Stuart M's Qype profile

Lovely room, great atmosphere, friendly service and delicious food with some interesting flavour combinations. Would have got 5 stars but for the fact it’s “sharing plates”!

We have eaten once previously in Mien Tay, and found the food to be fine but not amazing. However, this review relates to two recent aborted attempts to visit the restaurant.

On both occasions we experienced the same problem. On calling to reserve a table, we were taken through the whole booking procedure (when would you like to book, how many people, what time etc.) to be told that there were no tables available. The suggestion was then made that we 'come down to the restaurant as something might become available'. On the first occasion we didn't bother, but last night we did.

On arrival at 7pm, we were told that there was nothing available until 9:30pm. This raises two questions: firstly, how can the restaurant suggest that 'something might come up' when they are so solidly booked until late that night? And secondly, if they know they have availability at 9:30pm, why not just take a reservation for that time over the phone?

To make it worse, the staff were rude and unconcerned when delivering this message.

It seems to me that perhaps Mien Tay is becoming a victim of its own success - and they will quickly find that if they keep up this poor attitude and inflexible booking process they might not be quite so busy all the time.

We stayed at The Soho Hotel for our wedding weekend in December 2010. It is hands-down the best hotel we have stayed at - and I include in that comparison some rather more expensive hotel at which we stayed during our honeymoon.

Everything at The Soho Hotel was just 'right'. It is effortlessly stylish, manages to remain personal despite having nearly 100 rooms (I think), and has some great public spaces (such as the Refuel bar, and the Drawing Room). It's also fantastically located for the hustle and bustle of Soho, but still manages to feel 'tucked away'.

However, it's the service that really sets The Soho Hotel apart. Every single member of staff that we dealt with was professional, polite and personable; and almost all of them knew we had just got married (from reception through to room service) - which was a lovely touch.

I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough - and I suspect it will become the benchmark by which we judge all future hotel stays!

Having read the above reviews,

Food, on the whole, was fine. Starters were a little cold and not overly generous - but well cooked and enjoyable enough. Duck was duck, and the mains were pretty decent.

However, the whole meal was let down by slow and surly service. After waiting half an hour for our duck to come, we enquired if it would be arriving soon. Our waiter barely stopped walking as he informed us it would be 'on the way'. We then let him know that we were on a bit of a tight timescale (as two of our party had a train to catch) - but despite this, the main course took a further 20 minutes to come after the duck!

Funnily enough, the only thing that came quickly was the bill - and that included a full charge for the complementary wine that we had informed the staff of at the beginning of the meal.

As many other reviewers have said, if Pearl Liang could brush up on their service and attitude, it would be a very reasonable Chinese restaurant in an area that lacks many (any?) competitors. As it stands, the food is simply not of a high enough standard to make us overlook the poor service.

I'm not usually a fan of 'tapas' for food other than 'tapas' - but in this instance I'll make an exception. The food at Mother India Cafe is top drawer - and having small, sharing plates means that you get to try more of it than you otherwise could!

Having been to the (original?) Mother India in Glasgow, I had high expectations of the Mother India Cafe. Whilst the décor is decidedly more modest, and the dining experience a little less refined, the food is easily as good.

Of particular note was the Garlic Chilli Chicken - which after an initial "is this meant to be hot?!" had us all reaching for the lassi - but in a very good way.

I suspect this place would be better in a group than as a couple (we were four) - but either way it's definitely worth a visit.

I've marked this down to four only because of the unmistakable 'cafe' feel - which means I wouldn't necessarily visit for a relaxed, lingering evening meal. Fantastic nonetheless.

Dusit is easily one of the best Thai restaurants I have been to. The service is charming and efficient, and the food is of a consistently high quality.

What makes Dusit stand out is the spicing. Every dish has great depth of flavour, and a good amount of heat - which makes a pleasant change from the bland-tasting curries you get at many Thai restaurants in the UK.

On our last visit we were a group of 18 - and I can honestly say that the quality of service was as good as when we have visited as a group of 4.

Highly recommended!

Do not use Bliss Cleaners - they are unreliable, untrustworthy and rude.

We were forced to terminate our contract with Bliss after just four weeks, when we found that they had visited our property on a day other than the agreed cleaning day (without our knowledge or agreement). When we expressed our concern that this had happened, the response was poor. Our phone calls and emails were routinely ignored, and there seemed to be a general lack of interest in our complaint.

However, worse was to come. On advising that we wished to terminate our contract, Bliss took over a week to return our keys - and once again it took multiple phone calls, voicemails and emails to make this happen. Despite explicitly requesting that our keys were returned via recorded postal delivery, Bliss once again enterered our property without permission - damaging the wall in the process and leaving external doors not properly secured.

Our further attempts to follow up on this issue have been ignored.

In our experience, Bliss do not demonstrate the integrity, quality of service or trustworthiness that is required of a company with whom you entrust your home.

Do NOT use this company. We were collected recently by 9000 Cars and had to get out of the car within 2 minutes due to the driver having three near-accidents.

Use Top Mini Cabs instead!

Some years ago, (4 or 5 perhaps), this place was one of the best to go in Balham, whether for a quick beer or a whole night out. However, the management then changed, (can you guess what’s coming?), and things have been going downhill since then.

Service is consistently slow, and the bar staff seem unable to serve people in order - even when the bar is empty. On top of this, the whole place now just feels a little shabby and rough around the ages.

It’s a shame as the location, (as in, “close to the tube”, rather than “overlooking Sainsbury’s car park”) and size of this place make it a perfect place to start a big night out - but once you get in the illusion is ruined.

• UPDATE: I felt a little bad after writing the above review, and so popped in again recently to give the place one more try. As a result, I’ve downgraded this review to one star. Quite simply, The Exhibit has the rudest and most incompetent bar staff in Balham (perhaps even South London). The icing on the cake? A pint of Guinness in the Exhibit is more expensive than in Harrison’s! Go there instead.**

Balham’s best “real pub” (as opposed to bar), this place has an excellent selection of lagers and ales on tap, (including some brewed at the sister pub in Herne Hill), and a staggering number of interesting bottle beers and fruit beers in the fridge.

The staff are always friendly and knowledgeable, with table service being an added bonus - even at busy times.

Food is perhaps the only area which is not consistently great. Although the normal menu is interesting and well-executed, the Sunday Roast is a bit disappointing - which is a shame as it’s the ideal place to hole up for a boozy Sunday afternoon.

Recommended!