How the waitlist works

What being on it means

That your name, your telephone number, the day, the time and the size of your party are on a list that Priya works through in order when something frees up. That is all it means, and it is worth saying plainly because a waitlist presented as a booking is the most common quiet lie on a restaurant website.

When it actually moves

On the day itself, and mostly in the afternoon. Cancellations at five o'clock are common — people's plans change, somebody is ill, a train is cancelled — and cancellations at eight o'clock are not, because by then the person has either come or has not. So if you are on the list for a Saturday evening, the call, if it comes, will usually come between four and six.

You will hear either way

Including when the answer is no. A list you are on and never hear about again is worse than no list, because you have spent the week half-planning an evening. If we get to the afternoon and cannot see a way to seat you, we will say so while you can still make another plan.

What to do instead of waiting

• Take the earlier time. Six o'clock on a Saturday is a genuinely better meal than eight thirty — the kitchen is fresh and the room is calm.
• Come to the bar. Twelve seats, never reservable, full menu while the kitchen is on. The bar.
• Move a day. The same table at the same time on a Thursday is nearly always free, and it is the same food.