A well earned reputation for rudeness and high prices and long delays
Quite a few years ago this used to be a pretty decent restaurant – friendly, interested in what they were doing, interested in their customers.
Now they are very successful and it seems that their customers pay the price for that success
When we entered the restaurant it wasn't terribly full. It was before lunchtime and even though the waiter brought a menu to the table reasonably quickly, when we asked for a cup of tea while we were choosing our meal and said that we would like to have it quite quickly, we were fobbed off and even though we asked various staff members on about five occasions including the manager, nothing happened until we had been there for about half an hour and even though the waiter had already taken our orders about 15 minutes earlier.
When the tea finally arrived – about two minutes before the meal, it was in a heavy iron teapot – which I suppose was meant to be stylish but actually simply leaked heat so by the time the tea was poured, it was lukewarm and frankly it seemed too much of a hassle to try and get the attention of somebody to bring something hot.
Additionally, the tea was pale/weak – a bit like gnats wee!
Turkish eggs were excellent and if you look at the Google reviews you will find lots of people say that they are very good. I asked for scrambled eggs and was asked if I wanted them moist – I said "Yes". When the scrambled eggs arrived they certainly weren't moist. Almost hard and rubbery on a large piece of under toasted toast of some uneven shape which I suppose is meant to be artisanal – in keeping with the NW3 area which includes this Silverberry restaurant.
Generally speaking, the staff were surly, never smiled, never said thank you. I wondered if they were French. I've seen a lot of that kind of thing in Paris.
As I've already said, waiting times were very poor although the restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived.
I had a look at the Google reviews of this restaurant. Lots of positive reviews – referring mainly to the quality of the food which I suppose is not too bad. Maybe my scrambled eggs were an exception – but what troubled me was the number of one star and two star reviews confirming my own view that the staff are rude, inattentive and not at all customer facing.
Also some direct criticism of the attitude of the manager who seems to be far more bold about being offhanded dismissive of customers than the ordinary staff on the floor.
Also some references to racism. If this is true then it really is quite shocking.
It also would seem that the restaurant is not at all child friendly and in fact until recently there was a sign displayed outside basically telling people that they shouldn't bring their children during certain hours of the day.
Great for parents – and I suppose especially mothers who want to be their friends and are saddled with their children when they are very young.
The sign has disappeared now – I'm not surprised – but it has caused lots of comment and from the Google reviews it would seem that the child-unfriendly attitude hasn't changed.
No problem about bringing in your dogs there apparently.
So dog-friendly – Yes.
Child-friendly – No.
And then at the end, you make your way out to pay at the till and of course they load up your bill with the so-called Discretionary "gratuity" – although this is never discussed, you don't get a bill which shows you that. The bill simply appears on the screen and you swipe your phone or your card and the money is taken.
You look up to say goodbye to the person who has just entered the details into the computer for you to pay – but they have already turned their back on you and walked away.
Not a, goodbye.
Not a, thank you.
Go visit their website and check their menu. Notice that it doesn't have any prices on it.
If you knew the prices in advance then you probably wouldn't go there.