Marco Pierre White Restaurants
View company profile →
MR WHITE NEEDS TO BE ASHAMED
MR WHITE NEEDS TO BE ASHAMED We as a party of 5 had to stand like Lemmings at the front counter for a seeming eternity before someone came to seat us - and it was only midweek 5pm with no other diners in the Restaurant. We were there to celebrate two University degree successes and had chosen somewhere reputedly with a bit of class as a treat. The first words that came out of the Waiter's mouth were "have you got a voucher?". No we didn't have a voucher - so apparently we got a different menu. We were handed cafe-style plain A4 printed menus (which required a magnifying glass to read) and our drinks order was taken. (Maybe with a voucher we'd also have got a large print menu - we did latterly end up sitting in the midst of a couple of Coach trips.) One minute later the Waiter returned to the table - apparently not having understood our request for a particular bottle of Prosecco for two of us to share. When the drinks arrived we were one drink short. The Peroni was also "off" so we ended up with something else - without having been asked first. Our food order was taken but we were informed that the Restaurant had run out of King Prawns - this despite the largest Tesco store in Hull being only a Prawn's throw away. A Prawn-and-a-half away lies the longest street of Fish merchants in the north of England. The starters arrived. Acceptable - I'd expect the same standard in a Wetherspoons. We were hassled prior to finishing the starters and the table was part cleared whilst I continued to eat. When the mains arrived (in good time), my order of Fillet Steak au poivre had morphed into a Steak and Ale pie. I don't have much of a Hull accent and I'm pretty sure my failed-A level French rendition of "Poivre" didn't sound that much like "ale". I was helpfully assured that I'd only have to wait 20 minutes for the correct dish to arrive. Everyone else quite rightly got stuck in and once the missing extra fries order had been cajoled and everyone had finished eating, my steak arrived. It was a very nice steak - apparently taken from an old miniature breed of Cow but the blather was tasty nonetheless. We gave up on sweets and coffee. Requested the bill - noting the 20% service charge included in the total - paid and left. None of the staff who had served us were in attendance on the way out. Strangely enough. My wife remarked that she had gone to the Ladies' mid meal and had witnessed Fish and Chips being delivered to someone's lap. We all agreed that this is the Hull Doubletree Hilton's dining room - despite the shocking mis-use of a celebrity Chef's name to attempt to boost covers and prices by implying it's anything better. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Postscript: I understand that there may be a voucher available on wowcher. Now you know why.