Salt House, The

Oliver Lucas (29 August 2008)

I visited to the Salt House today and ordered a burger and coke at the bar. I said I'd pay up front and when I came to pay I saw on the computer screen that a 12.5% service charge of £1.50 had been added. Even though I had gone to the bar, placed the order myself and offered to pay then and there. I should also mention that this was not something they were going to mention had I not seen it on screen. I politely asked if this could be removed. My request was greeted by the following reply: ‘I’m a barman. My job is to serve drinks; therefore me bringing your food from the kitchen constitutes service.’ I then asked the barman, not waiter you understand, if he seriously considered taking a burger from the kitchen to a seat outside, a distance of no more than five metres and a time of less than one minute, to be worth £1.50 he answered: ‘Deadly serious.’ Paying for service is at the discretion of the paying customer, not at the instance of the provider. It is not compulsory and should not be applied as such.

M Fulham (2 July 2008)

Having previously lived in the area, I got to know the Salt House as a local jaunt last year and always rated it highly - until last night. A couple of friends and I had dinner and were greeted by the most petulant waiter I have ever met. He clearly didn't want to serve us and after being left for fifteen minutes, had to actually call on him to take our order. He made us feel as though we were putting him out even ordering the food. Our starters were lovely, although they took a while to arrive, but we were then waiting for another 45 minutes for the main courses to arrive. By 10pm we were hungry and fed up with the appalling service and made motions to leave. The manager came over to inform us that there was a problem in the kitchen that was delaying our meals - although we were acutely aware that everyone else around us who had arrived later had been served, and in good time.

When the food finally arrived it was not up to usual standard. My friends received a plate of dried boiled chicken and some strands of leafy salad. I ordered risotto, which was watery, with hard vegetables. The only saving grace was that we were offered our meals for free, though I have say that I think the crisis in the kitchen completely prevented the manager from recognising how useless the waiter was. It's going to take a lot for the Salt House to redeem itself in my eyes.

See more reviews of Salt House, The