This was my second visit to Imm and it will be my last.
The first time, on a weekend, it was fairly empty but the food was pretty good so I thought I'd introduce my partner to it. We planned to go after a meeting....When this meeting ran much later than expected, I rang Imm at 9:14pm to assess the feasiblity of still going since I had read that they closed at 10pm. The man I spoke to said that, after 9:30pm, they only did takeaway. I specifically asked if that meant the restaurant was now closed to walk-in diners and, as such, we shouldn't bother going. He said, if we got there soon we could still dine in. We arrived at 9:21pm.
Upon arrival, the man we met (don't think it was the person who answered the phone, but I could be wrong, as there appeared to be 2 male waitstaff there), told us that as the kitchen was closing soon we'd have to order everything at once. This actually didn't bother us as we usually eat Thai that way.
However, as we sat down, he made a point of stressing that the restaurant shut at 10pm. I asked whether that meant we would be kicked out of the restaurant at 10pm even if we hadn't finished our food ... which I estimated we might not receive until around 9:40 giving us a strict countdown in which to shovel food into our mouths as quickly as possible. Clearly with the restaurant being empty (one table of 4, ready to pay), the staff didn't want to be inconvenienced with additional business which might keep them slightly beyond their posted closing hours.
Given how unwelcome he made us feel, we decided to leave and eat elsewhere earby. With this lack of customer service, no wonder Imm was empty both times I visited -something which appears not to have been just my experience. I have read other reviews saying they were "surprised" Imm was empty. Given this expereince, I am not.
I note we went a few doors up the block where we ordered food by 9:35pm and incidentally finished our meal and left by 10:15pm... We didn't plan to loiter for ages at the table. We just didn't want to have a metaphorical gun to our head to finish super quickly. The other restaurant made us feel welcome, even at the late hour, while Imm made us feel like pests.
I used to own one of North London's top restaurants so I say the above as someone with significant industry experience and empathy. I "get" that staff don't want to stay very late for a few new customers but allowing a mindset of "we're chucking you out at exactly 10pm" is bad customer service. At my restaurant, and many others I've eaten in, there is usually a grace period for closing times. It's not like Sunday trading hours where by law you have to close at a certain time.
Had the waiter said, "Just to remind you we close at 10pm so, whilst we can stay open a bit longer so you can finish you meal without undue rushing, please be aware we can probably only extend this a little while for you", we would totally have understaood and been ok with this. Equally ok would've been them saying "... we can only extend our closing to XX:XX time." I do wonder if their rigidness with the closing time would’ve been the same if the restaurant had been more full...
Alternatively, when I called, they could also have discouraged us from going in at all if they plan to have a rigid 10pm closing time. Arriving before their 9:30pm switch to takeway only and within 7 minutes of my phone call qualifies as "soon" and should've entitled us to a pleasant dine-in experience.
Being so dismissive of customers tells me the restaurant doesn't value them, an attitude which may show itself in other areas.
And, in so doing, they are dooming their restaurant's success. After all, "A happy customer tells a friend; an unhappy customer tells the world.”More
