I have, apologies for the length of this post but I have attached a copy of the letter I sent to the restaurant adfter my visit. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE. Overpriced, mediocre food, never going again even if some else paid the bill.
"As a bit of a foodie and all round JO fan I was very much looking forward to lunch at Fifteen on Saturday 8th March. Overall, it was such a disappointing experience that I felt compelled to write with some, hopefully, constructive criticism.
First the good stuff. The bar upstairs was great and staff on both floors were polite and helpful throughout.
There was a group of 4 of us, and 3 chose the squid and chips for starters. The squid was good, but the chips were so over salted that they were almost inedible.
The wait for the main course was way too long. Our waitress came over and apologised and said that our meals were next out of the kitchen. This was not the case as another 5 tables were served before us and we waited a further 20 minutes before they eventually arrived. There was well over an hour between finishing the starters and the mains arriving. We would have been far happier if we had been told honestly then that the kitchen was having some problems and how long we should expect to wait.
The braised beef with celeriac was barely warm and was sent back. The pork with herbs and polenta was equally lukewarm , and the polenta had developed a crust on top, and the pork had dried out and become stringy. I guess both of these had been sitting around for some time waiting for the other dishes for our table.
One of our party had ordered the fish stew and the waitress explained later on that with this had been very popular, had consequently run out and they had to make some more. I don?t understand why they continued to push the specials if they had temporarily run out. Once the kitchen realised there was a problem they should have explained the situation to the customers who were waiting, we could have then made a decision to choose something else. However when it came the fish stew was apparently excellent and well worth waiting for, it is just a shame that the other meals suffered as a result of being ready way before the fish.
The staff were aware that we were unhappy with the excessive wait and quality of the food and first offered us a turbot to share (which seemed a strange thing to suggest) or complimentary puddings. We all had either the lemon tart or chocolate pots and these were excellent. This was a nice gesture but did not make up for the fact that overall the meal was very poor.
From the television series I know that you are very passionate about this project and are committed to running an excellent restaurant. Although many of the chefs are inexperienced this should not be an excuse for poor service, lack of communication and inferior food.
We ended up spending around £200, and whilst you expect to pay top prices for an excellent meal (as I also do at the Fat Duck and Le Manoir) Fifteen proved to be a HUGE disappointment.
I hope this was a one off bad day and wish you well with the project and charity.