Today was a glorious Autumn Sunday in London - possibly our last for 2008 - & everyone was out & about making the most of the city, with smiles as bright as the sunshine. That's everyone except the staff at The Engineer, who were grumpy, rude & contemptuous.

We had a booking for 12, but split into a table of 6 and of 4 as requested - they don't do bookings for 10+. The waitress 'looking after us' told us their kitchen can't handle tables larger than 6.

Our plan was to enjoy the garden, eat a yummy lunch (which it was), and share quite a few drinks with some friends but the staff seemed intent on making sure that didn't happen - we were sick of the treatment so left as soon as we'd finished lunch to go to another pub nearby for a few more drinks.

The staff here don't understand the hospitality business. They were anything but hospitable. I won't come back or recommend it.