About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

An award-winning restaurant serving sushi and pan-Asian dishes, but our reviewer says, "There are so many fabulous eating options in London. Don't bother with this one."

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Pros

• Interesting cocktails
• Central location

Cons

• Service which was at best, incompetent, and at worst, verging on criminal

Description

• Address:
  Cocoon
  65 Regent Street
  (on the corner with Air Street)
  London
  W1B 4EA

• Nearest Tube Station:
  Piccadilly Circus
• Telephone:
  020 7494 7600
• Official Web Site:
  www.cocoon-restaurants.com

Guide Review - Cocoon Restaurant Review

This review has been submitted by Rachel Foster.
See How To Submit a London Restaurant Review.

A group of friends and I went to Cocoon on Saturday (August 2007). We started out with some nice cocktails and ordered some sushi to start, then mains and dessert. While the food was fine, and the service unobjectionable if not inspired, trouble awaited in the form of our bill. When it came, someone commented it seemed expensive, but in typical group fashion we all reached for our wallets.

Then someone took the trouble to actually look at the itemized bill. It transpires that we had been overcharged for almost every single item. Mistakes ranged from charging us for three bowls of Edamame when we'd only had two, to charging us for sushi and mains we hadn't ordered at all. The only thing they'd gotten correct was the wine order.

Considering that there are only two explanations for this - incompetence or attempted theft - their reaction to us pointing out the errors in the bill was surprising, to say the least.

Not a hint of an apology was offered, and it was with extremely bad grace that they went off to rectify the errors. It took an unconscionably long time for them to return with a bill that while not 100% correct, wasn't worth quibbling over at that stage.

They then had the utter gall to be surprised and offended that we weren't planning on leaving a 12.5% discretionary service charge.

Businesses that operate like this don't deserve patronage, particularly when there are so many options in London.

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