London’s iconic Grade II listed Battersea Power Station, with its four tall chimneys dominating the skyline, has recently been brought back to life following an extensive redevelopment. It now hosts bars, restaurants, shops and upmarket living accommodation, hotel and offices.
After a visit to London’s newest tourist attraction, Lift 109, we chose Meghans for lunch as it was one of the more reasonably priced of the options available. We booked in advance for 12.30pm and on arrival, were told there may be some delay as there were ‘kitchen issues’. However, this wasn’t an issue as we were having a long overdue catchup with friends.
We ordered a bottle of the house white, Meson Bellenger, and eventually were told that it wasn’t available with a more expensive bottle being produced. We said that we assumed it would be charged at the price of the Meson Bellenger, and the waitress said she would check. It then became apparent that the cheaper wine was available, but not chilled and so we were offered ice to go with it, which we accepted. A diet coke was served flat and had to be reordered.
When it came to the food, we ordered harissa humus and a shared cheese fondue to start with (noting on the menu it was something to nibble on) and all chose mains, which included an eggs benedict with an extra of sucuck, a spicy sausage. Two wanted the posh lamb doner open kebab but were disappointed to be told lamb was unavailable which was particularly disappointing as lamb is a relatively key feature on the menu and it was still early in the day.
Despite the warning of potential delays, we were surprised by the speed of service. The fondue arrived with the main dish of eggs benedict (minus the sucuck), and before we had chance to really get stuck in, the larger dishes arrived which we sent away (we then spotted they were delivered to another table). Four of us ended up eating a main, whilst the final member of our group was presented with the sucuck on a plate and the bowl of hummus. Whilst the food was tasty, the open chicken kebab could have been warmer and felt as though it had been waiting on the pass for too long.
My goddaughter wanted a pudding but was disappointed to find that every pudding available contained nuts (she has a severe nut allergy) and we had not been asked at the outset about any allergies or dietary requirements.
The service was friendly, but clearly lacked any management oversight.
When the bill was presented, we asked for it to be rounded down from £208.46 to £200 bearing in mind the issues, but the waitress helpfully removed the total service charge of £23.
Between us we had eaten at Meghans in Islington and Clapham Common and enjoyed both visits, so perhaps our experience was due to teething problems or a Christmas rush. However, it won’t stop us from returning, particularly in summer when the decking overlooking the Thames will I suspect be highly in demand.
On return, I wrote a letter of complaint and received and apology and a £50 voucher – you cannot say fairer than that.
