Café On The Pier — Restaurant in Borough of Fylde

Earlier this evening my boyfriend and I tried to give this place some custom... Something we will not be doing again! This was our first trip to the beach since lockdown and we were very excited for it as the seaside is our favourite place and we have missed it so much. There's nothing better than fish and chips and ice cream on the seafront - whatever the weather! So we were delighted to see that we could get both of these things right next door to eachother! So as we headed to the chippy we enquired about what time they were closing as we wanted to get some ice-cream for dessert. They told us between 5.30-6pm. So we went next door, walked into the chippy to order with no problems and enjoyed our chips on a nearby bench. At around 5.15pm we went to the cafe and the sign said 'OPEN', we couldn't see any other customers inside (ensuring we were able to abide by social distancing guidelines) so we went in. Which is when we were met by a woman who shot up from her chair where she was having a chinwag with a gentleman and abruptly shouted at us as she flew in our direction 'ERM EXCUSE ME, WE ARE COVID-19, NOT COME INSIDE'. Besides the fact that what she had said made absolutley no sense, the disgusting tone in which she spat these words was unacceptable and shocking. I replied and said to her 'Oh I'm sorry, the sign on the door says open', she then proceeded to chase us out of the door which she slammed behind us and flung the sign around to display the 'CLOSED' side and stormed off. Whilst I understand that this particular cafe may not be allowing people to come inside to order, there was absolutley no indication of that, no signs on the door and no mention of this when we previously enquired about closing times. There was nobody manning the door to explain that we couldn't go in or how we would purchase anything if that was the case. The sign said 'OPEN' and it was before 5.30pm, the time they specified would be the earliest they closed. We have recently visited a cafe similar to this one where you were able to go inside and order and you just had to take your food away, how were we supposed to know this one was any different?! The branding on the chip shop next door was the same and so we had also assumed it was perhaps the same owner and so it was even less obvious to us that the 'rules' may differ! I don't normally write bad reviews about places but unfortunately for you I have a lot of time due to the current situation and the way this very short encounter left me feeling has played on my mind all evening and frankly, ruined it. Therefore I feel compelled to express my views. I have worked in the hospitality industry for almost 10 years and I have never and would never speak to or treat a customer like this (or any human being outside of work for that matter!). I was also particularly surprised about her revelation 'WE ARE COVID-19' as far as I was aware covid-19 is a virus and not an establishment! However if you are covid-19 you should be very ashamed of yourselves for causing a global pandemic! Luckily for me we nipped into M&S round the corner a few hours afterwards and the gentleman that served us on the till was an absolute delight, cheery and smiley and even sang a little song as he scanned our items and then made pleasant conversation with us as we were packing our shopping. This lovely man and his wonderful service cheered me up! So I am now going to contact M&S writing a lovely review about this charming employee as deserved!

I would very much appreciate a response to this, although I imagine if that ill mannered woman is the owner then I won't get one and certainly won't get an apology as she had absolutley no people skills...

Do not even waste your money OR time queuing for the fish and chips here, i wouldn’t even feed it to my dog. In a nutshell it was absolutely REVOLTING. If you want the long version then continue reading below ⬇️

It cost me £26 for 2 bottles of water, 1 portion of fish, chips, mushy peas & curry sauce and 1 kids portion of chips & sausage.

Both bottles of water were warm. The portions were tiny compared to other chippy portions. I couldn’t believe it for the price.

When i opened the tray, they had slapped mushy peas and curry sauce just all over the chips (im not sure in what order as the peas and curry sauce almost looked the same colour so it was hard to tell what i was even eating at what stage) it was watery and almost leaking out of the tray, then the fish had just been slapped on top.

They didn’t consider to put forks in the trays and they wouldn’t pass them through the windows so i had to line back up to get a fork, which then i realised my food will be cold if i queue back up again, after already queuing for about 25 minutes, therefore, i started eating the food with my hands.

As i start digging, i realised why the sauce covered all the chips as they were not even edible. The majority of the chips were raw. Even my hungry 4 yr old said the chips are yuck and refused to eat them.

The fish tasted off and it actually made me feel sick after i’d eaten it.

Yes, it was a busy day given the weather we’ve had, but there’s actually no excuse for SELLING people food of this standard, especially when it was double the price of any other chippy i’ve literally ever been to!!!

I wish i’d taken a photo of the food to show anyone reading how terrible it actually was, but i was too busy looking for the nearest bin to even consider it.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS. You will be better off walking to any other chippy in the area, not waiting in a half an hour queue, spending 50% less for better quality food, bigger portions and not potentially getting...

Not very disabled friendly. If you are on a mobility scooter the only accessible door into the cafe is via the side door situated inside the pier. This door leads directly into the seating area so if you are able to walk a short distance you don't have to walk too far. Unfortunately the very rude 'jobs worth' security manager on the pier won't allow you to park your scooter anywhere near this door. As the inside of the cafe is cramped there is very little room to manoeuvre even a small scooter around the tables and chairs so in order to join his family for a meal my husband had no alternative but to leave his scooter outside the front entrance and struggle to walk, with my help, the full length of the cafe where the seating area is situated. Once seated it wasn't a very pleasurable experience as we had to wait 50 minutes for our food and it wasn't even busy. I suspect they had lost our orders as after noticing that other customers who had ordered after us were receiving their meals I went to the counter to enquire how much longer we would have to wait and within ten minutes our meals arrived. Mistakes happen I know and I am fairly tolerent but the senior counter staff were abrupt, rude and surly which spoilt what could have been a very nice place to enjoy our meal. They have a prime position with lovely views of the beach which is wasted on some of the people who work there. I would have thought that in the current cost of living crisis they would want returning customers but I get the impression they just don't care. I'd like to say that today was perhaps an off day but I have been before and the same staff were just as rude and abrupt. After giving them a second chance we won't be repeating the experience as fortunately they aren't the only eating establishment...