Today I am in Shoreditch, London. I’ve done a lot of walking, and look forward to a BBQ meal in the highly rated Smokestak…
But boy, oh boy, is it a letdown.
SMOKESTAK
35 Sclater St.
London E1 6LB
https://www.smokestak.co.uk/
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Welcome to my food review channel Greeno Eats !!
Here I’ll be reviewing and comparing foods, from homemade to shop bought, from fast food to eating out in higher end places.
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I simply won't eat in any restaurant with music
Roast pork pulled apart is sadly how most places do pulled pork in the UK
Well I certainly WON'T be visiting Smokestack.. Noise level alone would put me off. But food poor as well. No chance.
Sorry, I had to pass on this episode. Too load.
I ate here about 8 years ago and remember it being poor. The music is to force you to eat and leave as quickly as possible. You should have an issue with a restaurant asking you to donate to charity. Imagine if every shop added a pound to your bill, with you needing to ask them to remove it. I imagine there is a tax advantage in this for restaurants.
I don’t really understand harping on about the prices. At London prices, your pints would’ve cost you at least £12 for the pair, not counting whatever the cameraman drank, so let’s say around £20 accounted for straight off. Starters and mains for two in a trendy part of London for £75 seems pretty standard, tbh. It’s not as if the food would’ve tasted better if it was more affordable. Walk into a place like that, noisy as it was, and remain seated where you’ve been put rather than ask to move somewhere quieter, or without walls directly behind your head for sound to bounce off – and under a speaker? Not me. At the very least I’d have asked to move. As to no check-back, that’s not great, but there’s nothing stopping you from calling a server over for a chat. Perhaps they decided to leave you both to it since you were filming.
All in all, yes the food looked average, the service wasn’t sparkling and the atmosphere looked and sounded repellent, but the sum total of the experience didn’t seem to warrant the sensational title, imho. You clearly know your food and your dining industry standards, but you’d do yourself a favour by adopting a more pragmatic and willing to engage approach rather than to expect mind-reading waiting staff – especially when at least one of them probably has their mind more on their lovelife than on work that day!😅
I get what you’re attempting to achieve, but you send out rather mixed messages and save your feedback for the camera or the summing-up outside, which isn’t conducive to getting your gripes attended to and dealt with there and then. This is the bane of a hospitality worker’s existence, people saving their feedback for a cruddy review online rather than engaging with the staff at the time. Ambience disappoints? Ask to move. Food disappoints too? Bring it to their attention. It’s a bit of a lottery these days, in terms of service standards in the UK, no matter where you go: I’ve experienced stellar service from minimum-wage or apprentice-level servers and been treated like a complete afterthought or hindrance by head waiters and restaurant managers. Perhaps it might have improved things had you piped up while you were actually there? Even distracted, badly-managed or inexperienced, poorly trained serving staff can’t easily ignore you if you actually attract their attention yourself and bring your concerns to them rather than waiting for them to come to you.
Also, every time you opine that the price for this or that seems a bit ‘strong’, while the viewer is probably going to agree with you, the implication is that you’d revise your opinion if it weren’t as costly. But you can’t really have it both ways. The food is either good or not so good but value for money isn’t entirely subjective at the overheads most restaurants operate under these days, London or not. £6 may seem steep, but chips are £4 at Wetherspoons these days. As I said, £70-odd quid for a two-course meal for two in London ain’t all that bad. Aside from all that, you’d planned your visit in advance – we know this as you’d given them a seating preference – so you must’ve had a vague idea of what you’d potentially be spending? London prices command a premium as it is, which surely you can understand, even if like everyone else you don’t like it. You didn’t get great food but no, you weren’t overcharged.
It was however very odd indeed that you weren’t questioned at least at the end of your meal as to why you’d left half of it uneaten. Personally, I’d have sent back the barbecue tray: the brisket looked undercooked, if such a thing is possible – much of the fat hadn’t rendered even slightly, which was a glaring error – and the revolting-looking lump of pulled pork was a very shy portion, given what you were paying; also, there seemed to be almost a complete absence of anything in the way of sauce except for an areola-sized puddle on the tray which presumably was intended to lubricate both (different) meats. Rather than looking steaming-hot, glistening with delicious juices, both meats looked dry as the bones they were originally attached to.
So, the food did indeed look deeply average – I’ll give you that – but right from the off, you could and should have done yourself a favour and expressed your disappointment at having been seated in a noisy corner directly beneath a loudspeaker in a room where the music was overly loud anyway, especially given that you’d taken the trouble to request a quieter spot in advance. They dropped the ball, yes, but you have your part to play too. There are places where you’re flitted around diligently by expertly discreet yet wise and committed servers who seem to anticipate your every wish or need. A brash, noisy barbecue joint in a trendy part of the capital is unlikely to be one of them, Michelin-mentioned or not. Your expectations, I think, were unreasonably optimistic!
Go to Smoko Loko in Spitlefields, far better food and value.
Since when is a chicken wing eaten with a knife and fork?
I feel your frustration. I remember once asking for a service charge to be removed from a bill and you should have seen the look on the waiters face – if the service is bad then always ask for it to be removed! The michelin guide used to be a well respected publication but they hand out accolades like sweeties now. Thanks for another honest review!
Bless him, reminds me of when my Dad used to come visit me in London 😆