We took two friends to Ottolenghi for lunch yesterday, and the food was absolutely wonderful. When we finally got it. It’s a take away deli as well, so people queuing for seats stand right next to the uncovered food display. This is where they come and get the food they are going to serve you – so imagine a couple of those girls who constantly flick and twitch their long hair have been standing right next to your chosen menu item. More animal protein on your plate than you’d reckoned on, eh ? Not to mention food stains on your clothes (more of this later).

We stood waiting to be seated quite a long time, because although there was room and enough staff to clear the tables, they moved with all the speed of quick set cement. You choose 3 from a selection of salads and the small portion at £7.50 was plenty – but you can have a large portion for £9.50. A good restaurant aims to serve a whole party simultaneously, which can be a challenge with hot food. But salads from a cold buffet ? There is no excuse for bringing the salads one by one, so we all sat waiting for everyone to be served. L’s salad was wrong, so the waiter went back to change it. R’s salad arrived wrong three separate times. Each time R patiently recited again the original order. Eventually the waiter hit on the radical idea of writing the order down! Worked a treat. It’s great when a restaurant has lots of staff, and I don’t blame them for recruiting on the basis of youthful good looks. But you have to train them. We weren’t offered bread with our salads, sugar with our coffee or refills of our drinks. The waiter who cleared our table piled the plates so high, without first removing the cutlery, that the resulting knife throwing act caught M’s shoulder and stained his light shirt with grease. He very gallantly claimed that he wasn’t hurt and it was a very old shirt. Service is not included and we decided not to leave a tip. Go there for the food, it really is excellent: fresh, original, good quality and although expensive, it’s value for money. But allow plenty of time and don’t wear your best clothes. 2005 Daisy Middleton