Quayside Bistro & Grill — Restaurant in St. Helier

We returned to Quayside after our last visit left us impressed with its welcome, hospitality, decorum, menu selections and quality.

The table for two was booked as a birthday meal, made known at the time of booking.

We arrived 5-10 minutes early only to be greeted rudely, not as valued customers but as though we were plumbers called back to fix a leaky toilet.

The member of staff challenged our early arrival by telling us that the staff were having a break.  It was only when I replied "and what would you like me to do" that we were offered a table and a menu while the crew prepared themselves for service.  Not a good start to a birthday meal.

The starter selection was a crab salad for both of us. The crab was pleasant but I would hardly describe two pea shoots and two sliced cherry tomatoes a "salad"

My choice for the main course was a fish pie. This had been described as a medley of diced cod, lobster, crab, mushrooms and egg with mashed potato and grated cheese.

What was presented contained 4 small prawns, dissolved crab meat and no detectable sign of FISH only an abundance of mash, mushrooms, egg white and sauce. I left half of the creation having given up searching for fish evidence.

There was a supposèd 'discretionary 10% service charge included' mentioned at the bottom of the menu, needless to say I insisted that this was removed as it would have been an insult. The cost of the fishpie was removed from the bill. But that doesn't help when the occasion was ruined by poor service and cuisine.

On the plus side (although it didn't feel appropriate given the disaster of a birthday meal) there was the gesture of a crème bruleé with raspberry compote and shortbread finger with happy birthdaywritten on the plate.

For a restaurant proporting finesse of cuisine I certainly didn't expect a packet shortbread finger and prepared desert with no freshly torched glaze.

But it almost brought a smile to my face as this summed up this FINAL visit to a restaurant that was once the best.

Please read my other reviews where I'm a happy diner and...

Honestly this is a review of two halves. Let’s start with the positives - the food was incredible, some of the tastiest food and wine we have had anywhere in the world. The seafood was exquisite and the wine wonderful.

Sadly that’s where our praises must stop. The feeling of resentment from the serving team began from the minute we arrived and lasted til the minute we left.

On arrival we were (not) greeted by the manager who could not have been less pleased to see us arrive for our booking. We were then seated directly behind a large dinner party and clearly in the way of a walkway. We asked if we could move but this was refused (irony being that then a pushchair tried to get past and was bashed into our chairs).

It took an age to order and no drinks order was taken until we added it to the food order. We did not have a consistent server whereas other tables clearly had a consistent staff member plus a sommelier. In a restaurant that places its self at the high end and a high price point you’d typically have your wine poured, but this didn’t happen for us (unlike other tables). After we finished our mains and the plates were begrudgingly cleared we waited 30 mins to be offered a desert menu, we declined and requested the bill.

We asked for the service charge to be removed, this in most establishments would cause a query of ‘was everything ok’ not here, they clearly do not care.

From our experience if you are a local or regular it’s likely you’ll receive preferential service. If you are not then it matters not what you have to spend.

As we left the manager who we had watched warmly greet and wave off many other customers barely lifted his head.

The food was 10/10, the service barely scraped a 2/10. If you are not a local avoid this place like the plague. Sadly even the top notch food could not redeem the terrible attitude...

We visited here (and made a note on the booking) that it was for our anniversary meal. Not that there HAS to be, but there was no acknowledgment of our celebration, which would have been a nice touch.

The decor is beautiful and had a warm, cosy feel but sadly the staff did not match the high quality interior and came across cold and rude.

We were in the first evening slot of 6pm. It took a while for staff to bring menus and when we asked what the local fish of the day was, the waitress sighed and abruptly said ‘can’t have it today.’

This was just the first instance of many where staff made us feel like we were an inconvenience for dining in the restaurant. Zero interactions once they’d put the food down until they collected the plates, and noticed some of the staff were huffing when walking between tables too.

I asked if we could please have some tap water for the table (other tables were given some without having to ask) and they did not bring it over until I asked again. Meanwhile, a table next to us received complimentary champagne and a plate with a selection of breads (we received one small roll each), no idea what the difference was.

We ordered the tempura prawns and calamari to start which were both very good portions for starters. For mains, we ordered pan-fried salmon and the pan-fried sea bass, both of which were tasty and fresh. For dessert, we ordered the chocolate torte and the crème brûlée. Both were nice and light.

WC needs some work and the lock was loose in one stall in the ladies.

Once we’d paid the bill, there was no acknowledgment as we left, not even a smile or goodbye as we said ‘thank you’ on our way out.

Unfortunately, the service was so poor it would mean I’d never go back, despite the pretty decor and tasty food. Such a disappointment as a...