The King William IV, Heydon

My partner & I had been regulars of The King William IV for years, even continuing to visit when we moved out of the area, to London. The fabulous food and unique surroundings justified the journey. We had recommended many of our friends too. Sadly, our last visit was awful.

We had booked ahead as usual. When we arrived we were told the restaurant was full, however we could eat in "The Snug" area of the restaurant, which we didn't have a problem with. We were shown to our table and handed our menu's. We waited some considerable time for our order to be taken, but were happy to wait, chatting over our drinks. We then became aware that we were quite blatantly being talked about by the owner & her waitress, but as my partner plays in a rock band, we thought he may have been recognised - albeit indiscreetly! We were wrong. The owner marched over to our table and bluntly asked why we had not been to the bar to place our food order. We explained that we had no idea we were expected to do so. She told us, none too politely, we were no strangers to the restaurant therefore we should know the procedure for ordering food in The Snug area. We were astonished, not to mention embarassed to be shown up in front of the other diners by her rude manner. Needless to say we have never set foot in the King William IV again. A real shame as the food is excellent and the surroundings charming....which is far more than I can say for the Proprietor.

14 Aug 2009 14:57