Lemon Sole, Portsmouth, a restaurant offer be too good to be true?
Jul 3rd, 2008 by Foodie
Can some of these restaurant offerings be too good to be true?
Les Kobiernicki seems to thinks so as he reveals in his experience at The Lemon Sole in Portsmouth
Good food - but apparantly not such good value according to Les Kobiernicki
LEMON SOLE
123, High Street
Old Portsmouth
PO1 2HW
COMPLAINT
” EAT OUT FOR £10 ” ???
I and my partner were glad to see an ” Eat out for £10 ” offer on the
front page of the Portsmouth & Southsea Journal for Thursday 12th June
this year, at the Lemon Sole, 123 High Street, Old Portsmouth, Hampshire,
PO1 2HW.
Imagine our frustration when we saw that the portions were
absolutely tiny, and that extra was needed to make the plates up to a
meal-sized amount. Moreover, the meal lasted 2 hours, as we waited - and
waited - and waited …
At the end, the bill bore absolutely no relation to the offer. We had to
pay £43.
The ” £10 offer ” does NOT in any way relate to the reality of the
miserable experience of eating out in this place. Even the waitress
indicated subtly that she, too, thought the £10 offer was misleading, and
clearly was personally not in favour of it, tacitly appearing to agree
with us, that we had been cheated. I would like to warn anyone intending
to visit this eating house that the portions are less than child-sized.
Visitors actually have to order every single thing separately, which makes
this an < à la carte > eatery - and not at all menu-based. This is, of
course, quite contrary to how they represent themselves in the advert !
On leaving, I was so incensed that I spoke my mind about all this
nastiness to the poor waitress, whose startled demeanour well reflected
the distress and unpleasantness the owner(s) had created for us all -
herself included - with this fake ” offer “. It would be impossible to
eat at the Lemon Sole on the £10 ( per person ) stated. Even children
would go away part-hungry.
This is not to slight the quality of the food: it was very good. But
massively over-priced - and it came in portions to evoke hunger - and not
to assuage it. Professional lying - however it is disguised - should not
be encouraged.
Visit Date: 27/06/2008
Sincerely,
Les K
The cooking is without doubt very good. The prices charged by this restaurant are, however, much exagerrated making the meal not value for money. To charge £19.50 for a grilled plaice verges on the extortionate. Vegetables/salad are extra. A glass of wine costs over £6. The seating is well below par for a restaurant charging these prices and there are not even any table cloths. The ordering is self service and standing in a part of the establishment surrounded by tables at which people are eating - not a particularly enjoyable experience especially as the manager does not appear to tolerate too much hesitation in choosing from the blackboard menu