Poor service at Jamie's

It is one of the capital's most talked-about restaurants, and if you want to book a table for a Saturday night you will have to wait well into next year.

However, an influential new survey today names Jamie Oliver's award-winning Fifteen - opened to give underprivileged youngsters the chance to forge a career as chefs - as one of the worst of London's high-profile restaurants for service and value for money.

A string of fashionable restaurants are condemned for failings including snooty staff, slow service and high prices in the survey of more than 8,000 readers of Square Meal magazine.

They include Hakkasan, the West End Cantonese restaurant opened in 2001 by Wagamama owner Alan Yau. Hakkasan enjoys a reputation for modern ambience with its subterranean, dimly-lit atmosphere and designer-clad staff, and is the only Cantonese restaurant to have achieved a Michelin star. But it has obviously failed to impress some diners.

Beach Blanket Babylon in Notting Hill, Hush in Belgravia, and Bam-bou in Bloomsbury are also singled out for criticism.

The service at Fifteen, which Oliver opened in Shoreditch just over a year ago, is described as "slow and chaotic". The food, though highly praised by restaurant critics, is deemed far too expensive.

One diner experienced what he claimed was "unbelievably rude service all round - surly manager, ordinary food and uncomfortable seating". Another said: "Worst restaurant I've been to. Outrageously over-priced. We've had better food at Caffé Uno."

While trendy restaurants were savaged for their standards of service, older and more traditional establishments were praised for their efficiency, manners and attentiveness to customers. Le Caprice in SW1, The Square in Mayfair, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, Orrery in Marylebone and Le Gavroche in Upper Brook Street were all praised for the high-quality food that was complemented by the service.

Square Meal's editor Gaby Huddart said: "More established restaurants probably benefit from the experience of their staff. Le Caprice and Le Gavroche have people who have worked there for decades. Younger, funkier restaurants perhaps don't emphasise old-fashioned service in the same way.

"We've got page after page of complaints about Fifteen. It's a shame because I genuinely believe Jamie's heart is in the right place. People are going with high expectations and a meal there is not cheap - a main course can cost £27. For that they expect good-quality food and service.