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VERSION:2.1
N:The City Tavern
FN:The City Tavern
TEL;WORK;VOICE:020 7606 2373
ADR;WORK:;;29/30 Lawrence Lane;EC2V 8DP
URL:http://www.traditionalpubslondon.co.uk/citytavern/
NOTE:There are a lot of mathematics whizz kids in the City of London, but on last night’s evidence not many of them are employed in the kitchens at the City Tavern in Lawrence Lane. According to my calculations, when five people order a ‘buffet’ and pay seven pounds each, £35 worth of food should appear. By logical extension, when six groups of five order such a buffet, £210 of food should appear. I was part of a gathering of thirty or so people last night who had ordered such a buffet, but what appeared was not £210 worth of food, even by the inflated standards of typical British pub catering. What each table of five in fact received was a single plate of food, the centrepiece of which was a small bowl of nachos with a smudge of salsa buried deep within. The nachos were accompanied by some miniature bhajis, some miniature spring rolls, some miniature potato croquettes, a miserable portion of substandard chips and some tiny slices of bread. 
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Two of us felt sufficiently aggrieved to confront the manager, who was a big bloke who looked like he was used to trouble. Rather than facing up to the problem he wriggled and squirmed and was clearly terrified of actually doing anything without his manager’s permission. His first line of defence was that he had been given the wrong order. Fine. All he had to do to remedy the situation was ask the kitchen to rattle out more food – approximately four times as much according to my schoolboy arithmetic. The kitchen were busy churning out plenty of other orders, which included some fairly healthy looking portions so were clearly in a position to do so. However this was too much for this sheep in wolf’s clothing. I didn’t have the heart to keep arguing, but the other guy did and after about half an hour our table was offered a “burger platter.” This seemed like a result until it emerged that we wouldn’t each be receiving a burger, but in fact a small section of a burger. Nevertheless, following the further blandishment in the form of some fresh ham (which never appeared) we accepted the offer. 
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What, however, really gives the game away is that we were the only table to get any more food. While the other complainant’s table got their money back - they had refused the original food altogether - the other four tables who had stoically put up with their lot received no recompense at all. The pub’s manager was clearly more than happy to pocket their money and ignore them while they kept quiet. Why are there so many dismal characters like this involved in British “service” industries?

NOTE:In relation to the subject of the review below, I understand that the City Tavern has now contacted the organizer of the evening and made a generous offer in recompense for our table receiving a £8.99 platter instead of a £35 buffet. I don't know whether this was made just to our table or extended to the other six or so tables which experienced the same problem.
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