- 整體 1
- 食物 2
- 服務 4
- 氛圍 4
Right, where to start. Firstly, after 25 minutes I had to go and find the floor manager in order to ask that our first course orders be taken, for a table of five, orders which eventually arrived just before the hour mark following our 1pm arrival for lunch. As host, I had to again leave my guests in order to search of someone to take our main course orders (which had included two expensive sirloin steaks, but were, apparently, "not available after a busy weekend") just after 2.30pm, no-one on the waiting staff seemingly responsible for taking them earlier. As a result, our main courses were not served until well past three o'clock, by which time my guests were thoroughly disenchanted by both the Ivy Cafe and the levels of service encountered on this occasion. Most unfortunately, the tardy performance of the kitchen - the floor staff cannot be blamed for slow kitchen service - was exacerbated by the luke-warm temperature of the main courses when they eventually arrived: tepid Shepherd's Pie and Chicken Milanese, while even the chips were cold and the Rib-Eye steak had obviously spent too long under the 'lamp', awaiting the cheese souffle to rise perhaps. All this prompted the restaurant manager to be called, a gentleman full of apologies, but who was unable to do anything other than to strike two main courses from the bill and replace three portions of chips, thereafter served piping hot. It should be stressed that the restaurant was certainly not that busy on this occasion, an average Monday lunchtime, yet the kitchen was obviously unable to cope. Speaking as a former Food & Beverage manager, I found the whole 'Ivy' experience on this occasion to be frustratingly below that which I had come to expect based upon my previous visits, both here and at Covent Garden. Were this to be a school report, it would bear the comment: 'Must try harder', which it is hoped will happen.