BEESES — Restaurant in Bristol

I had heard tell of the riverside bar in it's idyllic setting long before succeeding in finding it open. Our first attempt had fallen amongst the three seasons during which it is annually closed. At the end of last summer however whilst my daughter was staying with us we actually succeed in planning and executing a lovely day of pootling about on the river with an al fresco luncheon at Beeses as its' ultimate destination. A lovely day was indeed had by all concerned but surprisingly the al fresco luncheon itself provided dubious pathos. Without wishing to set my expectations unreasonably high, I had absent-mindedly found myself anticipating a bowl of chips by the river, only to discover that in doing so I had in fact been setting my expectations unreasonably high. Dishes were served with either new potatoes or a handful of crisps, which would suggest that the chef either does not have access to, or prefers not to be associated with a deep fat fryer. To hazard a guess I would say that the kitchen is probably equipped with a chopping board, a microwave and a small domestic oven, as one might realistically hope to encounter a more adventurous menu at a WI coffee morning. Having worked in hospitality as a chef for 15 years and spent a considerable part of that time working in comparably quirky destination venues, to distinguish between a great setting and a great establishment continues to be a matter of relevance to me. We arrived on our little boat after a lovely trip up the river, received our time slot for the returning trip, found a table and went to order our modest fare from the bar. The overall impression was that this fantastical place is presided over by people who have no need to rely upon it as a source of income and who run the cafe during the summer as a bit of a part-time hobby; very much as a secondary consideration to its adjoining function area which provides a steady source of lucrative wedding bookings. For my own part I feel quite saddened that such a perfect day out up the river almost exists, as Beeses would only need to provide average food and service in order for this to be the case. I would love to have a reason to do that jolly jaunt up the river again, but being processed for some microwaved falafels and a handful of posh crisps before being bundled back onto the boat as the next sitting disembarks stops somewhat short of providing me with one. From a hospitality point of view I would go as far as to say that to rest so heavily upon ones' laurels as a beautiful destination venue is nothing short of sheer laziness, as in any other situation this cafe would have gone bust in about three months. I shall hope for the day that this idyllic riverside cafe comes under the management of somebody who actually cares about providing some manner of satisfactory customer experience as I have no doubt that should this day ever come, Beeses' Riverside Bar will become a day out of...

Visited on Easter Sunday and it was a shambles…

I want to start by saying the food was really nice, and overall Beeses is a beautiful venue with so much potential.

However, our experience really cast a shadow on this and I don’t think we will be back in a hurry. I booked a table for 10 people on Easter Sunday, knowing it would be busy. Despite receieving an email confirming the booking, the staff didn’t have a record of our booking and sat us in a teepee on damp wooden benches, which had no atmosphere in comparison to the inside of the restaurant which I’d assumed I’d booked. There was music blaring at one point and then it disconnected so it was really dead in there. When we were seated, we were told we needed to be gone in 2 hours as there was another booking coming later, which added insult to injury.

The waitress who served us was very inexperienced when taking our drinks orders, but the woman who was training her only aggravated the situation and made it more awkward by openly embarrassing her and making her take the order again… they ended up shouting our orders and didn’t know what half the drinks were which made them look super unprofessional. We felt really bad for the new girl as she clearly hadn’t had much experience waiting on a large group, and this just set the tone for the rest of the meal.

A lot of people on our table ordered lamb (as is tradition for Easter!), but despite being there at 1pm we were told the lamb had ran out this morning. Who is eating lamb in the morning!? We didn’t have enough cutlery on the table when our food arrived and we had to ask for them about 3 times. They also didn’t take our menus from the table so they were just getting in the way.

Finally, as we went to pay they gave us a bill with service charge added, which I understand is standard in some places but considering the experience we’d had it was surprising they hadn’t offered to take it off. Also, the muddle up with the drinks orders meant some things on the bill weren’t correct and we had to go up and fix it ourselves!

It was a really disappointing experience, one that we had booked as a special meal for Easter...

We’d been meaning to visit Beeses as a family for a long time. I have great memories of the place from my childhood, so we booked a table for a roast on Father’s Day, expecting a pleasant experience. What we got instead was a complete disaster.

We arrived early and were seated on a decked area by the river. It was lovely — for about five minutes. That’s where the positives ended.

The Sunday lunch menu was outrageously overpriced, but we assumed that meant the food would at least be decent. Wrong. I ordered the chicken supreme, my wife went for the pork belly, and my daughter — who’s lucky to still be with us — had the chicken too. We asked for drinks, but apparently, they don’t bother stocking basic items like straws. Strange, but whatever.

Then the food arrived — in under three minutes. That alone was suspicious, but the real horror came with the first bite. It was without question one of the worst roast dinners I’ve ever tasted. Everything — and I mean everything — had a weird fishy taste. Completely revolting.

After the meal, our 10-year-old daughter got up to go look at the river and spot some ducks. Not ten seconds later, a massive deck umbrella was lifted by the wind and came crashing down exactly where she had been sitting. If she hadn’t moved, there’s no doubt in my mind it would have seriously injured her — or worse.

The umbrella wasn’t weighted or secured in any way. It was a serious safety hazard, and absolutely no one running the place seemed to care. When I raised the alarm, the so-called manager shrugged and walked off like it was no big deal. A young girl was left to apologise on their behalf. No explanation, no sense of urgency, no accountability — just total indifference.

In the end, they told us they wouldn’t charge us for the meal — which, frankly, was the least they could do after nearly killing a child.

This place is an utter shambles, run by people who clearly don’t care about their customers’ safety or experience. Avoid it...