Charlie's Bistro — Restaurant in Canterbury

Two of us stopped here for lunch, which had 11 other people in the restaurant (a third of capacity). I ordered a chicken piripiri sandwich, while my partner chose a goats cheese and pesto salad. Half an hour later the meals arrived, and the salad had no pesto. Instead there was a mustard sauce. It took ten minutes before the waitress asked if everything was ok, and when we told her that one of the three ingredients in the salad was missing, she said she'd go and check what happened. The food overall was acceptable, good but not great, but the salad was certainly not worth the £12 being charged. The waitress came to clear our plates and I asked what the feedback was about the salad. She started in surprise and then said she'd go and ask. Either she'd forgotten to ask initially or she'd hoped we'd forget. It turns out the "pesto was stuck on the m1". I asked if she knew this before we'd ordered and she said no. That was fine, but why, then, did the kitchen not tell her when the order came in? If we'd known, the salad would not have been ordered, but we weren't told. There was simply no communication between staff in the front and back of the restaurant. The bill was brought along with a half hearted apology, and the waitress was clearly getting tetchy about being questioned on the matter. I asked if she thought that the cost was acceptable for a dish that was missing a third of its content. Back she went to the kitchen, and returned to say that they "could only take a couple of quid off". No reason was given where this arbitrary amount came from.

Simply put, this feels like a restaurant where customers are expected to take what is given, regardless of quality or correctness, and you have to like it or lump it. No semblance of empathy or culpability is on show for mistakes made by the restaurant, as evidenced by their reluctance to even consider recompense until they were queried three times about what they had offered.

Charlie's appears to be coasting on its location and relative lack of competition in the area. Maybe this incident is an anomaly, but other reviews on TripAdvisor mention similar shocking service so I highly doubt it. If you visit here, do so under advisement. You may not get what you order, and any complaint will be dealt with in the least hospitable...

Today was supposed to be home cooked roast chicken other than the fact our chicken hadn't properly thawed. My wife Angie saw a posting from Charlie's Bistro in Herne Bay offering a collection or delivery on roast dinners so we decided to give it a try (also give our support to a local company). Wow...it was awesome. £7.50 for the roast- choice of turkey, beef or pork..we had pork and pudding £3.00..choice of caramel cheesecake, sticky toffee pudding and custard and chocolate orange truffle cake - I had sticky toffee pud and custard and Angie had the cheesecake. The roast came safely packaged in a fully recyclable tray with cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower cheese, roast potatoes and not forgetting Yorkshire pud and a stuffing ball with some glorious gravy. They can arrange delivery but we chose to collect it. It was all ready at the specified time and social distancing maintained at all times. Full marks to Charlie's Bistro for their ingenuity at making this available and for a really top quality meal which we thoroughly enjoyed...roll on...

A gem of a bistro style restaurant with Sean the owner serving up amazing, fresh, tasty , well cooked food. He likes to add interest to the menu and holds regular monthly mixed themed evenings or a single country menu, such as Spanish or French , which feature a three course , three choice menu, including, varied and exciting dishes to enjoy. His Sunday roast is carvery served by him personally and his gravy commands legendary status in Herne bay. The service is second to none, you never feel rushed and Loren the head waitress is in total control of the restaurant at all times with her second in command, Skye busily waiting tables...