch a miserable experience. In over 50 years of restaurant going we have never experienced anything quite like it. I wonder if the owners have ever considered the HSE Regulations on sustained loud noise exposure. They seem content to manage a dining room where the only way to hear your companions speak is to join in the shouting competition. The room is literally screaming out for the installation of some form of ergonomic acoustic damping. We brought the sound issue to the attention of three of the front of house staff, all of whom casually brushed aside our concerns. Amusingly one couldn't hear my comments.

Incidentally and regrettably one of the serving staff, who was pleasant, polite and enthusiastic,clearly needs further training as she brought the wrong bottle of our chosen wine (possibly as she couldn't hear the order), kept asking if she could clear our plates when we hadn't finished courses,kept trying to take the dessert order within seconds of the menu being presented and couldn't efficiently manage us paying the bill. On leaving I asked the lady who had seated us if I could speak to the manager. She replied that "I am one of the managers..." Almost an apt Fawlty Towers response, but not quite. I again raised the issue of the unacceptable noise levels that we had been subjected to. She replied that this had never been raised by anyone else before. An interesting response as my partner, who had retreated to the relative aural calm outside, raised the same issue with a male staff member who was also outside, he responded (perhaps more honestly) that sometimes guests had to be told to be quieter. I also must question the customer facing attitude of the lady who claimed to be 'one of the managers' - her response to me was dismissive, uninterested and defensive. After we left my partner astutely quipped "...its a great place to dump a partner as nobody would hear the acrimonious shouting and accusations..." All in all a dreadful experience and a great shame as the restaurant has a lot going for it. I hope that these honest observations enable the owners to create a more friendly and enjoyable customer experience. Their website should perhaps suggest that a pair of swollen and swinging gonads augmented by a testosterone implant would help with the Trading Floor atmosphere and the competition to be heard. I attempted to engage both the owners and the restaurant via email with our thoughts but have been ignored... hence this review which has been composed with a degree of sadness as new restaurants which have the potential to be excellent should always be welcomed.