Bar + Block Steakhouse Belfast — Restaurant in Belfast

I rarely leave reviews, but unfortunately, I feel compelled to share my experience. We chose Bar and Block to celebrate mine and my sister's birthday, booking in advance for a party of 20. The booking process was smooth, we were able to book 2 tables for 12 and for 8 people. However, the day before our reservation, we received a rude and abrupt call informing us that our group would be split across the restaurant, with one seating at 5 PM and the other no earlier than 5:15 PM. We were happy enough with this but we felt the tone and attitude down the phone was concerning.

When we arrived, the restaurant was barely a fifth full, with plenty of empty tables. Some of our guests were running a bit late, and at 5:10 PM we were told that if they didn’t arrive by 5:15 PM, we’d lose the second table—despite being told beforehand that 5:15 was the expected arrival time. This added unnecessary stress, but we remained flexible and decided to fit around one table, as a few guests couldn’t make it. Incredibly, the table we were pressured into forfeiting remained empty the entire time we were there, as did several others around it.

Once seated, we were repeatedly told we were “extremely late,” even though we were not. This created a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere. The service was chaotic, with drinks taking 45 minutes to an hour when ordered from the bar, and around 30 minutes when ordered at the table - on two occasions drinks were not written down and therefore never came. Throughout our time there we had one particular waiter that just treated us as though we were a completely inconvenience.

By 7:20 PM, we were told we would need to vacate our table by 7:30 PM—even though the restaurant was still half empty. However, given the stressful service, we were ready to leave by then anyway.

The final blow was when we were told the entire £450 bill had to be paid on one card, with no option to split the payment even between a few cards, which is ridiculous for a large group. We sorted this by transferring to one card before payment - but we were rushed with this.

It's unfortunate because the food and cocktails were genuinely good, but the poor service overshadowed the entire experience. It’s evident the staff were under a lot of pressure, but that does not excuse the lack of basic customer service. As a group of 15, we spent a considerable amount of money, yet left feeling undervalued and frustrated. It was everyone’s first time there, and unfortunately, none of us will be returning. If you can’t cater for a large group then don’t take large...

I would not recommend the Belfast restaurant for a large group. I booked boozy brunch 3 months in advance for a group of 19 for a hen party. Poor communication from the restaurant leading up to the booking, with myself and another member of the party calling, emailing and going in person to ask if they needed our dishes pre-ordered, with no actual form sent by the restaurant, resulting in massive delay on the day.

Due to lack of communication from the restaurant, we were unaware until arrival that the entire party had to order from the 2-hour boozy brunch menu, despite several of our group being non-drinkers. The only non-alcoholic option was 0% beer and we weren't allowed to order soft drinks instead of alcohol, unless we paid for these drinks on top of the pre-set price.

There was only one member of staff on the bar despite the fact it was a Saturday afternoon and I saw at least one or two other hen groups in the restaurant. Also not enough waiting staff. We waited nearly an hour for our first drinks to come out and a lot of the party did not get their 5 drinks included in the price due to incredibly long wait for them to be made up. The serving staff we interacted with were very polite, and I want to give a special mention to Lauren, who was very pleasant and apologetic, but there simply were not enough staff on to manage our table.

The cocktails that did come were good, but I would never book a table here again and would not return or recommend it to anyone I know. There seems to be a serious issue with management of the bar, and how they communicate with bookings and plan staffing levels. Very disappointing and it made what was supposed to be a fun group meal into a stressful situation.

I came here when it first opened and had very slow service, but hoped this was due to teething problems for a newly opened spot post lockdown. Unfortunately there seems to have been no...

Do not recommend! We were staying in the hotel and thought the onsite restaurant looked very nice, so wanted to give it a try on our last night. I entered the restaurant late afternoon to see if we needed to book for that evening. I approached a member of staff behind the bar who advised me to head to the check-in desk in the bar as he didn’t think walk-ins would be possible.

I proceeded to wait at the desk and waited quite a while. There were 7 members of staff around and not one acknowledged us or chased up someone to help us. Eventually someone came over and said they would have to go and check if we could book in as they were so busy. After a few minutes the staff member returned and confirmed we were booked in for 18:00, great! We would give them the benefit of the doubt as the food/drink looked good.

We arrived back at the restaurant at 18:00 and again waited a while to be seated. Once seated we constantly had to get staff’s attention to be served. The restaurant remained around half empty the whole time we were there. The member of staff who mainly served us was miserable, hard work and completely uninterested. The food was mediocre. At the end of our meal one of our party ordered a calypso coffee. 15 minutes later we had to chase it up, the member of staff then came back to us and said “Oh we don’t do those” and got her manager to issue us a refund.

When the manager came over to issue the refund we asked why the item is on the menu if you do not offer it. She then said “Oh we do, we just don’t have the cream.” We expressed how disappointed we had been with the service this evening and she could not have been less interested! “I am sorry it ruined your experience.” And just walked off.

Very poor service. The food and drink isn’t worth putting up with it for....