Dishes are: ceviche and scallop appetizer/ lamb and prawn curry entrees
by thenisaidbitch
18 Comments
etymoticears
Will you explain what was wrong with it?
thenisaidbitch
Worst service I’ve ever had at a Michelin restaurant. Food was good, not great- felt overpriced for what it was. Appetizers were better than the entrees, entrees were fairly bland.
My big issue here was service. They sent an email the evening before the reservation stating the dress code was “smart casual, no shorts”. I had packed my son and I smart casual but they included a nice pair of khaki shorts instead of pants since it’s pretty hot in London at the moment. We didn’t have time to get him a new pair of pants so we hoped his (collared) polo shirt and khaki shorts (clean, neat, no wrinkles, no big pockets, etc) would be ok. I checked online and this seemed fine.
We get there and they won’t allow us in the dining room. Fine, that’s fair, I wish I had known this pants caveat prior to leaving the US so I could have packed pants, but I get it. This is where the problems start though- they sat us in the lounge with tiny low tables. I didn’t love it, but again, I was ok with it. UNTIL I notice a lady wearing CARGO SHORTS get seated in the dining room. Then I started getting annoyed as they were perfectly happy to seat her. I asked about it politely and never got an answer except that they had a smart casual dress code (again, which we met! I looked up smart casual summer outfits and that’s what we had on!). Let me reiterate, I was polite, I was simply asking why the dress code was unevenly applied.
After that it was awful service, it was clear they were rushing us out. It felt personal, like they were embarrassed to have us in their restaurant. After ordering our appetizers arrived in 5 minutes, 5 minutes after eating those our entrees arrived. I was never asked if I wanted a second drink (which is a first for me!) and it was clear they wanted us gone ASAP. We were there for about 50 minutes- that’s it! For a £250 meal I expect a leisurely relaxing and comfortable experience. I’ve never felt so judged and unwelcome at any of the many, many, many Michelin restaurants I’ve been to over the years. Do not recommend- service is awful and the food is nothing special.
Editing to add- I pretty much never badmouth fine dining restaurants on here. If I have a bad experience I don’t bother posting it, but this one was so egregious and felt so personal I think they earned it.
CoolMudkip
The first picture looks like my dog threw it up
Prestigious_Steak_46
It doesn’t look great
selfhealer
Went to Benares around 6 months ago. The food was excellent and I don’t remember the service at all so assume it was good.
zeldafan144
I do a better job plating my Set Meal C on my Friday takeaway from Baltic Express than that 4th pic.
O_Ksh
Benares has gone waaay down hill since Atul left. He and is business partner parted ways in interesting circumstances. If you want ‘Indian’ then Kanishka (Atuls new place) and BiBi are both better if you want somewhere different to Gymkhana.
paulyvee
Looks like pub food.
waafler
The first pic: Are those chickpeas with the oyster? And if so, how did this dish taste?
Martin-Crescenzo
4,3/5 on Google Maps, you know what to expect
Martin-Crescenzo
4,3/5 on Google Maps, you know what to expect
Forever-Eating2707
Would you consider emailing them to tell them the experience you had? Sometimes the chef has no idea what is happening front of house and even if nothing comes from it with regards your personal experience, hopefully the staff can be spoken to about being rude/dismissive/making the rules up as they go along! I don’t like complaining but I also don’t like people being rude or being charged £££ for a rubbish experience so I will email after the event if I don’t feel comfortable complaining at the time. I haven’t been to Benares – we actually have a local restaurant near me in Petts Wood which is owned by Atul, which is great. I hope you go to better places whilst in London – like everyone recommends here, Gymkhana would be a great comparison!
Forever-Eating2707
Would you consider emailing them to tell them the experience you had? Sometimes the chef has no idea what is happening front of house and even if nothing comes from it with regards your personal experience, hopefully the staff can be spoken to about being rude/dismissive/making the rules up as they go along! I don’t like complaining but I also don’t like people being rude or being charged £££ for a rubbish experience so I will email after the event if I don’t feel comfortable complaining at the time. I haven’t been to Benares – we actually have a local restaurant near me in Petts Wood which is owned by Atul, which is great. I hope you go to better places whilst in London – like everyone recommends here, Gymkhana would be a great comparison!
mrdibby
Seems odd. I remember going there 8 or so years ago and my friend was wearing a sweatshirt.
It was actually my first “fine dining” restaurant and honestly I didn’t think it was worth 3x times the price of Dishoom (London’s most popular Indian restaurant), so I’ve never really recommended it to others.
Papapeta33
Cost?
This doesn’t scream “luxury meal.”
*edit* just saw your post, 250 quid rofl. WOW.
overladenlederhosen
Have a look at https://www.closmaggiore.com Just off Covent Garden. Fine dining food, fine dining ambience, excellent service but they really don’t tear the arse out of the prices.
TheDeivi77
Can you post a picture of your outfit? Asking for my wife
cancerkidette
I’m sorry you had that experience! We had great service when we last went last year. I do agree Kanishka is better overall, but our food and service were both fine and Michelin standard.
18 Comments
Will you explain what was wrong with it?
Worst service I’ve ever had at a Michelin restaurant. Food was good, not great- felt overpriced for what it was. Appetizers were better than the entrees, entrees were fairly bland.
My big issue here was service. They sent an email the evening before the reservation stating the dress code was “smart casual, no shorts”. I had packed my son and I smart casual but they included a nice pair of khaki shorts instead of pants since it’s pretty hot in London at the moment. We didn’t have time to get him a new pair of pants so we hoped his (collared) polo shirt and khaki shorts (clean, neat, no wrinkles, no big pockets, etc) would be ok. I checked online and this seemed fine.
We get there and they won’t allow us in the dining room. Fine, that’s fair, I wish I had known this pants caveat prior to leaving the US so I could have packed pants, but I get it. This is where the problems start though- they sat us in the lounge with tiny low tables. I didn’t love it, but again, I was ok with it. UNTIL I notice a lady wearing CARGO SHORTS get seated in the dining room. Then I started getting annoyed as they were perfectly happy to seat her. I asked about it politely and never got an answer except that they had a smart casual dress code (again, which we met! I looked up smart casual summer outfits and that’s what we had on!). Let me reiterate, I was polite, I was simply asking why the dress code was unevenly applied.
After that it was awful service, it was clear they were rushing us out. It felt personal, like they were embarrassed to have us in their restaurant. After ordering our appetizers arrived in 5 minutes, 5 minutes after eating those our entrees arrived. I was never asked if I wanted a second drink (which is a first for me!) and it was clear they wanted us gone ASAP. We were there for about 50 minutes- that’s it! For a £250 meal I expect a leisurely relaxing and comfortable experience. I’ve never felt so judged and unwelcome at any of the many, many, many Michelin restaurants I’ve been to over the years. Do not recommend- service is awful and the food is nothing special.
Editing to add- I pretty much never badmouth fine dining restaurants on here. If I have a bad experience I don’t bother posting it, but this one was so egregious and felt so personal I think they earned it.
The first picture looks like my dog threw it up
It doesn’t look great
Went to Benares around 6 months ago. The food was excellent and I don’t remember the service at all so assume it was good.
I do a better job plating my Set Meal C on my Friday takeaway from Baltic Express than that 4th pic.
Benares has gone waaay down hill since Atul left. He and is business partner parted ways in interesting circumstances. If you want ‘Indian’ then Kanishka (Atuls new place) and BiBi are both better if you want somewhere different to Gymkhana.
Looks like pub food.
The first pic: Are those chickpeas with the oyster? And if so, how did this dish taste?
4,3/5 on Google Maps, you know what to expect
4,3/5 on Google Maps, you know what to expect
Would you consider emailing them to tell them the experience you had? Sometimes the chef has no idea what is happening front of house and even if nothing comes from it with regards your personal experience, hopefully the staff can be spoken to about being rude/dismissive/making the rules up as they go along! I don’t like complaining but I also don’t like people being rude or being charged £££ for a rubbish experience so I will email after the event if I don’t feel comfortable complaining at the time. I haven’t been to Benares – we actually have a local restaurant near me in Petts Wood which is owned by Atul, which is great. I hope you go to better places whilst in London – like everyone recommends here, Gymkhana would be a great comparison!
Would you consider emailing them to tell them the experience you had? Sometimes the chef has no idea what is happening front of house and even if nothing comes from it with regards your personal experience, hopefully the staff can be spoken to about being rude/dismissive/making the rules up as they go along! I don’t like complaining but I also don’t like people being rude or being charged £££ for a rubbish experience so I will email after the event if I don’t feel comfortable complaining at the time. I haven’t been to Benares – we actually have a local restaurant near me in Petts Wood which is owned by Atul, which is great. I hope you go to better places whilst in London – like everyone recommends here, Gymkhana would be a great comparison!
Seems odd. I remember going there 8 or so years ago and my friend was wearing a sweatshirt.
It was actually my first “fine dining” restaurant and honestly I didn’t think it was worth 3x times the price of Dishoom (London’s most popular Indian restaurant), so I’ve never really recommended it to others.
Cost?
This doesn’t scream “luxury meal.”
*edit* just saw your post, 250 quid rofl. WOW.
Have a look at https://www.closmaggiore.com
Just off Covent Garden. Fine dining food, fine dining ambience, excellent service but they really don’t tear the arse out of the prices.
Can you post a picture of your outfit? Asking for my wife
I’m sorry you had that experience! We had great service when we last went last year. I do agree Kanishka is better overall, but our food and service were both fine and Michelin standard.