Not as good as it should be

Went to VT with 5 friends last night, and I was very disappointed with both the food and the service.

The place had a number of customers, but wasn't heaving in any sense of the word. Meaning, it wasn't that busy. Despite that, we had to wait upwards of 45 minutes for our starter platter of 5 spreads and some pitta. Drinks also took 15 minutes, with subsequent refill orders being forgotten as soon as the waitress walked away, requiring re-ordering 10 minutes later.

I didn't try the dips, but my friends said they were really good.

Our main courses arrived about 25 minutes after we had finished our starters. I originally wanted a vegetable curry, made without hot spices, but was told that they are all pre-made and can't be changed. If things are pre-made, why does it take so long to serve everything?

So I ordered the mushroom burger, and while everyone will have their own tastes, I have to say it was the worst thing I have eaten in a long while. The bean burger was somewhat better, but still not something I would ever order again. The side of potato wedges were also not good, seemingly to have been made from old potatoes, and very under cooked.

Everyone wanted dessert, so we ordered one each of the three desserts they had on offer, the fondant, the carrot cake and the chocolate cake. The fondant was probably the worst, having been made 100% organically (whatever that means) with what ingredients I do not know, and almost everyone around our table agreeing it was terrible. The chocolate cake was only a bit better, but seemed to have been sitting on the counter under a class lid for the majority of the day, judging from it's very dry texture and almost complete lack of taste. Finally, the carrot cake did actually taste like a carrot cake, abet very stodgy and too moist.

So yeah, maybe others will like the taste of the food there, but I would definitely not recommend this place. One of my accompanying friends, who was a frequent customer there, said the bad service was simply because they were not used to or equipped for the level of business they have received since various magazines publishes stories about them. Sorry, but if you put that number of tables in your restaurant, then you should have enough, well trained staff to cater for that many customers. And if you're not ready for the the amount of business that courting the media will generate, don't talk to the press until you are.