Having booked The Cinnamon Club for others since its inception, I was delighted to have the opportunity to lunch there with a group of friends last week. All four of us selected food from the set menu, along with four side dishes. Without doubt, the food was delicious, however, the service was extremely disappointing. Once shown to our table, the maitre d' greeted me warmly with a friendly handshake, which contrasted the slightly disdainful welcome I received from the front-of-house staff. We had a lengthy wait before ordering our wine, which was stored away from our table and out of our reach, which resulted in us having empty glasses. Two of our side dishes never arrived, and when this was pointed out to our waiter as he came to collect our empty plates, he asked if we still wanted them. We declined and were extremely frustrated when the two missing side dishes were included on the bill.
When I pointed out my disappointment to the maitre d' his apology was accompanied with the bizarre explanation that it was December - the inference being that this was a reason for sub-standard service.
Despite the lovely setting and beautiful food, I will continue to simply book The Cinnamon Club for others rather than myself.