I went for lunch to the new Motcombs in St Johns Wood yesterday with my best client. I was so excited, as I have been a fan of Motcombs Belgravia for many, many years and have never had a bad experience.

I booked a table for noon, we normally eat at the IVY St Johns Wood, as it never fails to deliver. It was not busy when we arrived with chaotic staff looking like they were waiting to be instructed on what to do. We were shown to a table and given menus, no welcome, good to have you here.

We ordered a bottle of Malbec and water for the table. Three different waitresses brought three different wines asking, is this what you ordered? Finally the Malbec arrived but the poor waitress could not get the cork out of the bottle, so my client, an expert, helped her because she had not done it before. The menu is not extensive and as a vegan, it is pretty much non existent. The starters arrived and mine, the picture in this snoop, was pathetic, expensive and not edible. The guacamole was dark, almost going off and the chopped onion and celery, not fresh with a big handful of crisps plonked on top. The waitress then poured the wine without asking if we wanted to taste it and the bread finally arrived, after we had finished trying to eat the starters.

My clients fish main course was cold, the chips were cold and flaccid, and my main course looked like something a very young child would create at school in their first cooking lesson, cold raw cabbage parcels covered in a cold tomato sauce from a jar. It was just not possible to eat. Both dishes and the chips were sent back. The starters are not cheap, around £19. We decided to abort the lunch, after being offered the chance to try something else by the manager from what Gordan Ramsey would call, the kitchen from hell.

Our predicament was poorly handled by the manager, who explained that the restaurant was experiencing staffing and teething issues. He continued to offer complimentary ice cream, instead of simply apologising and comping the food because we hadn't eaten it. After some resistance from me, he did remove a few items from the bill, and we headed across the street to the devoted Ivy for dessert, which was, as usual, excellent.

I'm writing this snoop because Motcombs' management needs to resolve issue as soon as possible if they hope to move forward. I would regrettably never return because it was so awful. What a shame I hope they get their act together and hire some experienced staff who know how to create a fantastic experience for every customer, including normally faithful ones, like me. I accept new restaurants may take time to settle in but Motcombs are experienced and experts at getting things right, so this for me is not acceptable.