Oyster Box — Restaurant in St. Brelade

Im normally generous and forgiving with my meals and reviews. On this occasion, I did something Ive never done - I sent the Bisque back to the kitchen based on quality. It tasted like burnt prawn eyes, blended with stale chewy bread - not surprising given that they charge 5.95 for a basket of bread rather than welcoming their guests with a complimentary roll.

The service was fragmented and confused - it was a different server ever time. The Maitre 'De offered an alternative starter, whilst another sever delivered my main before the replacement starter. I was given a butter knife for the lamb, which was later replaced with a steak knife. My wine was forgotten altogether. I dont believe it was just me that received bad service - the table alongside received the wrong order, whilst on the other side, they were seated before me but received their starters after I had tasted, complained and returned mine.

The lamb dish was interesting - each element was well executed, but none of the 3 main elements should have been on the same plate. Too many contrasting flavours. The same can be said of the scallops that arrived after the main - the scallops were beatifully caramelised, but there were too many flavours on the plate. Take one thing off.

What really annoyed me was that the premises are tastefully decorated with a blue and white theme - which made it very very obvious that most of the serving staffs shirts were a dull, unwashed grey. A simple point that establishes the credibility of the establishment.

For the elevated prices, I would suggest finding somewhere else to dine. The Oyster Box doesnt deliver on either quality or dining experience. The establishment next door delivers a much better experience.

Perhaps in closing I should acknowledge that I have sent something back to the kitchen before - a raw half chicken. But on this occasion, the only item worth eating were the beautifully caramelised scallops - albiet with one less element on the plate.

And thank you to the staff for discounting...

The oyster box was at best average on overall food quality. Friendly professional staff meet and greet at the entrance to this glass fronted beach beach restaurant, and it was fairly busy on Saturday night.

Tips for staff are mentioned on the top of the menu. Apparently they all get paid well (a living wage) so you don't need to tip? Not sure what the message meant but it's probably an attempt to justify the high prices that are now unavoidable as one no longer has the option to reduce the bill by taking off service...

Food was okay, but definitely overpriced unless you choose the very limited market menu. Main courses were more like half courses as they came bare just protein and garnish. One needs to pay extra for all the sides at £6 a pop, and you need at least two to make it a main course.

You get no bread here either unless you pay for it, which is a shame for a restaurant that charges such high prices.

My rabbit starter pasta was nice, but I doubt the pasta was made in house. Mussels for the main course were a bit salty and some were under cooked, but the dish was okay (no bread or chips) £24 mussels main!!

Dessert of rice pudding was unfortunately undercooked. The rice was hard and not creamy at all, a tin of ambrosia creamed rice would have tasted better, but the sorbet it came with was very good and tasted home made.

The restaurant is perfect for visiting the area and is located with magnificent bay and sea views. There is easy parking and access. The wine list was short and had only a small selection starting at around £26 a bottle.

Overall we left underwhelmed so would find it hard to recommend as there are better choices elsewhere and inside some of...

Awful service, awful attitude and horrific manners. My fiancé and I strolled down to the Oyster Box to share a bottle of champagne to celebrate our annniversary outside. We were told by a waitress that the outdoors is open for drinks only and no food, which was great as it was 430pm and we didn’t want to eat yet. We sat next to a table of ladies who were drinking a bottle of wine served by the oyster box. After sitting for around 10 minutes without any service, my fiancé went inside to ask for a drinks menu. He was then told they weren’t serving people who weren’t dining with them. After coming back outside and finding the ladies next to us werent dining at the oyster box, my fiancé went inside again to question the manager. The manager was so rude to us both, he told us that his final decision was not to serve us, he said that they were too busy preparing for tonight (the restaurant didn’t open for dinner for another 2 hours and it was completely empty) to serve us drinks, even though they had served the party next to us. I go to the oyster box nearly every week with my dad for drinks +/- dinner, and they have never refused us drinks. After telling him that I thought this was baffling, he scoffed in my face and told me it was his final decision and that we would not be served. He never apologised, he never gave an explanation, all he did was scoff and encourage us “I hope you write an awful review”. I will never be returning. I have never experienced such a rude encounter with the manager at such a ‘lovely’ restaurant. such a shame because i have lovely memories with my family at the oyster box but unfortunately this man has...