"Footlights runined my evening"
A review of Footlights Restaurant & Bar by Sophie Sharp - Thursday 3rd of May 2007
I visited Footlights with a group of twelve female friends, looking to have a fun evening out. Sadly,due to the appalling level of service, this was not to be.
On approaching our table, the waiter, who later said he was in fact the manager of the restaurant, loudly shushed us. Now, had we been being overly noisy I would have no objection to being asked politely to keep the noise down. However,we were merely talking and laughing at a perfectly normal level. The restaurant was almost empty and the only other customers were a long way away on the other side of the room, so could not have been disturbed. To be shushed as if we were a group of naughty children and not paying customers was somewhat offensive.
The waiter then proceeded to ask us if we had been informed, on making our booking, that a minimum charge of £10 a head applied. Aside from how ridiculous this is, we certainly had not been told, and one of our party informed the waiter that this was the case and that imposing it on us without warning was simply not on. He acted as if we were being unreasonable, telling us not to shout at him (which we weren't) and that he wasn't saying we had to pay it. He then preceded to call two of my friends rude, which frankly is unacceptable under any circumstances but in light of his behaviour simply ludicrous. His entire manner implied that we were not welcome in his restaurant.
In hindsight, at this point we should have given up and left. However, we stuck it out, and waited 30 minutes for our drinks to arrive, with our food taking an hour to finally make an appearance. When it did, it was nothing short of vile, my Hoi-sin duck wrap being watery and stuck to a napkin. My friend's curry was awful, with barely any sauce. The £11.45 service charge tacked onto the bill added insult to injury; I am not in the habit of paying to be treated badly and then accused of behaving rudely. We were all glad to finally get out of the restaurant and on to the nearest chip van for some superior cuisine.
I would advise you to give the Footlights a miss. It is a lovely location with heaps of potential, but poor service and sub-par food make it an experience you'd rather forget.
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