Hat Bistro — Restaurant in Bristol

This woman who works there is just damn rude. She belittled me for my food order (I eat a lot of food, but am skinny, and hadn't eaten much all day). I ordered the leg of lamb but would have ordered two mains, and as she loudly berated me for asking to SPEND MORE MONEY and have two dishes, completely embarrassing me in the tiny dining room, I ended up leaving hungry after eating just the leg of lamb, while an okay portion, that's not what I wanted to order!!! I also wanted the moussaka far more, though is usually not very filling in comparison to meat and potatoes, so ended up missing out on what I really wanted to save being even hungrier when I left.

Quick food review, soft lamb shank but they're all soft, didn't taste of much, didn't remind me of any Greek food I've had. The potatoes are softly boiled in flavourless broth with veg. Just don't bother. Maybe my moussaka would have been nice but she didn't want to let me see for myself.

I cannot get over how rude she was to me, you don't know everything, you aren't God, stop acting like the people who go in there are brainless food monsters, we actually know what we want. NOT YOUR SERVICE! You made me feel like I could cry, and kept your tirade up for the entire dinner. Didn't feel like you should have apologised at all? This was a few weeks ago now and I am still furious.

For anyone neurodivergent, anxious, anything like this, avoid this place, the owner is a complete a$$. Not welcoming. Some people hate confrontation, you have no right to cause a confrontation in a dining room where there is like 4 square meters so everyone can hear, and your customers can't say a thing. You are a disgusting server.

SHE WAS EVEN ARGUING WITH A DISABLED WOMAN IN THE STREET WHEN WE ARRIVED, THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST CLUE. You're not running the Karin cafe, so let's stop acting like it. You had the other couple ordering a million small plates and then mains, I just wanted 2 mains. Get your head out of that smelly dark place you've...

Me and my family used to come here for any celebrations. Unfortunately last time we were here we didn't have such a pleasantly experience.

While ordering we were served by a cold, sharp and unwelcoming lady.

Friends ordered medium raw T-bone and got probably the driest steak I've seen. Fanta that clearly said 80p on the can and was charged £3 for it.

And to make things better, besides the 10% service charge that the lady said we couldn't remove because we were a "big group" (she was barely at the table, always on the phone behind the counter). We were told that we couldn't split the bill so that everyone pays theirs because they are a "small restaurant". Even though every time I came here we paid separately. The lady just didn't want to be bothered.

Not sure if it was just a bad day, but very disappointing.

EDIT: As the owner replied and decided to lie, here's my update. We did not stay over 1 hour the closing time, as your business page says on Tuesday you close at 10pm. We stayed a maximum of 10mins after the closing time. We had family members at home at 22:30 after driving, so that is humanly impossible. To add to the service charge claim, we were told by the lady that we couldn't remove the service charge as we were a big group. Well according to UK Law you should remove if asked, so maybe you need to re-think what you're saying to big groups. As it was a celebration dinner I didn't bother and argue and ruin...

The starter was faintly acceptable (even though it wasn't even what we ordered), but that's all I can recommend here. The red wine was basically distilled Ribena, and the meat excessively salty. Moreover, I had reason to suspect the salad leaves were from a Tesco-sourced crackle bag.

The wait for the 'food' was VERY long indeed.

Space is also a major issue, with half a metre between tables. The adjacent diners eavesdropped on my conversation, much to my concern. Embarrassingly, I had to dry-hump my way past them due to the narrow clearance. Perhaps your intercom should say 'Mind the gap' when diners get up to leave?

We were also given the wrong order followed by an unacceptable and emotionally manipulative excuse. The burger we actually wanted wasn't even available.

The manager also tried to bully my fellow diner into removing his review and 'set the record straight'. I beg your pardon? Are you quite possibly related to Mussolini? This is not a dictatorship. Corruption does not wash in British society. The more you try to suppress opinion, the louder we will shout. We will not be silenced.

Overall this was a very overpriced and poor quality experience.

Address these major issues if you wish to survive in this competitive market. Outrageous...