I have visited Lussmanns in St Albans and Hertford many times and have always been very impressed with the food and especially the wonderful service. For that reason I chose to book a table for 12 for a family celebration one Saturday lunchtime at the St Albans branch. We'd been asked to pre-order, which we did, and we all arrived on time. Things started badly when - as most of the adults were driving and the rest of the party were children - we didn't order any wine. This didn't seem to go down well with our waitress. Only one person had ordered a starter - and this arrived after about 20 minutes although it was only soup. When this was cleared away we waited for the main courses to arrive. And we waited... When I asked how long it would be before we got the food, I was fobbed off with 'four/five minutes' and we then waited for another 10. When the food did arrive, it did so in fits and starts, with the youngest children the ones left waiting longest for theirs. All in all, 11 of the 12 at our table waited 50 minutes to eat anything - despite having ordered in advance! To make matters worse, after a polite complaint was made to the manager, we were given the full bill. We declined to pay the 10% optional service charge as a result. It was a thoroughly disappointing experience and the response to our complaint just made it worse. Needless to say, it rather spoilt what should have been a celebration lunch. Perhaps they have become complacent? Or just an off-day? Well, I won't bother giving them the chance to let me find out as I shan't be going there again. Shame, as the food was great. [Jun 09]
Andrei Lussmann responds:
We at Lussmanns got it wrong on this occasion. We are sorry for the poor show and, as a gesture of good will, will be inviting the reviewer and her husband back for a meal on us. Feedback is an integral part of our culture and we appreciate any opportunity to both improve and develop our very strong local following.
23 Jun 09
2009-06-23T23:05:37.0000000+01:00
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Lussmanns Fish and Grill