Desperados - London

The service was excellent, the food was enjoyable (even for someone like me who doesn't typically eat Mexican cuisine), and the staff were truly lovely. The atmosphere was also very pleasant.

We ate early evening on a Friday and there was plenty of room. We weren't hurried to order which was good. Service was good and friendly. The food was good.

I booked for a Sunday evening meal with my parents. Upon arriving we was 'greeted ' by a member of staff. I presume he was the manager (short, older gentleman of the team who was clearly in a VERY bad mood. As we were seated and given our menus he then proceeded to complain to me that I had booked via Opentable and questioning why I had done so, telling me I shouldn 't have booked a table and that I was wrong to do so etc, literally for a good 10minutes or more!! It got to the point that we were all laughing uncomfortably at the embarrassment of it when he wouldn 't leave us to look at the menu 's or order drinks. I have worked in London hospitality management for many years, so I have a very good understanding of the Opentable system and we had actually come out for dinner as a small celebration for my starting a new job as PA to a multi-Michelin Star chef restauranteur (see the irony! He continued to have this horrendous attitude throughout the time we was there. Thankfully there was also a waitress who was happy and polite. The food was what we expected, nothing spectacular. Large portions, not a lot of flavour. Ingredients are obviously bought in already prepared and just reheated to order. I.e. Meat isn 't marinated or cooked on site, just warmed up from stock. Which is fine and fully expected from such a venue. An average meal for an average price. Could have been a perfectly enjoyable evening had we not been made to feel so unwelcome from the start!

We love Desparados, it has great food and atmosphere. We visit this restaurant frequently. However on this occasion, we were disappointed. We made a booking through opentable, got the email confirmation, but on arrival at the restaurant were told that they did not have our booking. We were accommodated after a bit of an argument, but that soured the experience.

Arrived and they didn’t have my booking, even though it was booked on the app and I had an email confirmation. They were full and the attitude to us turning up wasn’t very friendly. They gave us a table in the end but very unapologetic and made us feel like we had done something wrong. If it hadn’t been for a birthday I would have probably left and eaten somewhere else. Service was slow and inattentive. That said the good was good.