The Loft — Restaurant in St. Brelade

We were motivated to support a local smaller business, after seeing the owner being interviewed on the local news.

We (3 diners) visited on Thurs 30 Jan for dinner. There were only 4 other tables occupied with approx. 7 people in total dining.

We had a table, towards the back of the restaurant, on the righthand side. There appeared to be no heating and the ambient temperature was cold.

We were provided with water glasses, one of these were chipped.

We ordered garlic bread and olives to share, which arrived in good time. Our plates were cleared and we then waited a considerable amount of time approx. 20-30 mins for 2 of the pizzas to arrive. We started sharing these as it was taking sometime for the last meal, Aubergine Parmigiana, to be served. We were half way through the Pizzas and then got up to remind them that we were still waiting for the last meal. They pointed to the oven and advised this was being cooked freshly. At no prior point was this mentioned e.g. on the menu or by the waitress. It did appear that this had not been prioritised in the preparation and delivery. In addition to this, it did appear that take-aways pizzas approx. 5 or 6, were given priority which further delayed the delivery of our food.

A table for 2 people came in whilst we were finishing our garlic bread and their pizzas arrived before ours.

There appeared to only be 1 Chef and 1 Kitchen Porter, who was out for a period of time. How do you cope when the restaurant is full?

We were also thrown by the restaurant menu, not being aligned to the website menu. Online we had identified Garlic Focaccia; Olives and Focaccia – however we did not see these offered on the restaurant menu. Both the restaurant and online menu is confusing for Vegetarians. The G.O.A.T. Pizza and Ortolana pizza does not state ‘Vegetarian’ however when we queried with Italian Restaurant Manager, she confirmed they were suitable for Vegetarians.

The overall experience, and atmosphere of the restaurant, was poor and would not encourage us to revisit or recommend to others. The staff do not appear to be fully engaged and we did not feel welcomed, or, that our custom was appreciated. The background music, especially towards the end of the meal was not conducive. To be fair to The Loft, we did not raised all these concerns, whilst we were in the restaurant.

I did think the G.O.A.T. pizza and Rocket, Parmesan & Balsamic salad were the best part of the meal and were tasty.

In view of the delays, the chef did kindly provide a complimentary Tiramisu for the 3 of us to share, which was appreciated.

I trust this assists.

I cannot select the dishes we ordered below, as they are not showing and we did not order the Vegan Margherita Pizza. However, they are...

Good location and great in warmer months if sitting outside ..but.. inside it's a narrow space that would be difficult to navigate with a buggy/smaller children, wheelchair or walker, especially if busy. We went for a family lunch. Staff are friendly and helpful, but unlike the Harbour Gallery which has a great atmosphere it felt like a generic chain coffee shop. I was really disappointed with the lack of choice on the menu..just 3/4 choices of pizza and a very few other options..some basic tapas type starters, then the pizzas, garlic bread, dough balls and a small side salad. The pizzas were tasty and thin crust..I had so little choice that I opted for 5 king prawn in garlic butter on a couple of lettuce leaves which was the same size but twice as expensive as a starter at Beach Club. And at least there I could have ordered rice/sticky rice, roasted veggies or 3 types of fries..NOTHING but a side salad at the Loft. If u want limited choice of pizza, or coffeshop with cakes it is fine, but the owner needs to choose if just a coffee shop (and with Nude sadly no longer here) widen their menu to include smoothies, freshly squeezed juice, more savoury coffeshop options, museli/healthy porridge/soups or become an excellent Pizza parlour with coffe/cake options. Their pizzas are good and with a evening delivery driver and more choice of toppings, the owner would clean up as Pizza Express don't deliver..only On the Rails! Smaller, outside foodhuts like Kismet offer better, more choice of seasonal food and it's a tough world in Hospitality right now! Tried it..wish them well, but better places to eat if not coffee...

We booked a table for six, but unfortunately, only three of us were able to come. When we arrived, we informed the lady with short hair, named Isabela, about the change, and she got upset that we hadn’t called in advance. I acknowledge that part was our fault.

She then removed a table to separate it from ours, so the table initially set for six became a table for four. Shortly after, two Korean (?) girls who had been seated outside were moved to the table she had taken from us. Clearly, the restaurant was still able to use that table for other customers.

When we asked for tap water, she made a face of disappointment—even though we had ordered drinks (two coffees and a matcha).

When we asked for the bill, there was a £20 service charge—she charged us for the reservation for six! But they had already used the table for other customers. After the two girls left, an elderly couple was seated at that same table beside us. So why did she still want to charge us? The table was occupied by other customers the entire time!

We complained about the service charge, and she eventually removed it and adjusted the bill.

To the owner – Check the cameras to see that we’re telling the truth. The service was awful, which is a shame because this was our third visit since discovering the place in November last year.

The food and drinks were great but after this experience, we won’t be dining in again because of that particular lady. Was her attitude toward us because...