User Reviews for Hole in the Wall (The)

Research User Reviews for Hole in the Wall (The) (1-2 of 2)

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Nov 12, 2007 by Bathonian from Bath
Overall Rating: 5
Food:[8] • Service:[3] • Atmosphere:[5]

• Quality of the food.
• Service.

“We were a little nonplussed to find that we had to wait around for five minutes before anyone attended to us at the reception desk. We booked a table the day before, but were a little disappointed to be shown to a table right by the entrance (later on, we had to request that a door be closed because there was a cool draught there). Having sat down we then waited nearly twenty minutes before I decided to get up and ask a waiter for a menu and whether we could have a drink. These were rapidly supplied with apologies. Following that, the food and service were pretty good, although one of the waiters unfortunately had dreadful BO. The only other problem was the presence of a noisy and well oiled birthday party in the restaurant, with raucous laughter every couple of minutes. I eventually asked the waiters to request that the birthday group keep the noise down a little, and they did so. However, the staff should have thought of doing these themselves, since the noise was very distracting. Overall, given that this is a long established restaurant, it was a little disappointing on the service and atmosphere side, but the food was fine. I left a small tip and will probably choose to go elsewhere before returning to the hole in the wall.”

Apr 18, 2006 by Laurence from London UK
Overall Rating: 2
Food:[2] • Service:[2] • Atmosphere:[5]

• Wine List
• Service, Food, Attitude of some of the waiting staff.

“A string of favorable reviews and an enticing menu meant that our visit to The Hole in the Wall held great promise. Unfortunately it failed to deliver. An air of disorganization was apparent from the moment we walked through the door as two of the waiting staff attempted to track down the evening's reservation list whilst struggling to relieve us of our jackets.



The menu was tempting and the initial flurry of service was good if a little hurried and unfriendly. Starters scored average (sorrel and garlic soup) to good (barberry duck and rhubarb) but the wheels fell off when we got to the main courses. The pork steak was pink in the middle and the lamb shank was not just undercooked and tough but positively cold. The waiter's response was argumentative and unapologetic, apparently no restaurant in the world could do it better (funny as no restaurant I have ever been to has done it worse). Sadly, his attitude was just an extension of the overall atmosphere among the waiting staff who had been openly arguing with each other for the past hour.



The cold lamb was duly replaced with a bland (but thankfully cooked) chicken dish and didn't dare to appear on the bill but needless to say that we didn't order dessert or coffee. In fact, we were glad to leave the whole unpleasant experience behind us as soon as possible. Hopefully this is just a one-off bad experience and not a taste of things to come...

”

3 of 3 people found this review helpful.