fitzrovia

service was absolutely terrible. the staff were so rude and cocky... i felt very awkward being at the counter then by thetimei received my food it wasn't that great either. won't be coming back here again

this place has nice modern cuisine and is moderately priced. they have a variety of dishes that will appeal to a range of people's tastes. there are also some home made style cakes at the front. each day there are different pasta specials which are probably my favorite dishes to try. on a few occasions with the pasta, my friends and i found it quite salty, however the dish overall was still full of flavour. lasttimei had a pork sausage roll and there was a hair stuck on side of the roll when i received it. the roll had a better texture than other rolls. the salad was made with a variety of leaves and people who appreciate salad should fine it has lots of flavor.

the service staff are very good and they are proactive with the service. they do like to suggest those polenta chips. this is definitely one of the more popular places in their area you should try.

great experience. i have heard a lot of good things about paul jewson; so , i decided to go there and try his breakfast on monday. i'll break it down like this.
the food was fantastic. we had "thick cut bacon"and "smoked trout" dish, which were both delicious and well presented. coffee was good too. service was really attentive and friendly. and the atmosphere was something that can make you sit for hours.
all in all,the chef has done a great job. it was such a great experience. our group was impressed with everything. would we return? definitely but thistimewe'll try dinner menu. can't wait!

great night!. had dinner for the firsttimeat fitzrovia last night. the service was friendly and attentive, the atmosphere was lovely and the food was delicious! in particular the pork and prawn spring rolls and the pan fried snapper were fantastic! had a wonderful night and will definitely be going back!

staying close to this cafe, thought we'd try it out. waited 15 mins for 2 t/a coffees. no apology for thetimeit took. went back again with some friends for a coffee, i ordered a skinny flat white with an equal, my husband ordered a latte with an equal, friends ordered 2 hot chocs, a iced choc and a flat white no sugar. my coffee came out 1st but was a skinny latte; i told the waitress what i had ordered and she said, "don't worry, they all end up the same", and didn't even make me a new one. everyone else's orders were mucked up as well. it took about 4 attempts to get everyone's coffees right. again, no apologies from any of the 3 wait staff that bought our order out. wouldn't go back for a 3rd try at this place.

came here on sunday which was mothers day last week and was surprised that we (2 pax) didn't have to wait too long to be seated. my fears of a large crowd taking their mums out for a brunch treat were wrong! 

we sat outside (which was lovely) and quickly ordered coffees. we then browsed the menu and ended up ordering x2 of the sweet potato and caramelised onion fritters with mushrooms, pea shoots and poached eggs (+ saganaki -how could i forget!). this caught our eye when the menu hit the table although there were many options that sounded enticing. 

the dishes once they came out didn't just look good - it tasted wonderful. i was actually surprised at how much better and flavourful it was then i had assumed. the sauce mixed through the mushrooms and shoots (which acted as a base for the fritters) was delicious and layered. i really liked that i could enjoy the crispiness of the fritters whilst lapping it up in the juices of the sauce and mushrooms as well as the gooey yolk from the eggs. oh, and saganaki makes everything better. 

all round i was thoroughly impressed and will be back for food again seeing as this is one of my locals. my only discretion with my experience was that i found it very odd that the table we were seated on could be considered communal? it was way too small and i voiced that i'd feel very uncomfortable with anyone else sitting there. it would be too close for comfort.


update: i've come again fro brunch mid-week and have again enjoyed mytimeat the cafe. i sat inside thistimeand the food was consistently delicious.

menu great, coffee ok but service is poor! asked for coffee to come with brunch and came straight away when asked if brunch was coming soon, reply was “guess so”. advised moving to table outside to sit in the sun was met with a sigh.... it’s about the customer!! without them you have no business.
when my food arrived i did mention i asked for coffee at sametimeand was abruptly told “no you didn’t” she snatched away the coffee i was drinking and said i’ll bring you another. i know where i won’t be returning to.
such a shame as great food 😒

worst service we have ever experienced!. when deciding where to to go for an enjoyable sat off for lunch a friend suggested fitzrovia and as i hadnt been there for a while thought would be a great idea to enjoy the sunny day!
well i wish we had decided on our second choice of the grocery bar as at least we wouldnt have all left in a bad mood after being treated with such bad service!

we walked in to be told to wait for a table after about 10min the girl told us just to sit anywhere so we walked in and sat down after 15min of being seated we still werent acknowledged and i had to walk up to the counter to ask for some water and menus in which i was given a distasteful look by the man.

he proceeded to follow me to our table and threw down the menus and walked away still no water!

after another lengthy amount oftimewe were about to leave as the man (who we think was the owner or the manager at least) saw and came over to ask for our order. i asked a question about a menu item and he rolled his eyes as if it was a huge effort in which he said i guess we can do that for you. he was extremely grumpy and to be honest downright rude.

i wanted to leave by this stage and was really quite disturbed by such lack of customer service especially when there are a million other amazing cafes out there to choose from!

long story short in the end we received our meals in which they hadnt made the change i asked for by this stage i just gave up had a few mouthfuls.
my friends said their food was good but unfortunately for all of us because it was such a bad experience and the way we were treated as if it was a nuisance they had to be there working it left a bad taste in our mouths!
horrible horrible service!!!
there is a difference between busy and so not being able to give much attention to friendliness which is understandable when they are so busy but to be flat out rude in which he was is not ok.

this is one place we will never return to which is unfortunate as it used to be great!

snobbish service - arrived & advised table service. i was directly in view. people arrive after me & served straight away. after 10 min i walk inside to order. while i wait other people served immediately & receive coffee before me. eventually i said is there something wrong - with a screwed up face & a sense i’d taken up hertimeshe went and got my coffee. food ok but i have no idea why the attitude

came here on a tuesday lunchtime, the restaurant was quite busy and the outdoor seatings were almost all taken. the waitress was friendly and interactive and introduced some of the specials on the meals including the pulled pork burger which was massive! but it was very well cooked and seasoned to perfection, with juice floating everywhere. does not recommend if you are on a date and want to eat neatly...

the potato gnocchi was light and fluffy, like a delicious salty pillow for my mouth! the porcini mushrooms and portobello mushrooms were surprisingly juice. the goat cheese provided a much needed tanginess to complete the whole dish. however i think it could use a good squeeze of lemon juice too to cut down on the richness. there was a significantly longer waittimethan other brunch spots though. overall a very enjoyable lunch and will be back.

ambience: 4.5/5
food quality: 4.5/5
service: 4.5/5
overall rating: 4.5/5

p.s. i didn’t encounter or witness any especially rude staff except a slightly indifferent waitress who brought about the coffee.. i do get the vibe that they are understaffed and the servers are under a bit more pressure than a normal cafe. keep in mind if you are looking for consistent extraordinary services as it may differ depending on which waitress/waiter you get.

great staff but would have liked to be kept in loop that meal was not up to chef standard and he would do again but reality was only mussels and waited longtimeand happy to keep selling drinks while waiting
wednesday special just had to do great value

terrible service, appalling customer service!
there were three of us plus a baby who regretfully dined at this cafe for lunch today. despite the little things we encountered from the moment we went into the cafe, from inattentive staff to not being child friendly. as a group of 3 (plus a baby) we were having a goodtimecelebrating a birthday. but as soon as we asked for a knife to cut a cake we brought in (cake was in full view and on the table from the start). we were aggressively told off by the female manager that we weren’t allowed to have the cake in there and there will be a $3.50 per person charged if we wished.
look we understand the charges plus we would’ve been happy to pay and also would have genuinely replied with “oh whoops sorry we didn’t know”, but the way she talked down to us and aggressively told us the rules was uncalled for!
so we decided not to let this go as it’s not fair to be talked to in that way. well, i don’t know if that female manager gets pulled up about her attitude ever, wished we’ve filmed the whole ordeal but she was not apologetic and proceeded to be more aggressive. so disappointing to end our lunch that way. appalling way to talk to patrons and will never come back to this cafe ever!
please: if you are thinking of going here, don’t waste your money and time, go to another cafe nearby who will appreciate and serve you kindly.
note: not child friendly

modern dining menu and drink menu to match, friendly helpful staff. entree dishes great range for a snack or nibbles with drink. didn’t havetimefor dinner but will be back.

the food is lovely, but everytime(lately) i have brunch here, i wait. wait for service, wait for my meal to come (45 mins for poached eggs?!), wait to pay- why am i interrupting people to take my money? such a great spot, but the service puts me off!

wouldn’t eat here again. table of 6 for breakfast. hardly anyone else in the cafe. food was nice, always has been the many many times i’ve been here. this was the 5thtimei’d eaten breakfast with these 5 people at the same cafe. and i’d been here many more times for takeaway and smaller groups. however on this occasion they refused to split the bill, saying they don’t do it. (after we’d eaten of course). every single othertimei’d been they’d done it. but that wasn’t even the issue, so be it if that’s what the policy was for that day. it was how the man serving chose to behave after we asked why that was because itd been done before. the man first replied rudely that it was too busy to do. it was 7am on a monday, there was hardly anyone there, other than two others at the register ordering a takeaway coffee, which he served before us anyway. anyway, he continued on with his attitude whilst we paid. this man was so arrogant, argumentative, rude and disrespectful to all of us. i could go on and on about the particulars of conversation with this man, but i won’t. let’s just say it ruined a perfectly good breakfast, like the many we’d had before this occasion. but it was so bad that i and the 5 others with me will never ever eat here again, nor will it be recommended to anyone we know. this is the first cafe i’ve ever said that about, i’m usually very easygoing and forgiving of experiences eating out, but this was above and beyond. do yourself a favour, eat elsewhere on fitzroy st, where the staff will treat you nicely.