Food L'enclume - is this acceptable?

With all the controversy regarding L'Enclume I thought that I should write about our visit there last week together with one of my sons who is a chef in a Michelin starred restaurant. We all thought it was the best meal we have had. We had the vegetarian tasting menu (we eat fish but its complicated...) and did not feel that we had a lesser experience in any way because we had chosen the plant menu. The pacing, service, execution, texture and taste of the dishes was excellent. The only thing that I found negative was the noise volume in the room. We accompanied the food with Drappier NV to kick off followed by bottles of Richard Leroy Noels de Montbenault 2016 and Pichler Gruner Veltliner Smaragd M 2017 and finished with a glass or two of J.J Prum Graacher Himmelreich Aulese .
We drove to Cartmel through the Ribble Valey which we had not visited before and would like to see again. I think we will go to Northcote the next time we are in the north of England so we can spend more time in this area.
 
A friend of ours has a significant birthday this year and booked dinner at L'Enclume next month for a party of five at £195 a head. As it happens, she placed the booking the very day before L'Enclume's promotion to 3 stars was announced. A couple of weeks later she received an email from L'Enclume stating that the price would now be £250 per head. I think Simon Rogan actually got some stick in the press over this.

In the first year of lockdowns, we went to Raby Hunt (which has 2 stars) for Mrs B's birthday. We'd booked it at (IIRC) £190 per person but when we attended it had gone up to £220.

I really do think that, whatever it says in restaurants' T&Cs, they should honour bookings at the price agreed - just as L'Enclume should have honoured Tom's booking which they had accepted.
 
Colin Bradley said:
I really do think that, whatever it says in restaurants' T&Cs, they should honour bookings at the price agreed - just as L'Enclume should have honoured Tom's booking which they had accepted.
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It's very short-sighted. If they don't, then it seems to me that at least morally they forfeit the right to complain about (and/or charge for) no-shows - and almost every restaurant acknowledges that as a huge problem.
 
Colin Bradley said:
A friend of ours has a significant birthday this year and booked dinner at L'Enclume next month for a party of five at £195 a head. As it happens, she placed the booking the very day before L'Enclume's promotion to 3 stars was announced. A couple of weeks later she received an email from L'Enclume stating that the price would now be £250 per head. I think Simon Rogan actually got some stick in the press over this.

In the first year of lockdowns, we went to Raby Hunt (which has 2 stars) for Mrs B's birthday. We'd booked it at (IIRC) £190 per person but when we attended it had gone up to £220.

I really do think that, whatever it says in restaurants' T&Cs, they should honour bookings at the price agreed - just as L'Enclume should have honoured Tom's booking which they had accepted.
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I wonder if the price rise was directly related to the ***? Costs have been rising in the industry (ingredients and staffing), but I agree that once the booking has been accepted, the price should be fixed. I wonder if it's possible to pay in full in advance - and what would have happened in that case?
 
Alex Lake said:
I wonder if it's possible to pay in full in advance - and what would have happened in that case?
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Well, you know my guess on that one: they would ask you to pay the extra or simply cancel you. They also removed the package I had booked, which is no longer offered, so I think the price rise and removal of this package is almost certainly related to them gaining a third star.
 
max.oldfield said:
Surely you could bring it to their attention by some copy and paste of the remarks as spoken on the forum . Perhaps delete names where appropriate. This may be a more constructive method?
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Max, not sure if the 'you' in question is me, but I'm well over this - I posted my complaint way back in February, and someone else revived the thread today - not me. I've no interest in drawing it to anyone's attention, constructively or not!
 
That's a shocker, and a shame you're stuck with having to fix it - though the Paris alternative sounds like a serendipitous result!
Used to go to l'Enclume annually back in the day before it took off and he 'bought the village'. A lot less often now - but due to stay in December, invited to be dining companion for a friend who was given a voucher for her birthday from family. Don't know if Penny, Simon's wife still runs FOH at the original - she was v much 'all business' at the expense of charm when running the desk, and that attitude may be at the root of staff direction still.
Back then, though, taking care not to offend was less of a minefield than it is now - seems time to seriously upgrade their thought process when dealing with those who take the trouble, well in advance, to book AND stay. I will certainly be on the lookout for any issues now as there is no way I would wish my friend's 'treat' to be in any way disappointing or fall through like yours - so sorry to hear this, Tom.
 
I note that this an old tread but would just like to add that we have just returned from a world tour of England and Scotland. We last stayed at the Apex Grassmarket Hotel in Edinburgh. There was some problem with the room we had booked apparently - I did not ask what - as the hotel offered a superior room without question and no extra cost and the staff could not have been more helpful.

By the way we also had a lovely meal at The Buttery (Two Fat Ladies) in Glasgow. I had a nice chat with the head waiter Rory and they would be happy to allow a wine group to bring their own wine into one of their private dining areas for a reasonable corkage charge - something for a future dinner perhaps. They would also consider individuals from the group bringing a special bottle discreetly. £15 corkage I think which is reasonable if you have something expensive.
 
Cheers Alistair - nice to hear of good service :). Intersting on the Buttery too - it's ages since I've eaten there, when it was under different ownership, but I have been to dinners in the private room and for a group of maybe 12 or so it could certainly work.
 
I see this morning that a customer corresponded with Jay Rayner explaining that her lunch booking (£100 at time of booking) was now going to be £250 as the lunch menu was n/a having been replaced by the dinner menu.
…….She cancelled.
Seems the answer from L’Enclume was it was due to inflation!
 
Andrew Blunsden said:
Only option now is the tasting menu.
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Along, no doubt, with the sampling wine list. It really is the most ridiculous and infuriating description of what is usually, as Marco-Pierre White points out, a succession of canapés which quickly lose their heat because they are so small. I can't help feeling that their time has gone and no-one has yet realised.
 
Raymond Tilney said:
I see this morning that a customer corresponded with Jay Rayner explaining that her lunch booking (£100 at time of booking) was now going to be £250 as the lunch menu was n/a having been replaced by the dinner menu.
…….She cancelled.
Seems the answer from L’Enclume was it was due to inflation!
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I have zero interest in this subject

;)
 
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