The Boundary of Good Service
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I loved Boundary as I approached it. A gorgeous building with a welcoming café called Albion, and a friendly, unpretentious older doorman. Fast forward four hours, and while the food was very good and decor worked well, one couldn't say the same about the wait staff.
I descended two floors down to join my party of ten. We were given a table alongside the divider between the intimate bar (where I'd like to spend a lot of hours) and the long restaurant (where I did spend a lot of hours). It was a nice table, though I noticed how cozy the four-tops which seated couples under the brick arches were.
Overhead, blown up maps of the zodiac with tiny white lights shone down, and the deepening blue sky peeked through tiny windows at the top of the high ceiling. We settled in and ordered spring-like cocktails (champagne, gin and lemon juice) and wine.
We were in no rush to order, and took about an hour to catch up and make our way through the traditional, British menu. Forty-five minutes later, our starters (clean and rich crab salad, perfect oysters, flavourful seafood bisque) arrived. Forty-five minutes after that, our mains (very good steak au poivre, good halibut with Hollandaise and acceptable sea bream) came to the table. Forty-five minutes after that we were trying to hail down the waiter to order puddings (amazing rhubarb soufflé and wonderful crème brûlée), which thankfully came in only thirty minutes. But by that point we were ready to be done with what turned out to be a exceptionally long dinner with repeated requests for water and finally, the bill.
When we settled, it was with a friendly, efficient, suited man. The manager? He processed our many cards and delivered our coats in a perfectly reasonably amount of time.
But it wasn't all bad. As stated, the food was very good. And we liked the way Boundary dropped an old-school establishment in the middle of the new school that is Shoreditch. Indicative of that, we got a kick out of the way the special of the day (pork roast) arrived on a rolling, covered trolley to a guy wearing a Corrosion of Conformity T-shirt.
We won't hurry back though, not until reports of the service improve. And then we'll be booking a table for two under the arches.
Overhead, blown up maps of the zodiac with tiny white lights shone down, and the deepening blue sky peeked through tiny windows at the top of the high ceiling. We settled in and ordered spring-like cocktails (champagne, gin and lemon juice) and wine.
We were in no rush to order, and took about an hour to catch up and make our way through the traditional, British menu. Forty-five minutes later, our starters (clean and rich crab salad, perfect oysters, flavourful seafood bisque) arrived. Forty-five minutes after that, our mains (very good steak au poivre, good halibut with Hollandaise and acceptable sea bream) came to the table. Forty-five minutes after that we were trying to hail down the waiter to order puddings (amazing rhubarb soufflé and wonderful crème brûlée), which thankfully came in only thirty minutes. But by that point we were ready to be done with what turned out to be a exceptionally long dinner with repeated requests for water and finally, the bill.
When we settled, it was with a friendly, efficient, suited man. The manager? He processed our many cards and delivered our coats in a perfectly reasonably amount of time.
But it wasn't all bad. As stated, the food was very good. And we liked the way Boundary dropped an old-school establishment in the middle of the new school that is Shoreditch. Indicative of that, we got a kick out of the way the special of the day (pork roast) arrived on a rolling, covered trolley to a guy wearing a Corrosion of Conformity T-shirt.
We won't hurry back though, not until reports of the service improve. And then we'll be booking a table for two under the arches.
Here Is The Writer : Sarah Western Balzer
Sarah Western Balzer is the managing director of HITC Life and is always on the lookout for reader-writers, so if you'd like to be one, make yourself known (sarah.western@hereisthecity.com). Sarah moved to London six years ago from New York but is originally from Florida, and still suntans like it's 1989. She is so grateful to the banker who introduced her to Here Is The City that she married him, and they live in Wapping with their son.
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