the poor rating has to do with the rude staff at this location. i'm not sure if he was the owner or…read morea staff member, but there was an older man who was very rude to us when we arrived. we entered the establishment, as that is what you typically do when you want to dine at a restaurant, and he came up the stairs and didn't even offer a greeting. i mentioned that we had a reservation for that time and he immediately just kept repeating that our table was outside. we went outside to their small patio dining area, and saw that there was a table with a "reserved" sign on it, so we sat down. i thought it was incredibly rude that he spoke to us in that manner, and it seemed like he expected us to somehow know that that table was ours before we had even spoken to any staff.
i was seriously considering getting up and leaving but i decided to give this place one more chance. it then took a while, but we were eventually served by a much more pleasant and friendly younger server, who helped make this experience better. i would give this place a lower rating, however i must admit that the food was delicious. as an american tentatively wanting to try british bangers and mash, this exceeded my expectations. we all spoke about how the sausage was plump, snappy, and delicious, definitely one of the best we've ever had. the mashed potatoes were also amazing- cheesy and heavenly, and i'm not even usually a mashed potatoes kinda person.
i am glad that we stayed solely for the delicious food, but i would not come back because of our experience with the staff here. the place already was one of the emptier spots on this very busy soho street anyway.