A friend met me in Pimlico a few days after my flat burned down to help break up all the cleaning.
It was sunny so we wanted to sit on the patio. Uno had some open patio seating so we thought we would give it a try. We were seated at 12:45 and then proceeded to wait until around 1:10 pm before anyone got around to seeing us.
We ordered. I kept it simple with a margherita pizza. Natalie chose the chicken pesto pasta. When we declined wine with our lunch, the server (who I suspect is also the manager) insinuated that we were cheap. It’s not so much the price that deterred us from wine- it was that it was 1:10 in the afternoon on a Monday. I’d love to sit outside all day and drink wine but we had other things to do. You know, burnt flat and all.
The server brought around a pitcher of water and set it on the table and left. When Natalie started to pour the glasses, the server came back shouting “That’s my job!”
“Oh sorry,” she replied. “My friend’s flat has burned down and she’s quite thirsty.”
The server rambled on about how he was suppose to pour the water, which was a bit awkward.
“I don’t think he heard you,” I said.
“Oh yes, I did.” He commented. “You said you were thirsty and wanted some water but you are going to work me out of a job!” We thought that he was making a joke, but it seemed quite narcissistic that he didn’t absorb the information she had told him.
Another 20 minute wait (it was now 1:30) and our food arrived. The pizza looked standard. The pasta looked awful. We could have had the same meal from the Tesco take out aisle. There were 3 tiny chunks of chicken (not even 1/4 of a chicken breast!) hidden under a massive pile of poorly executed spiral pasta. It would have been one thing if the pasta looked nice or if the dish had been nicely presented, but this was laughable.
“Do you want to complain?” I asked.
“Not really, but I can’t eat this either.” Natalie said.
In the end we decided to say something.
The server began to argue with us that because my friend ordered off the lunch menu, the price was cheaper and therefore they had to think about the cost of the ingredient. She began to explain that it’s not what she thought she was ordering and he talked over her saying that if we wanted better food we shouldn’t have ordered off the lunch menu, we should have been prepared to spend 14 pounds for a meal but as we didn’t, we were getting exactly what we were paying for.
Once again, calling us cheap.
As we weren’t going to find a solution with this man, we left and went to Pimlico Fresh. Sat outside on the patio and had an AMAZING looking and tasting meal for the same price without waiting forever or being treated poorly. We told the guys at Pimlico Fresh what had happened and their response was something along the lines of “Sorry that happened to you, but seriously? You went to Uno.”
Here’s a visual comparison. No contest.
Uno’s Chicken Pesto Pasta- we dug all the hidden chicken out and laid it on top
Lasagna at Pimlico Fresh – yum!
Uno is located in Pimlico at 1 Denbigh Street, London SW1V 2HF
It’s so weird sometimes, the behaviour of staff, you wonder whether the owners are aware and clueless or simply out of touch with how much difference staff behaviour makes to experience!