The Clarence, Whitehall

What a shame - AVOID!
This has the potential to be a decent Whitehall pub, with a great location and nice interior post refurb. The food isn't bad either.

However the service / quality of staff is well below what you'd expect anywhere in London and really lets the place down.

for example on a recent visit we were greeted by an aggressive and very poorly presented girl who insisted that we sat at a small table for two rather than a table of our choice despite the bar being only 1/3 full (it was towards the end of lunchtime). When we asked to sit else where we got a very rude response

No one would mind being asked politely or being told that if the placed filled up that we'd have to move. But the attitude was shocking and this particular member of staff was clearly not cut out for a customer facing role.

Unfortunately his wasn't a once off - and have hard many bad stories from friends and colleagues. If the Clarence wishes to retain customers and justify its high prices it needs to pay attention to more than just the food and the decor.

All in all there are better pubs on Whitehall, don't make the mistake of going here

1 Mar 2011 16:52