The Heights, Regent Street

http://www.saintgeorgeshotel.com/restaurant.html

Langham Place, Regent Street,
London, W1B 2QS

The website says 'be prepared to see a famous face from screen or stage' I assume this is a tag-line from the 1960s.

The reviews says the food is great but the service is poor, that it doesn't get busy but that can be a blessing.

The positives: It has a very nice view across London, the Wembley arch is visible in the distance, there are lots of nice buildings, and while you wait (and wait, and wait) for service you can people watch.

The negatives: Right, let's start form the beginning. They mixed up our drink order when we were sat waiting to go to our table. They apparently didn't know how to make some of the cocktails they had on offer. They took so long to prepare some of the drinks we thought they had forgotten.

They did not offer us any bread. The house rose was something we used to drink at Rob's when his Dad had a bottle he wanted to get rid of. The wine list had water damage (and the food menu looked like it had been part of a year 5 art project. When the menu is not of a high quality you worry about the rest of the place).

My starter, Tea roasted Duck, was horrendous. The duck was rubbery, a whole lettuce seemed to be chucked in with it and a gallon of salad cream poured on top.

Pork Loin was the main, and while it was a good chunk of Pork Chop it was nothing that you couldn't rustle up at home and was a real let down. However, the mains will be remembered for the waitress (who previously had been the only member of staff you could either find or would actively serve you) brought two fillets and two rumps, but our table had ordered three fillets and one rump. She went back into the kitchen, came back with her order pad and told us she had "2 fillets, 2 rumps" written down. Now I don't care what you wrote down, if we say we ordered 3 fillets, we ordered 3 fillets, you apologise and say it might be a few more minutes. We know you made an error but you are trying to rectify it, that's okay. You don't claim the customers are in error and then ram whatever you want them to eat down their throats.

Dessert was a chocolate cake with melting caramel, and to be fair the caramel was nice.

The whole experience was terrible and you can see why the restaurant was half full and quickly emptied. If at 9pm you are getting the tables ready for breakfast the next day you have problems. Whoever is in charge, if indeed there is someone in charge, should be replaced with immediate effect. Most of the staff looked like this was their summer job and were half awake.

Sod the view, I will never go back to this place again. The service was terrible, the food was ordinary, the drinks amateur, and the experience so bad we refused to pay the service charge (we met no objections, probably a regular occurrence)

Rating: 1.5/10 (only because you are guaranteed to get a table)
Average Rating: 1.5/10 (1)