Rick Stein, Barnes Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "We had oysters and padron peppers…delicious."
• "Food was delectable."
• "We particularly enjoyed the Amritsar Cod for starters and the excellent Thai fish cakes."
• "Presentation of the food was simple but flavour was amazing."
• "The seafood is fresh and delicious, cooked to perfection by a team of chefs who clearly know what they're doing."
• "Food was delightful."
• "The food was everything we hoped."

Cons:

• "The fish was so bland and the thick chips were tasteless and just quite gross."
• "It was more a pizza with average apple on top."
• "The food didn't come out particularly hot with delays between the dishes for all guests on the table."
• "The curry fish was not fresh."
• "The grilled octopus underseasoned and overcooked."
• "The fish cake was frozen in the middle."
• "The lobster didn’t taste as fresh as I had hoped, the lobster had a mushy texture."

Service

Pros:

• "The team were very attentive and very friendly."
• "Wonderful welcome, great service, staff attentive and friendly."
• "Exceptional customer service."
• "Service was excellent. Very professional yet approachable and happy to accommodate any requests."
• "From the friendly welcome by the very polite and efficient staff, to the fantastic food."
• "Our waiter was an absolute delight, couldn’t have done enough to make us comfortable."
• "Very professional, helpful and friendly waiters."

Cons:

• "The service was fine but could have been more attentive."
• "Let down by surprisingly poor customer service."
• "The service left a lot to be desired. Had to wait 1 hour between courses."
• "The service was extremely rushed, the waiter although friendly simply didn’t give us much time."
• "The servers were inattentive and dismissive."
• "Service was quick and subtle. However it was also quite condescending."
• "Service was a big disappointment and not what you would expect."

Ambience and Location

Pros:

• "Lovely setting on the river."
• "The ambience is brilliant overlooking a very rough River Thames."
• "The stunning view, the beautiful venue."
• "The setting on the river at Barnes just made the whole experience extra special."
• "It is a lovely restaurant with a view of the river and a good atmosphere."
• "The view and table were perfect."
• "Beautiful setting on the river."

Cons:

• "The abundance of fake hanging plants didn’t add to the interior."
• "However there is no off-street parking so one needs to factor in some extra time to find an on-street parking space nearby."
• "Not all tables are next to the window but is still beautiful."
• "Only negative was one of the leather benches had a large tear which surprised for the quality of the place."
• "Showed to a corner table, not the window river view as requested online."
• "We didn't get a table by a window and were infact directly behind a wall."
• "Requested a window seat overlooking the Thames for an anniversary lunch... Clearly had not read or been informed of our special request."

Value

Pros:

• "For not much more than a normal gastropub we felt we had a really high-end meal."
• "The menu is well thought out, with a good range of dishes for fish, meat and vege, also cleverly priced."
• "Very reasonably priced for the quality of both the food and service."
• "Wonderful food but reasonably priced."
• "Food was fresh and delicious and great reasonably priced wine list."
• "Wines are not overpriced, which to me is an absolute bonus to a place."
• "Wonderful food and amazing value for the quality and quantity."

Cons:

• "It can get quite expensive depending on the choice of food (relatively small portions)."
• "The mains were obscenely priced and hugely under-whelming."
• "Not sure I'm convinced of the ratio between the food's 'poshness' and its price."
• "Just thought the prices were on the borderline of excessive."
• "For an almost 350-pound Christmas lunch for two people, it was an exceptionally underwhelming experience."
• "A couple of appetizers, 3 starters, mains and one dessert came in at £280 including a very average £30 bottle of wine."
• "For what we paid and what we got really didn’t worth the effort."