Suda (Siamese Rice Bar), 23 Slingsby Place, WC2E 9AB

This in one to avoid I think. I certainly won’t be rushing back. I’m not superstitious but perhaps some people would think it untoward that we were thirteen for dinner.

The first problem I noticed was when the waitress poured a bottle of Chang beer (£3.80) down the back of my nice new shirt. The beer was certainly cold enough to sharply focus my attention.

Before ordering the beer I’d ordered a couple of bottles of Prosecco (£26 each) to gets things going and another diner had decided to splash out and order Champagne (£40). The Prosecco eventually arrived and was finished before the starters. After the Prosecco we’d moved on to Pinot Grigio and Merlot (both at £20 per bottle). The Champagne arrived with main courses which was too late and so got sent back.

Eleven of us ordered starters. Ten arrived and were duly eaten. Only after ten plates had been cleared did my ‘Tom Kha Gai’ get to the table at nine pm. The soup was lovely but perhaps I was simply ravenous having been seated waiting for food since quarter to eight.

Things did not get better for the main courses. Some cold food was sent back to the kitchen. The sticky rice was dry and hard crusted. I don’t recall the last time I ate in a restaurant that served food one plate a time, with the waitress returning to the kitchen for each dish for every diner. I’d ordered ‘Nua Panang’ which was last to be served from the kitchen and was not hot on arrival. In fairness, the Panang sauce was delicious.

Every drink that was ordered, whether beer or more wine, took forever to arrive. We decided not to stay for coffee or dessert because we were worried about how many hours that would add to the day.

They asked for £454.96 which included a 10% service charge and made no mention of my wet shirt. I declined to pay the service charge.

The Gay Hussar
2 Greek Street,
W1D 4NB

Actual price per head: £35

Nearest tube: Leicester Square (Northern Line and Piccadilly Line).

Remarks

A good night apart from a few glitches with the service. Two people were told that the pork dishes they’d ordered had run out. That can happen, but the time to tell the customers is not when everyone else at their tables have already been served with their main courses.

After I complained we received 2 free bottles of wine, bringing our total up to 25 bottles for 24 people. The house wine was £16.25 per bottle. It was a hot night, which is probably why we drank so much. We also drank 11 bottles of mineral water at £3.25 each.

The service charge was 12.5%

I especially enjoyed the Hungarian sausage starter but not so much the Hungarian Summer Pudding which was just a plate of jam.

After dinner we decided to go to a bar to drink some more. First we went to the Ku Bar on Frith Steet; they wouldn’t let us in. Gary, the manager, later explained: “The policy in place currently means that anyone approaching the bar after 10.45pm is told that we are closed. That policy as of today is changed to …. anyone approaching the doors B4 11pm is allowed entry but told that we are closing at 11pm. I am glad that this was raised and that I have now changed the policy. I apologise for any upset caused. I do hope that you and you friends remain customers of Ku. Please feel free to approach and discuss further with me in person at any time.”
Then we went to Circa also on Frith Steet; they wouldn’t let us in either. They gave an excuse which seemed unlikely. The only reason we could come up with was that a few of us were over 50. I think that this apparent ageism is a disgrace. This is a venue that I’ll be boycotting from now on. Kudos to Roy for doing the right thing.

Attendees

Alberto L., Andrew W., Andy Y., David H., Gary T., Ian S., Jamie M., Jeremy P., John H., John R., Mark J., Mark T., Martin T., Matt A., Matt S., Michael D., Michael N., Nicholas T., Ricardo B., Richard O., Richard S., Roger T., Roy C., Steven V.

Wednesday 1^st June, 2011

15 Great Newport Street,
WC2H 7JE

Actual price per head: £43

Nearest tube: Leicester Square (Northern Line and Piccadilly Line).

Remarks

Large portions! We drunk 13 bottles of wine (6 white & 7 red) at £13.95 each. The food was good but the room was a little too loud. Staff were friendly and some quite cute; they did a good job.
Although pricier than I’d usually recommend I would happily go back because it was such a nice overall experience.

Attendees

Andy Y., Brian M., Colin B., Ian S., Jeremy P., John B., John R., Mark B., Martin T., Matt S., Ricardo ?., Royston G., Stephen B., Steven V.

Wednesday 3^rd February, 2010

14 Garrick Street (entrance on Floral Street),
WC2E 9BJ

Actual price per head: £30 for those who had set menu, and £50 for those who went a la carte.

Nearest tube: Leicester Square (Northern Line and Piccadilly Line).

Remarks

The set menu was £22 for three courses including half bottle of wine wine plus service charge; about 3 choices per course.

The room was a cosy affair with two tables sitting eight each.

People on each table gelled well and there were a lot of positive comments about the place.

That said, looking across at the set menu food, it did not look fabulous and the a la cartes had very good food even to the point of superior real chips over french fries, but people enjoyed themselves and no one voiced dissent. With these nights the company is as important as the food.

Attendees

Ali H., Andrew Y., Brian M., Colin I., Gerald B., Gilles C., Jeremy P., Mark B., Mark J., Mark T., Mark W., Matthew S., Noel D., Paul F., Riki H., Roy C., Steven V.