Red Grill House and Cocktail Bar — Restaurant in St Peter Port

We arrived at the restaurant with wine from the upstairs bar and sat down as Rose, our waitress, explained the menu. As we were choosing our food, he arrived—like a character straight out of Fawlty Towers—brandishing his wine list like it was the Holy Grail. With greased-back hair and skinny jeans, he looked like a pushy car salesman. We had already reviewed the list and were about to order a bottle of Douro when he interrupted, “Don’t, I can see you can’t pronounce it!” It was as if we’d thrown down a gauntlet. Apparently, our modest choice of a £30 Portuguese wine wasn’t good enough for him, and his 20-second silence was so theatrical it could have headlined on Broadway. He stared at his wine list as if we’d ordered tap water and asked, “Have you ever drunk Douro before?” We replied, “Of course,” and politely declined his pushy invitation to buy a more expensive bottle. Oh, the tantrum that ensued! Shortly after, he stormed over, snatched my partner’s white wine glass—still with wine in it—and took it to the bar. We exchanged glances like kids caught talking in detention. My partner muttered, “I hadn’t even finished that.” By now, this waiter’s attitude was appalling, so I walked past him to the bar and retrieved the glass, clearly not empty. Apparently, he was peeking through the kitchen door slats, watching where I’d gone. Then, while I was in the toilet, he slunk over to apologize to my partner. The food arrived, and we watched him and his bald-headed colleague, “Do the Sell,” aggressively upsell wine to every table. The only saving graces of this restaurant were Rose, the waitress, and the decent food. We’ve eaten all over the world—from Bermuda to Canada, Greece, Portugal, and Italy—but this mediocre restaurant is being ruined by this vile, arrogant, rude, condescending wannabe. If this were my establishment, he’d be sacked on the spot. Unless, Red, it’s your policy to bully guests into buying overpriced wine—which, had he been polite and engaging, we might have considered. Given the restaurant’s lackluster ambiance, we felt it didn’t warrant a pricier bottle. After his performance, I’m glad we didn’t. He totally ruined what could have been a lovely evening and we couldn’t...

We'd been recommended to eat the steak at Red - as we were only visiting Guernsey for a couple of days, apparently we got lucky and managed to book. Great!! We had trouble getting into Red - we went into the foyer and was greeted by a pair of grey fire doors, the kitchen and stairs - we went upstairs but it was the Red cocktail bar with a private function. Back downstairs and flummoxed - a chef guided us through the unassuming fire doors and into the restaurant - not a good start. Our waiter was very attentive. We ordered a bottle of wine and perused the menu. My wife had the beef wellington and I went for the fillet with garlic prawns. We also ordered a side dish of roughly mashed new potatoes with tarragon butter. My fillet steak was remarkably average and same for the beef wellington - however, the potatoes had been deep fat fried and very crunchy/crispy so no sign of the butter, but some sprigs of tarragon on top. The manager wasn't happy with the kitchen staff going off-track from the menu. The potatoes were deducted from our bill. Red purports to be a swanky steak restaurant, but this time, for us, it fell way short of our expectations - maybe, next time, it'll be 5*, but not for us on our visit - disappointing... PS Macaroni and cheese in a posh restaurant, even with lobster - what's that...

There's always a risk that you enthuse about a place, and then find somewhere even better and have no words....Red is that place!

Here are some words. Just a fabulous experience from start to finish. We were found one of the few remaining seats, sat at the bar, which was a real bonus because we were instantly connected to the bar staff and front of house managers, to whom we started chatting, and who gave us very individual and insightful attention regarding dishes and selecting wine.

We shared 2 starters, which were totally out of this world - scotch egg on a leek base, and chargrilled prawns in a fresh and slightly spiced marinade. We were lured in by the wagyu beef as an entreplat - and we both found it very unpleasant! Not the restaurant's fault at all, but it was just fatty and had lost any flavour of beef!

2 mains- a wicked take on beef Wellington, and monkfish - both of which were again noteworthy, and accompanied by some excellent bases and sides. The sommelier chose the wines for us, and we blee out on cocktails and digestifs as the ambience sucked us in and gave us a truly memorable evening.

It wasn't cheap, but a surprising and amazing gastronomic experience in an excellent restaurant with diverse, interested - they had all eaten the menu dishes - and...