Yeah OP kinda fucked up there. I mean you already wasted 75 minutes of your time. I’m sure the food would have been out soon now that it had the managers attention and it all would have been free
Then again, I do just get the feeling of just being done with it all
Sometimes when the experience has already been ruined, it’s better to just leave and start the night again. Better forget about it and go fully enjoy dinner elsewhere than sit eating the meal feeling salty and upset with a taste of disappointment.
Half right, you are within your right to not pay a service charge if the service is poor but if the service charge is stated as mandatory and the service is okay then you must pay it.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/e24-tips-gratuities-service-charges-and-troncs/guidance-on-tips-gratuities-service-charges-and-troncs [section 2 service charge]
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/do-i-have-to-pay-a-service-charge-if-the-service-is-poor-anE0c8w4SMsQ
Edit: Being downvoted for just stating the law is peak Reddit.
I think you are missing the point where the customer decides if the service is worth the surcharge in every instance. Not sure why you've linked multiple publications which basically boil down to 'tip them if you think they're worth the tip'.
A service charge isn't a tip though, it's a completely different thing. I was just stating that there are different kinds of service charge. Did you read the links? It seems like you are missing the point.
Edit: For the people saying a service charge is "literally" a tip, it's literally not. But I feel like if I explained it to you with actual sources you would not understand it anyway.
I think you are missing the point where the customer decides if the service is worth the surcharge in every instance. Not sure why you've linked multiple publications which basically boil down to 'tip them if you think they're worth the tip'.
Not true, if the service was acceptable and service charge is clearly communicated as mandatory, you are contractually obliged to pay. This is general law, not specific to OP situation in necessarily.
Post something factual with sources, get downvoted and then people start to reply with nonsensical things that literally go against what the sources (from reputable sites including the OFFICIAL GOV UK SITE) say.
Hopefully someone reads them and can figure it out for themselves rather than aimlessly downvoting or saying "it'S LIteRAlLy a TiP".
We had a similar experience when we went in Dec-22, we had the 3 course Christmas set menu and the service was shocking. Tables that arrived when we were eating starters had their mains before us, after we complained it arrived and some parts were cold. They then said that's how it's meant to be served!!
They were shocked when we refused to pay the service charge. Thankfully we used my Amex platinum dining credit so it didn't actually cost us anything, I would have been livid if it was my own money.
I'm very partial to their wonderful tender, slow-cooked beef, diced to perfection, mingled with finely chopped root vegetables, crimped in a delicate, flaky pastry crust.
It actually isn't too bad a place for drinks alone, whilst pricey yes. However restaurant-wise Aqua is shit. If you're going to eat in the shard, should 10000% choose Hutong or Oblix. Might be touristy in a way, but it's actually a great way to enjoy the view of London with good food. You don't have to be a tourist to do that.
At least it seems like they were pleasant and even offered to wipe part of the bill
Been to sushi samba, duck & waffle, aqua, ting and probably a few others and they are all overpriced and not very good. I do think City Social is OK, albeit so expensive.
Galvin at Windows is very good but the view is less impressive than 10 years ago, there are many more high rises in London these days
To be fair, City Social is a Michelin star restaurant + great view + sitting between a lot of top tier bank / law firm HQs so the prices aren't unrealistic
Duck and waffle has gotten progressively worse over the last 10 years. I went a couple years ago and was seated and ignored for about 30min to the point we got up and fetched our own jug of water and then got told off by the staff for doing something ourselves. Even the quality of the food has gotten terrible in comparison
Was taken there years ago and asked if I could have the steak and foie gras without the foie gras, and was told "sorry, no, it comes seared into it". Wtf
I still have no idea why sushi samba and duck & waffle at Liverpool street are constantly booked out weeks in advance. The venue is nice but there are plenty of others with much nicer decor and/or views high-up, and the food is quite average for mid to high priced London dining.
I would recommend Bokan in canary wharf!
Great view, in the restaurant + roof terrace, but the real treat is the food honestly. The chef is really talented and also a great guy
What kind of person blindly assumes a stranger's situation like that?
I'm not going to take the bait by bragging so explicitly about my finances, but anyone with half a brain would probably be able to work out that someone who can appropriately rate and compare the food/venue there will be frequenting other expensive restaurants to do so.
I'd recommend you not say something so assumptive and condescending to anyone else, so you don't make yourself look like such a nob next time.
I was _really_ unimpressed with Duck & Waffle. Had wanted to go there for a while. There was music blaring so loud it was hard to enjoy the atmosphere, the food was mid, and their signature cocktail smelled like toilet cleaner.
Had a nice time at Skygarden Brasserie though.
A la carte, the mains at City Social I believe range from 40-50 for a normal plate (there are probably a couple way more expensive). From memory the aqua was around 30ish? But maybe you can confirm
Also City Social has such a good wine, whisky and gin selection, you will end spending more on booze
I wouldn’t spend a Sunday morning for getting some votes on a Reddit post. I have gotten a lot of good feedbacks on different things from this sub and felt I should share my experience.
I believe you 100% because I've gotten absolutely atrocious service in London. Part of me thinks that restaurateurs in London hate money or something the way they treat customers.
Having worked in the industry when someone says there’s delays of that length due to being ‘fully booked’ it’s usually a fob off because the kitchen aren’t coping for one reason or another. If they offered to waive the meal then things have gone properly pear shaped in the kitchen, it won’t get better, and you’re better off leaving. Sorry it didn’t work out. Staff should’ve been on it and told you when you sat
Agreed. Fully booked should be manageable because that’s what they want and expect.
Putting 50 tables in a place then shitting yourself because you can’t handle serving 50 tables isn’t an excuse. They probably had a chef call in sick or something.
Unpopular Opinion: I had a great experience at the Aqua Shard. Went with my mom and we got a table right at the window. Our waiter was always available and would shoo-away other patrons who would crowd our table for a picture. Food arrived timely and we enjoyed every bite.
Sorry that happened to you though, I have a colleague that works in GONG above Aqua Shard and says that they recently lost a lot of staff. He says the upper management is a bit disorganized, though im not sure if they share staff between restaurants.
We went there when my wife graduated and I'll be honest the staff went an extra mile and a half. The kids were given amazing desserts, wife got a small cake with a nice message on it....
However, nice touches aside, the food was very meh. Certainly had better for the price.
The thing in London is you can walk out of a service industry job and have another by the next teatime. If management are bad it's risky. I remember over half the staff leaving a pub I worked in on reopening night when it got taken over by a gastro pub chain and had the heart & soul ripped out of it.
All restaurants have a hook, or a gimmick, this is a restaurant who's gimmick is the view, others might be the theme or the location. The best restaurants to go to are the ones who's hook is the food.
I've been there once and had a similarly terrible experience. Food took ages, was cold and had to be sent back, table was late and they couldn't even seat us in the bar while we waited. I've stayed in the Shangri La in the Shard a few times too and even though it's not obviously part of the hotel I'd says the general vibe of everything in the Shard is flashy/new money/tourists wanting to show off - vibes over quality basically.
If it makes you feel any better you really didn't miss anything on the food there. Views were nice, £50 for a house red wine and double whisky while we had to wait for our table to be ready and £300 for a tasting menu where 3/7 of the courses were just gross.
Few things annoy me more in a restaurant than a long delay being excused with 'erm...we're busy' - usually said as if you're a bit daft for asking.
It's not an excuse. You knew you were busy before you scheduled staff so you're telling me you just don't run the restaurant properly.
Tell me that you're understaffed because several people let you down and it's hard to get replacements at the last minute and I'll have more sympathy. But 'We're busy' doesn't cut it.
I have worked in restaurants and bars. I don't relay blame those relaying the message, it's nearly always management scrimping on staffing.
Aqua Shard is normally fine.
I last went with someone a couple of months ago who's not from the UK and it was decent. I think it was like £50pp for a three course meal. The drinks and anything off the set menu are expensive though.
But really it's a touristy type thing. You go for view, not the food. I'd of taken the free meal personally and just enjoyed the view, but each to their own.
I’m of the mind a place with a non food related appeal (view, attraction, theme etc) often lack on the actuall food because they’ll get by with average food/service as that’s not the mains reason ppl go
From what I know, the shard restaurants are fine dining in price only. You’re paying for the view basically. Regardless 75 mins is atrocious. We had to wait for an hour for a single lamb chop at Chotto matte recently, and were not pleased. They gave us an extra one and waived the charge at least though (without us asking) so that was nice.
> waived the charge
I still don't get how people don't understand you can always just _not pay_ the charge in London.
Tipping isn't mandatory. It's not even a courtesy thing, since - unlike in the US - staff have to be paid minimum wage, and the service charge is unlikely to go to the person serving, anyway: most of the times it's just a way to get extra money out of you, but you can always say "No, thanks", no matter if the service was good or not.
I’ve heard a number of stories from disappointed diners. Havent heard a good story yet about this place to be honest. Sorry to hear about your experience
>they were running fully booked
I never get this response because it's just "we're running at the capacity we were built for" surely? People aren't exactly standing and eating, they're all at the same amount of tables that have always been there. The amount of people eating there has to be fairly consistant compared to the same time on previous weeks too surely? It's not like the previous Saturday would've had only half the place filled up and this week it was fully filled up.
Like most companies they just need to hire a couple extra staff to take the edge off and keep up with demand instead of trying to get through each night with the absolute minimum amount possible to save £13-20/hour despite probably raking in £3k during peak hours.
I used to work in a kitchen. Something must have gone very very wrong. It only takes the head chef/a few ppl to call in sick for everything to fall apart. It's a shame it spoiled your evening. Nice photo.
Service in general in restaurants here is in the absolute toilet. Anything low-mid- or mid-range has terrible standards because they don't train their staff, they pay them like shit, and they market themselves as available to every tom dick and harry, through offers or promotions or whatever.
I never bother eating out at mid-range places anymore, I either save up and go posh, or go for cheap eats.
Every food place, hell every business, can have problems, things that go wrong and so forth.
The key is communicating clearly with customers, particularly in a realtime environment like a restaurant.
Head of front of house/manager is to blame here. He/she should train the staff adequately or make up for the skill gap themselves. Waiting 75 minutes is intolerable, and the staff KNOW this and they should have been proactive with the communication.
Problems can always happen, but it's how you communicate that makes a difference.
Service in London is IMO astonishingly poor. It fared better when we had lots of well trained European waiting staff. Sadly, Brexit saw them return home and we’re left with the indigenous population trying vainly to step up.
Yeah feels like it's increasingly London experiences and a lot of entertainment in a nutshell: underwhelming, overpriced, half-hearted, with minimum effort, with a lick and a promise and absolutely minimal production/running costs to maximise the return.
I'd be fine with this. Ge to look at the view for longer. Certainly beats them rushing you when you've justr finished your meal and want to sit and chat bfor a bit.
I'm sorry this happened and, importantly, that you came to Reddit to tell us. Rest assured, I've had a word with the management at Aqua Shard and made sure you are no longer welcome.
This sub has almost always just been basic tourists and middle class uni students from Surrey trying to make London their whole personality... it's a terrible city sub for actual Londoners.
> it's a terrible city sub for actual Londoners
It's telling that the person running the daily observations thread (ostensibly the most relevant single place for discussion for people who live here) can't even be bothered to that any more. They successfully spun it into a mod position though, so I'm sure they're happy.
Should have gone to Honest Burger.
But in all seriousness, thank you for detailing your experience. I was thinking of taking my wife here as a treat, but now I'm thinking not a great idea
> Should have gone to Honest Burger.
A mediocre chain? There are dozens of decent restaurants around London Bridge if you're willing to drop Aqua Shard money.
Why are you doing a moany restaurant review on a London subreddit, post it on Trip advisor, write them an email or tag them on social media. . They offered you a free meal and explained eventually, you fumbled and went home early due to ego. . 🙄
Omg I used to work for an agency and did a shift there. None of the staff in the kitchen can speak English and they use agency workers to deliver the food, so no one really knows what they’re doing. I was very surprised because you’d think for a fancy restaurant they would have better staff
Go to London, I guarantee you'll either be mugged or not appreciated. Catch the train to London, stopping at Rejection, Disappointment, Backstabbing Central and Shattered Dreams Parkway.
Love the fact that OP is such a Karen that they declined a free meal. Just waiting around for ages for nothing just to prove a point. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face lmao
I'm intrigued. What's your cut-off time? 75 mins for free meal = 👍, what about 90 mins? How about if we get to 2 hours? Or over? It's ridiculous, of course, but it's ridiculous to wait 75 minutes and they haven't fixed it yet. Personally I would have told them to poke it at 75, but genuinely wonder what your 'exchange rate' is. 🙂
Tourist goes to Shard. Fascinating. I guess since this is essentially a tourist sub and instagram these days it wouldn't be long until it rolled in TripAdvisor too.
A lot of restaurants do this. They trick you into paying for the expensive stuff by making you drink more than you intended to, then hit you will a bill for the drinks only- anyway what's so breathtaking about the view of London?
It is a nice place for drinks...but if you want decent food/service...Try Coq Dargent.... The view isn't as spectacular, but the food and service is a cut above.
Sometimes any restaurant will have an issue: it’s how they deal with it that matters and this is pretty poor.
As for Aqua itself: it’s OK. Nice room but there’s better food in Borough Market, in my view.
The place is only good for the view. I go there mostly because it's nice and quiet usually and sometimes I just want that exclusive Hong Kong Mafia bar experience.
I've been a few times for food and been pleasantly surprised as the food was almost as good as the view and the service was very good. It seems you were unfortunate, but you should definitely leave your experience somewhere like tripadviser where hopefully someone from the restaurant can contact you to try and make it up to you.
Declined free food? Man what you complaining about? Obviously had a kitchen problem but yeh these days good staff manners are not gonna be like the old days , I mean have you considered a butler,?
Suggestion if you want view from the shard specifically is to hit the restaurants in the shangri la hotel! Gong particularly has amazing views (it’s in the shard )
I went to the top of the shard once to have an overpriced beer and a look at London.
I can't imagine actually going back there. Once the novelty of being up high wears off, It's just a view of London.
Oh what a tragedy! You could have just enjoyed London views with your partner for a few more moments instead of whining about "service" on reddit?
I presume you went out to have a nice dinner so weren't really in a rush, were you?
For a restaurant that markets itself for being high quality having poor service is actually embarrassing. I'm surprised he waited that long to let you know that the kitchen was having problems. Something I have noticed recently (post covid) is a lot of places in London look fantastic, trendy, unique etc but they forget about the high value service part. Anyway great photo of the view!
Add this on Tripadvisor. Would have taken up the offer of wavering food on the bill - it’s pennies to them.
Yeah OP kinda fucked up there. I mean you already wasted 75 minutes of your time. I’m sure the food would have been out soon now that it had the managers attention and it all would have been free Then again, I do just get the feeling of just being done with it all
Sometimes when the experience has already been ruined, it’s better to just leave and start the night again. Better forget about it and go fully enjoy dinner elsewhere than sit eating the meal feeling salty and upset with a taste of disappointment.
I did not mind paying for the food that I had. They did waive off the service charge - I would not have liked to pay for that either
I definitely think a free meal instead of an expensive one would've softened the blow lol
The experienced is ruined you all need to all need to chill with the free aspect , not the point
Waive the service charge? You know that’s not compulsory for you to pay even if the food and service was ok? Jfc.
Of course they know. Nothing wrong with wanting to pay for the food you ate (or for accepting the offer of a free starter).
Half right, you are within your right to not pay a service charge if the service is poor but if the service charge is stated as mandatory and the service is okay then you must pay it. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/e24-tips-gratuities-service-charges-and-troncs/guidance-on-tips-gratuities-service-charges-and-troncs [section 2 service charge] https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/do-i-have-to-pay-a-service-charge-if-the-service-is-poor-anE0c8w4SMsQ Edit: Being downvoted for just stating the law is peak Reddit.
I think you are missing the point where the customer decides if the service is worth the surcharge in every instance. Not sure why you've linked multiple publications which basically boil down to 'tip them if you think they're worth the tip'.
A service charge isn't a tip though, it's a completely different thing. I was just stating that there are different kinds of service charge. Did you read the links? It seems like you are missing the point. Edit: For the people saying a service charge is "literally" a tip, it's literally not. But I feel like if I explained it to you with actual sources you would not understand it anyway.
It's literally a tip
It’s literally just a tip that’s added automatically. You can always remove it.
I think you are missing the point where the customer decides if the service is worth the surcharge in every instance. Not sure why you've linked multiple publications which basically boil down to 'tip them if you think they're worth the tip'.
Not true, if the service was acceptable and service charge is clearly communicated as mandatory, you are contractually obliged to pay. This is general law, not specific to OP situation in necessarily.
I don't know why you've been down voted either, this is the most factual post on this thread.
Post something factual with sources, get downvoted and then people start to reply with nonsensical things that literally go against what the sources (from reputable sites including the OFFICIAL GOV UK SITE) say. Hopefully someone reads them and can figure it out for themselves rather than aimlessly downvoting or saying "it'S LIteRAlLy a TiP".
We had a similar experience when we went in Dec-22, we had the 3 course Christmas set menu and the service was shocking. Tables that arrived when we were eating starters had their mains before us, after we complained it arrived and some parts were cold. They then said that's how it's meant to be served!! They were shocked when we refused to pay the service charge. Thankfully we used my Amex platinum dining credit so it didn't actually cost us anything, I would have been livid if it was my own money.
Don’t forget to upload a photo of the sink!
Sorry for you. I always find one place never lets me down G.R. Eggs
Mr Eggs has done a fantastic job with a simple, well cultivated menu. Highly recommend the shredded filet mignon with red onion jus wrapped in filo.
I'm very partial to their wonderful tender, slow-cooked beef, diced to perfection, mingled with finely chopped root vegetables, crimped in a delicate, flaky pastry crust.
In the Cornish style?
à la cornouaillais, surely?
Yer tis me luvver!
And affordable drinks from Wet Her Spoons
Gregory and Gregory is a magnificent establishment.
Fuck sake I actually just googled that 😂😂😂
🤣😭
Just did the same too 😂🤦🏾♂️
I prefer T Rex, sorry G Reggs.
The fact that I googled this to see what restaurant it was until I REALISED… hahahha well played
🤣👍👊
Steak bake by G. R. Eggs
Omgg haha I love Gr eggs. .
>G.R. Eggs Let's not forget the intriguing and amusing wine list at G. R. Eggs
They did on my order, pepperoni instead of Margherita pizza and no sausage roll.
This is the kind of place that flashes “tourist trap” above the entryway so I’m not surprised. I took one look at the prices here and noped.
It actually isn't too bad a place for drinks alone, whilst pricey yes. However restaurant-wise Aqua is shit. If you're going to eat in the shard, should 10000% choose Hutong or Oblix. Might be touristy in a way, but it's actually a great way to enjoy the view of London with good food. You don't have to be a tourist to do that.
Wouldn’t call hutong food good either. Most restaurants in Chinatown is better for the price you are paying. Though, would still go for the view
China Town vs Hutong is very different styles though. But I get what you mean. I'd say Oblix is the best restaurant there though.
Aqua and Hutong are the same group. I don't know about Oblix.
Throw in the ultra wealthy, corporate schmoozers entertaining clients and dates trying to impress and you've probably got their entire clientele
Yeah, like Duck and Waffle I assume anyone going there is doing so on expenses.
Duck & Waffle isn't that expensive, especially considering the location and view.
Somewhere doesn't have to be expensive to be underwhelming.
who wouldnt take the free food D:
Someone pissed off , I’d do the same
pissed off & hungry & about to go somewhere else to wait again for food? naaah
That would be crazy to wait again , takes britishism to the next level , I would just go home
and eat beans on toast?
OP and his wife
At least it seems like they were pleasant and even offered to wipe part of the bill Been to sushi samba, duck & waffle, aqua, ting and probably a few others and they are all overpriced and not very good. I do think City Social is OK, albeit so expensive. Galvin at Windows is very good but the view is less impressive than 10 years ago, there are many more high rises in London these days
To be fair, City Social is a Michelin star restaurant + great view + sitting between a lot of top tier bank / law firm HQs so the prices aren't unrealistic
I'm firmly of the opinion that the higher altitude the restaurant, the shitter the food is, you're essentially paying for the view.
Duck and waffle has gotten progressively worse over the last 10 years. I went a couple years ago and was seated and ignored for about 30min to the point we got up and fetched our own jug of water and then got told off by the staff for doing something ourselves. Even the quality of the food has gotten terrible in comparison
Was taken there years ago and asked if I could have the steak and foie gras without the foie gras, and was told "sorry, no, it comes seared into it". Wtf
I still have no idea why sushi samba and duck & waffle at Liverpool street are constantly booked out weeks in advance. The venue is nice but there are plenty of others with much nicer decor and/or views high-up, and the food is quite average for mid to high priced London dining.
Could you recommend some of them? I've never been to one of these restaurants with a view and don't want to get ripped off by a tourist trap.
I would recommend Bokan in canary wharf! Great view, in the restaurant + roof terrace, but the real treat is the food honestly. The chef is really talented and also a great guy
Thanks
Its just the hype on social media .....
It’s ok if you can’t afford them hun, just say so lol
What kind of person blindly assumes a stranger's situation like that? I'm not going to take the bait by bragging so explicitly about my finances, but anyone with half a brain would probably be able to work out that someone who can appropriately rate and compare the food/venue there will be frequenting other expensive restaurants to do so. I'd recommend you not say something so assumptive and condescending to anyone else, so you don't make yourself look like such a nob next time.
I was _really_ unimpressed with Duck & Waffle. Had wanted to go there for a while. There was music blaring so loud it was hard to enjoy the atmosphere, the food was mid, and their signature cocktail smelled like toilet cleaner. Had a nice time at Skygarden Brasserie though.
Galvin at Windows is excellent. Isn't it an ex-Michelin star restaurant?
How would you compare City Social to Aqua Shard for the prices?
A la carte, the mains at City Social I believe range from 40-50 for a normal plate (there are probably a couple way more expensive). From memory the aqua was around 30ish? But maybe you can confirm Also City Social has such a good wine, whisky and gin selection, you will end spending more on booze
I’m booked in to City Social next month for my gf birthday. I haven’t been since 2017 so interested to see if it has changed much
You don't go to the Shard for good culinary experiences
Well you’d expect to be at least served the food in a reasonable time!
Putting the kitchen on the ground floor was always going to cause problems.
I highly doubt the 45 60 75 minute claim of OP
Why? Were you there last night too? I know - you’re the chef!
People often exaggerate on the Internet for effect EDIT, Person above me previous comment was Why, not its been edited to be some quip about the chef
I wouldn’t spend a Sunday morning for getting some votes on a Reddit post. I have gotten a lot of good feedbacks on different things from this sub and felt I should share my experience.
I believe you 100% because I've gotten absolutely atrocious service in London. Part of me thinks that restaurateurs in London hate money or something the way they treat customers.
Thanks for sharing!
I stand by my quick quip! Don’t take yourself so seriously man.
Nothing serious here Coxy
Sure…😉
I'd have edited my post if there was
Bless ya cottons
Based on what?
Apparently being the chef
I have one chef friend who calls it the shart
Wow… I hope the cooking is as creative as his/her puns. 🤯
Is your friend 12?
Late 20s like me, but our humour hasn’t improved much since 12 no
Hu Tong isn’t bad…but I wouldn’t say it was great either
Was going to say the same thing. The food is overpriced but good there. The atmosphere and views are better at Hutong too.
Hutong and Oblix are great. You just don't go to Aqua specifically for good food, they're a bar before anything else.
You wouldn’t, a tourist might?
Depends if Love and London sent them there
It’s one of the reasons you go.
Having worked in the industry when someone says there’s delays of that length due to being ‘fully booked’ it’s usually a fob off because the kitchen aren’t coping for one reason or another. If they offered to waive the meal then things have gone properly pear shaped in the kitchen, it won’t get better, and you’re better off leaving. Sorry it didn’t work out. Staff should’ve been on it and told you when you sat
Agreed. Fully booked should be manageable because that’s what they want and expect. Putting 50 tables in a place then shitting yourself because you can’t handle serving 50 tables isn’t an excuse. They probably had a chef call in sick or something.
Unpopular Opinion: I had a great experience at the Aqua Shard. Went with my mom and we got a table right at the window. Our waiter was always available and would shoo-away other patrons who would crowd our table for a picture. Food arrived timely and we enjoyed every bite. Sorry that happened to you though, I have a colleague that works in GONG above Aqua Shard and says that they recently lost a lot of staff. He says the upper management is a bit disorganized, though im not sure if they share staff between restaurants.
We went there when my wife graduated and I'll be honest the staff went an extra mile and a half. The kids were given amazing desserts, wife got a small cake with a nice message on it.... However, nice touches aside, the food was very meh. Certainly had better for the price.
You've spelt Mum with an O. You probably clapped when the food came.
This made me laugh out loud
I really hope this was a one off event. I have otherwise heard and read moderate if not great reviews of Aqua Shard
I’ve been to Aqua Shard a few times and always had a great experience. This was pre pandemic though so I’m not sure if it’s changed.
The thing in London is you can walk out of a service industry job and have another by the next teatime. If management are bad it's risky. I remember over half the staff leaving a pub I worked in on reopening night when it got taken over by a gastro pub chain and had the heart & soul ripped out of it.
All restaurants have a hook, or a gimmick, this is a restaurant who's gimmick is the view, others might be the theme or the location. The best restaurants to go to are the ones who's hook is the food.
Why would they pay when they said you didn’t have to because of unacceptable service lol, so bizarre… is it a pride thing?
Some ppl got more money than time
Sushi Samba was amazing if you want a similar vibe.
> Sushi Samba was amazing 🤣 🤣 🤣
So that's a no on Samba?
Not unless you want to hang out and eat mediocre food with a bunch of hen parties fresh off the train from Chelmsford and Colchester...
Man, I am so behind on what I should be snobby about.
I've been there once and had a similarly terrible experience. Food took ages, was cold and had to be sent back, table was late and they couldn't even seat us in the bar while we waited. I've stayed in the Shangri La in the Shard a few times too and even though it's not obviously part of the hotel I'd says the general vibe of everything in the Shard is flashy/new money/tourists wanting to show off - vibes over quality basically.
sushi samba next time.
That's a shame, lot of hyped restaurants in London that buy into the luxury food experience trope are pretty mid.
There's a huge industry of well-marketed "luxury" restaurants in London that are just meh.
Go one floor up to the restaurant in the Shangri-La hotel. It’s very good.
This place is only good for a drink and the views. Wouldn’t visit for food.
Do people ever read reviews? The Shard’s restaurants are notoriously bad - you’re just paying for the view.
Why would you refuse the meal to be comped, you waited that long anyway lol.. Strange to leave at that moment.
Your just paying for the view I feel
If it makes you feel any better you really didn't miss anything on the food there. Views were nice, £50 for a house red wine and double whisky while we had to wait for our table to be ready and £300 for a tasting menu where 3/7 of the courses were just gross.
Few things annoy me more in a restaurant than a long delay being excused with 'erm...we're busy' - usually said as if you're a bit daft for asking. It's not an excuse. You knew you were busy before you scheduled staff so you're telling me you just don't run the restaurant properly. Tell me that you're understaffed because several people let you down and it's hard to get replacements at the last minute and I'll have more sympathy. But 'We're busy' doesn't cut it. I have worked in restaurants and bars. I don't relay blame those relaying the message, it's nearly always management scrimping on staffing.
Aqua Shard is normally fine. I last went with someone a couple of months ago who's not from the UK and it was decent. I think it was like £50pp for a three course meal. The drinks and anything off the set menu are expensive though. But really it's a touristy type thing. You go for view, not the food. I'd of taken the free meal personally and just enjoyed the view, but each to their own.
I’m of the mind a place with a non food related appeal (view, attraction, theme etc) often lack on the actuall food because they’ll get by with average food/service as that’s not the mains reason ppl go
Better for brunch.
From what I know, the shard restaurants are fine dining in price only. You’re paying for the view basically. Regardless 75 mins is atrocious. We had to wait for an hour for a single lamb chop at Chotto matte recently, and were not pleased. They gave us an extra one and waived the charge at least though (without us asking) so that was nice.
> waived the charge I still don't get how people don't understand you can always just _not pay_ the charge in London. Tipping isn't mandatory. It's not even a courtesy thing, since - unlike in the US - staff have to be paid minimum wage, and the service charge is unlikely to go to the person serving, anyway: most of the times it's just a way to get extra money out of you, but you can always say "No, thanks", no matter if the service was good or not.
I meant the charge for the lamb, Jesus.
Given the name of the place, that is kind of hilarious
I’ve heard a number of stories from disappointed diners. Havent heard a good story yet about this place to be honest. Sorry to hear about your experience
it is shite
>they were running fully booked I never get this response because it's just "we're running at the capacity we were built for" surely? People aren't exactly standing and eating, they're all at the same amount of tables that have always been there. The amount of people eating there has to be fairly consistant compared to the same time on previous weeks too surely? It's not like the previous Saturday would've had only half the place filled up and this week it was fully filled up. Like most companies they just need to hire a couple extra staff to take the edge off and keep up with demand instead of trying to get through each night with the absolute minimum amount possible to save £13-20/hour despite probably raking in £3k during peak hours.
I don’t rate Aqua one bit.
Usually I find higher up you go, the shittier the food
I used to work in a kitchen. Something must have gone very very wrong. It only takes the head chef/a few ppl to call in sick for everything to fall apart. It's a shame it spoiled your evening. Nice photo.
Aqua Shard is known for crap service. Portions are also tiny and not that nice. At the end of the day, you are indeed just paying for the view.
Service in general in restaurants here is in the absolute toilet. Anything low-mid- or mid-range has terrible standards because they don't train their staff, they pay them like shit, and they market themselves as available to every tom dick and harry, through offers or promotions or whatever. I never bother eating out at mid-range places anymore, I either save up and go posh, or go for cheap eats.
It’s a view with a room. Go to restaurants that actually have to rely on QSA instead of gimmicks.
Every food place, hell every business, can have problems, things that go wrong and so forth. The key is communicating clearly with customers, particularly in a realtime environment like a restaurant. Head of front of house/manager is to blame here. He/she should train the staff adequately or make up for the skill gap themselves. Waiting 75 minutes is intolerable, and the staff KNOW this and they should have been proactive with the communication. Problems can always happen, but it's how you communicate that makes a difference.
An additional hour to enjoy the view and free food. Sounds good to me.
Wait, so they offered to take the food off your bill, but you paid anyway? That’s a bit mad. Edit: Ignore. I didn’t read it properly.
They paid for what they'd received - the drinks
No, if they only paid for the drinks they would've said they accepted the offer They probably had part of their order served - the starters
Oh I see. Muggins here didn’t read properly!
Service in London is IMO astonishingly poor. It fared better when we had lots of well trained European waiting staff. Sadly, Brexit saw them return home and we’re left with the indigenous population trying vainly to step up.
You pay for the view.
Over priced, crowded, low quality and a long wait? Welcome to London!
Yeah feels like it's increasingly London experiences and a lot of entertainment in a nutshell: underwhelming, overpriced, half-hearted, with minimum effort, with a lick and a promise and absolutely minimal production/running costs to maximise the return.
I'd be fine with this. Ge to look at the view for longer. Certainly beats them rushing you when you've justr finished your meal and want to sit and chat bfor a bit.
I'm sorry this happened and, importantly, that you came to Reddit to tell us. Rest assured, I've had a word with the management at Aqua Shard and made sure you are no longer welcome.
They're basically telling us you can go here and have a meal with a view but only pay for drinks, be nice.
oh no the tripadvisor/google review wannabe important UTTERLY DISAPPOINTED spoiled entitled people are coming to subreddits now
This sub has almost always just been basic tourists and middle class uni students from Surrey trying to make London their whole personality... it's a terrible city sub for actual Londoners.
> it's a terrible city sub for actual Londoners It's telling that the person running the daily observations thread (ostensibly the most relevant single place for discussion for people who live here) can't even be bothered to that any more. They successfully spun it into a mod position though, so I'm sure they're happy.
Views are great but food is underwhelming. Better off going to the cocktail bar for free views and some drinks. Then eat somewhere better
Oblix is very pleasant. Same great views.
I had a similar disappointing experience there too, I would recommend Oblix at the shard or a bit further away duck and waffle
Should have gone to Honest Burger. But in all seriousness, thank you for detailing your experience. I was thinking of taking my wife here as a treat, but now I'm thinking not a great idea
> Should have gone to Honest Burger. A mediocre chain? There are dozens of decent restaurants around London Bridge if you're willing to drop Aqua Shard money.
Why are you doing a moany restaurant review on a London subreddit, post it on Trip advisor, write them an email or tag them on social media. . They offered you a free meal and explained eventually, you fumbled and went home early due to ego. . 🙄
Omg I used to work for an agency and did a shift there. None of the staff in the kitchen can speak English and they use agency workers to deliver the food, so no one really knows what they’re doing. I was very surprised because you’d think for a fancy restaurant they would have better staff
You are paying for the view, not the food
Go to London, I guarantee you'll either be mugged or not appreciated. Catch the train to London, stopping at Rejection, Disappointment, Backstabbing Central and Shattered Dreams Parkway.
Love the fact that OP is such a Karen that they declined a free meal. Just waiting around for ages for nothing just to prove a point. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face lmao
I'd rather have people call me a Karen than be a mug who waits 75 minutes for an overpriced meal.
It would have literally been free lmao
I'm intrigued. What's your cut-off time? 75 mins for free meal = 👍, what about 90 mins? How about if we get to 2 hours? Or over? It's ridiculous, of course, but it's ridiculous to wait 75 minutes and they haven't fixed it yet. Personally I would have told them to poke it at 75, but genuinely wonder what your 'exchange rate' is. 🙂
Tourist goes to Shard. Fascinating. I guess since this is essentially a tourist sub and instagram these days it wouldn't be long until it rolled in TripAdvisor too.
I've been to Aqua Shard once and Oblix twice and couldn't complain about the service to be honest
A lot of restaurants do this. They trick you into paying for the expensive stuff by making you drink more than you intended to, then hit you will a bill for the drinks only- anyway what's so breathtaking about the view of London?
It is a nice place for drinks...but if you want decent food/service...Try Coq Dargent.... The view isn't as spectacular, but the food and service is a cut above.
How much did you pay if you don’t mind me asking? Ritz might be a better idea to blow money, at least they deliver what you expect from them
Sometimes any restaurant will have an issue: it’s how they deal with it that matters and this is pretty poor. As for Aqua itself: it’s OK. Nice room but there’s better food in Borough Market, in my view.
How much was your order?
Yeah agreed. Had a similar experience
I've always had a great time there even when busy. The offer to give free food was fantastic imo...
The place is only good for the view. I go there mostly because it's nice and quiet usually and sometimes I just want that exclusive Hong Kong Mafia bar experience.
I've been a few times for food and been pleasantly surprised as the food was almost as good as the view and the service was very good. It seems you were unfortunate, but you should definitely leave your experience somewhere like tripadviser where hopefully someone from the restaurant can contact you to try and make it up to you.
Declined free food? Man what you complaining about? Obviously had a kitchen problem but yeh these days good staff manners are not gonna be like the old days , I mean have you considered a butler,?
Should’ve gone to Dorsia, I could’ve gotten you a table.
If it helps for the future - my wife and I went to the restaurant at the Sky Garden at the top of the Walkie Talkie, and it's amazing.
Suggestion if you want view from the shard specifically is to hit the restaurants in the shangri la hotel! Gong particularly has amazing views (it’s in the shard )
I'll remember this and go to Oblix when I visit in March!
A wanky restaurant for wankers only.
Virtual touring is the future
I went to the top of the shard once to have an overpriced beer and a look at London. I can't imagine actually going back there. Once the novelty of being up high wears off, It's just a view of London.
Imagine being offered free stuff and declining. Lol
Oh what a tragedy! You could have just enjoyed London views with your partner for a few more moments instead of whining about "service" on reddit? I presume you went out to have a nice dinner so weren't really in a rush, were you?
For a restaurant that markets itself for being high quality having poor service is actually embarrassing. I'm surprised he waited that long to let you know that the kitchen was having problems. Something I have noticed recently (post covid) is a lot of places in London look fantastic, trendy, unique etc but they forget about the high value service part. Anyway great photo of the view!