The Alpine Restaurant, Bushey Heath Review

We have been going to the Alpine Restaurant Bushey since the early 1980s. On Saturday last, 23rd October 2010 we were badly disappointed.

Our table for four was incredibly tightly wedged in amidst other diners' tables. We hardly had room to move. I suspect a previously unseen greed motive here - pack them in tight, make more money.

Because of the tight packing and 'fashionably' hard furnishings and flooring the noise level was uncomfortably high.

My wife's pasta dish came up cold and had to be sent back. When it was returned she thought it bland and unremarkable. They managed to screw up pasta in an Italian restaurant!

When taking our orders our waiter didn't prompt us for side dishes. Consequently when our main courses arrived I had to pressure the waiting staff to fetch vegetables quickly before our dinners got cold.

Considering their premium prices and 12.5% service charge we were not impressed. As it was a celebratory dinner I didn't want to make a fuss at the time although under normal circumstances I would have raised hell. I emailed them my dissatisfaction when I got home but they haven't bothered replying. They are not the same Alpine we used to enjoy and we shan't be going there again.