The Gilbert Scott

"A decent enough meal was tempered completely by frightful service- perhaps the somellier & manager were having bad days but we were quite taken aback. When we arrived we were impressed by the decor and had no issues getting a table despite no reservation. Confusion quickly set in with the number of menus we were presented with, and just like any other Waering restaurant the "special menus" required the addition of various sides, making them much more expensive than they should have for the standard of cooking. We waited no less than 1 hour 15 mins for our food from ordering. We were told variously that this was because we had not ordered a full 3 courses (in that case why provide an a la carte menu for lunch?), that the kitchen was busy (the restaurant was not full) and because someone had ordered steak, it needed 20 minutes to rest. When the food arrived several side orders were missing. While waiting for food a somellier (although we did not realise he was one, as he had not introduced himself as such) asked us if we needed anything else - when we asked for more water for the table we were informed that every staff member had a job, and that was not his. The food was good enough (when it came) but the wait made us nearly miss the event we'd been in town for, and when we decided to remove service, we were told that this couldn't be done unless a specific conversation was held with the manager, further delaying our departure and compounding an already regrettable experience."