Pret a Diner, 50 St. James’ Street, W1F 9JP, London

Pret a Diner, 50 St. James’ Street, London
01/06/2012

http://www.pretadiner.com/

She said…Having somehow got onto the appropriate mailing list, he was sent an e-shot invitation to this ‘pop-up’ restaurant posing as an uber-cool, exclusive dining experience in the heart of Mayfair. Yes it may be £75 for said experience but the promise of something completely different that tantalises the various senses with Michelen starred cooking seemed absolutely worth it. Unfortunately, the reality proved absolutely not. If I had to pick one word to sum up Pret a Diner it is GREEDY. Yes the capitals are to emphasise me screaming loud and clear for the avoidance of doubt. The initial impression was very positive; a chirpy chap greeted us warmly at the door, he gave us a tour of the first floor dining space – a contemporary, buzzing room transformed from a former private members’ club in a beautiful neoclassical building of the many that exist in Mayfair – which the capitalist entrepreneurs of Pret a Diner had seized on during its dormant period. We were informed we would be eating in the ‘celebrity’ dining room – a side room to the main one but nevertheless a trendy yet romantic space; but almost immediately the hopeful anticipation was squashed like a big rotten tomato. A young girl put some ‘amuse bouche’ down and muttered something; we asked her to repeat what it was but quickly realised she just wanted to get the whole waitering experience out of the way. She graced us a few times during the meal with equal eloquence. We were presented with the set menu of various meat dishes; we had checked beforehand that fish or vegetarian options would be available and this was confirmed but it took a series of pass the parcel like experiences from one waiter to another before anyone would admit to actually knowing how to obtain any knowledge of what the possibilities were. Finally a waiter said he could tell us but needed someone else to listen to him telling us because he was new. For £75 we would be getting: a salad of lettuce and tomato – which bore a strong resemblance to the instant salad in a bag you can get from Tesco; followed by pene pasta with overcooked vegetables in a bland tomato sauce; followed by another pasta dish – this time chunks of lasagne sheets with unidentifiable overcooked vegetables in a bland cream sauce.  If we wanted desert we had to pay extra. For drinks – I asked if there were cocktails and was told if I wanted one I had to go downstairs to the bar to order it, which foolishly I did. The bar staff were indifferent, took £15 from me for a tiny glass of fizz with honey which I had the pleasure of then having to carry back up the stairs to my table (they did still charge me service for the drink). At the end of the meal when one of the several changes of waiters we had asked how our meal was and we said disappointing – explaining that pasta followed by pasta was not very creative he responded ‘I like pasta so I would have been happy’. Now there’s customer service. In a competitive world of dining I love seeing entrepreneurs combine their love of food with creativity to offer something different but Pret a Diner is a complete farce – greedy people offering sloppy food and useless service with absolute delusions of grandeur. Greedy, greedy, greedy. This is a pop up that should just pop off.

He said... This was a swish pop-up with pedigree which you can't even go to anymore, so I'm going to be as lazy as the organisers and give it a one word review: disappointing. Big time.