Octopus Restaurant — Restaurant in St Peter Port

This is probably the most in-depth review of a restaurant I've ever written:

The food was good to great. We had a couple of oysters each as starters which were presented nicely. We also shared a 'hot seafood pot speciality' of half a lobster and crab, along with some sides of 'rosemary potatoes' and asparagus. The decor of the restaurant is great. The location is good.

So, why two stars? Everything else about the place is really strange.

We have visited at a time when most of the restaurants in Guernsey are struggling to find enough staff, so I won't be too tough on the service, but small errors like not giving us all the menus (no drinks or specials menus until we requested them) and taking a long time to serve our drinks were noted, and service issues seem to be the main complaint of other negative reviews.

The menu is, to me, a bit weird. It's stated on the menu that they're keen to offer a varied selection of dishes. But take a look and see if you can find a starter/main combo easily that seems like it'd be the best of what a premium priced restaurant would offer. It took us a bit of headscratching to settle on a good combo. There's ramen and burgers and mussels and steak and crab and chili beef and a croque monsieur and a slice of fried foie gras all on the same menu. Perhaps this works for other people.

For our main we ordered a sharing dish, two sides and some bread. The table was almost too small to accommodate this, which the waiters found frustrating. We were given plastic bibs to wear, which I think is meant to be playful, but undercuts some of the premium feel of the place. We had two courses and two drinks each and the bill was £100 - which feels at odds with plastic bibs. Also, if you're going to give us bibs to wear maybe go all in and give us some actually useful handwipes or something as we're dealing with lobster and crab shells...?

The main was a large, hot pan of mixed seafood with some vegetables served in a delicious broth. Moules, prawns, lobster, crab and a couple of scallops, alongside some potatoes and other veg cooked in a wine sauce - really delicious. I find it odd that the pan served at the table (as well as the plate the meagre asparagus portion was served on) was rip-roaring hot, as this means your food continues to cook as you eat. But in general it was delicious. The side of rosemary potatoes was very small and unremarkable - I wouldn't have picked out rosemary if I didn't know.

We ordered some bread to dip into the delicious sauce (as you would with a moules sauce, for example). What I can only describe as half a handful of bread cost £4 per basket. We ordered two lots of this, and the waiter simply plonked the wooden board baring the second smear of butter on top of the first one. Insanely expensive compared to other dishes we ordered and very mean in a town where every restaurant has amazing bread and butter game.

Beyond all of this though - THE FLIES! As you can imagine with the dish I've mentioned above (and the bibs!) it was quite a 'hands on' eating experience. Unfortunately we weren't dining alone - as we ate it became apparent that our table was swamped with flies, constantly after our bread or seafood, and they needed constant shooing. Persistent and numerous. Upon mentioning this to the waiter at the end of the meal he said "Oh, sorry, that's why we have the rosemary out - to help with the flies.", and pointed at two small glasses filled with fresh rosemary flanking just our table, no others.

I would question the thinking of any restaurant that has a 'fly table' with such an issue that they opt for rosemary defences instead of just... You know... Not seating people at that table? Other tables were available... Or just don't give us the booking? Truly bizarre.

So overall: Nice food, weird choices, double check you're not being given the fly table. Thank you for coming to...

Although we pre ordered Octopus managed to mess up the order. One person ordered steak, cauliflower cheese and chunky chips, after requesting these three times they finally arrived, his STEAK WAS NOW COLD, they said they would not charge for the steak but as we were a large party I bet we were. My wife and I ordered a dessert, which never arrived, I bet these were also on the bill. I ordered a carribean coffee, the staff asked what's that, I said like a Irish coffee but made with Tia Maria, they brought me a Tia Marie when I pointed out what I had order they than brought me two carribean coffees. I said to the bill payer to check the bill, he said as we were a large party he would not, but he would let anyone that asked he would not recommend it. Oh one more thing, the restaurant was advice several hours prior to our visit that one person could not make it, yet they still brought out their starter. I bet this was also charged on the bill I've given it one star as I can't give no stars as this option is...

First time we went there (friday 13 aug, 12pm): food was superb as you can tell from the pictures!! staff was patient and friendly even though they are short staffed.

Second time (monday 16aug, 12:30pm): We wanted to end our trip with good food but was denied a table from the hostess because they were short staffed. I don't mind waiting for awhile because the food is that worth waiting. I just felt disappointed and upset because we asked questions but the hostess wasn't even listening and was just answering anyhow to shut us up (her answers didn't even make sense). Eg. Qn: 'So you guys have so many empty tables and still understaffed?' Ans: 'I understand' ?????? We were curious as there was barely anyone in the restaurant ordering food but so many people ordering drinks? You would rather serve people who only order drinks than to serve people who would order food and spend more.

All in all, it's a gamble whether I would go back to eat here. Maybe only if the hostess wasn't working...