1864 Rooftop Bar, 1864 Rooftop Bar

Booked an outside table online as Willows advertises a 'heated roof terrace'. Arrived at the specified time and we were directed to an empty table in a corner with no heater, despite there being lots of empty tables with heaters seemingly available (the heaters were the plug in type that you can move around). When we tried to move across to an empty table with heater, staff told us the tables had been booked online. We expressed we'd also booked ahead online, and asked why we couldn't have a heater. Staff told us the tables with heaters had been booked by customers who had attended previously and knew to specifically ask for a heater. I explained there was no option to select 'heater' when booking online, to which the staff member replied that you have to write in the comment box that you want a heater at the time of booking. I said there were no instructions for this, and the staff member said "people who have been here before just know". So essentially, we were being penalised for being new to the venue and not being aware of this 'secret hack'. I asked if we could just move one of the heaters that wasn't being used to the table they wanted us to sit at - my question was ignored whilst Willows colleagues insisted we couldn't sit at the desired table. We then asked if we could at least have blankets (as many of the other guests had blankets at outdoor tables), to which the reply from Willows staff was "if you can find them on the empty tables you can take them". Luckily, I was able to find a couple of blankets as it was extremely cold. The final punchline? The free table with the heater sat empty for over 45 minutes whilst we had our drinks in our cold corner, with the heater gently warming nobody... We just had to laugh! I have given 2 stars because the drinks were nice and the atmosphere was pretty - but clearly if you aren't a regular guest you can't guarantee you'll be treated nicely here. Top tip! Don't forget to request a heater! Though, as Willows staff reminded us they 'don't guarantee a heater' - and they can't bring any additional ones up on the roof because they said "everything will fall down"; it was like a comedy show. One could argue that if the structural integrity of the roof is compromised by a couple of extra plug in heaters that's a separate issue altogether!

Food is bad. Service equally poor. Good setting but very weather dependent. The chicken skewers are dry had it not been for the sauce, burnt ends are burnt but not in the way you would like and really dry and would benefit from sauce and shorter cooking time.