Garlic and Shots, Soho

Quirky but questionable idea which made us want to try the restaurant as it differs from our usual fare. Having been almost refused a table due to having 'not made a reservation' we were shown into the garden where there were some free tables. Ultimately we chose to go back into the main front dining room when a table suddenly became available - although the restaurant was by no means packed from around 20.00 to 22.00 on a Saturday night when we went.

Waiters friendly albeit slow; we had to wait around 40 minutes for our meal. Mine (the pasta noodles) was a satisfying main and the dessert - garlic chocolate truffles - was excellent. My boyfriend chose the XXX hot chilli burger that, as a chilli aficionado, he was looking forward to. However, our whole experience was marred by the fact that, en route home, he started to complain of acute stomach problems.

At home, he spent the whole night vomiting and feeling sick, and although starting to recover the next morning, was still weak and tired for the rest of the day. I called the restaurant, concerned about my boyfriend's food poisoning, and the owner, flatly denied it. I was surprised by his firm attitude that his restaurant had nothing to do with it - even to the point of questioning my reliability. He kept insisting that he had probably had some seafood or something from another establishment (this was not the case).

As a restaurant owner I call into question his integrity when dealing with a serious complaint such as this. Initially offering compensation, he then retracted this offer and said he didn't believe us and would take the matter no further without evidence (!). He persisted in his line that he had had nothing to do with it, and that anyway he had no idea what to do next.

We love eating out, especially in Soho, and all in all it has to be said that we had had, in each others' company, quite a nice evening out of it. So it is not compensation we are after. It is an apology.

10 Apr 2011 17:25