The Bubble — Restaurant in Canterbury

I am posting this in the hope the owners take this as constructive advice. My wife and I stopped here for lunch. It was busy, but after standing at the door for a few minutes and not being approached we walked over to open seats. It quickly became obvious that the team (apparently under new management according to other reviews) have not yet figured out an efficient service model. Menus were delivered in a slightly flustered manner. Order taken and then nothing for well over 30minutes. Other tables with kids were clearly also in the same boat. Once the food was delivered (which was pretty decent), a polite request for cutlery was forgotten, and after 5 minutes we sorted ourselves out. What is confusing is that the place has an equivalent of only 8 tables and yet there seemed to be two staff in the mini kitchen, and 3-4 serving - having worked in the industry myself, and given the food menu is small - there should be no reason for this especially with this staff to table ratio. I must say we were quite taken aback by having a 10% service charge automatically added to our bill - not great for this sort of establishment especially when service levels are lacking.

So my advice to the owners is - you need to figured out your kitchen prep model - the types of food you are serving should be speedy - even when you get an 8 table rush, food prep should be possible in 15-20min. And of course training your service staff to get the basics right - politeness, calm and to alert customers of delays to allow them to make a choice.

I hope you find this helpful as you develop...

I highly recommend the Bubble in Whitstable and here's why. Firstly the place is perfectly situated with stunning views over the bay. The views though would be redundant if the food didn't compliment the wondrous world outside this cosy establishment. Thankfully it does that and more. What I like about the food is that it really is home made and amazingly authentic. I've travelled in the middle east and the food is as good as some of the tastiest eats I've had on my travels. Additionally, the owners use seasonal British ingredients which I love. I've covered the food and the views. Now for the hospitality. What can I say. I was fortunate to be served by Dom, one of the owners. He was extremely attentive to my needs and was great to chat to. He definitely knows his ingredients and his drinks. Furthermore, he is fun to talk to and I got the feeling that he was genuinely happy to have me in his establishment and that I wasn't merely a paying customer. That is a rare quality to have as I have not often felt so welcomed in other eateries around the world. If you are in the Kent area I would make the effort to drop into the Bubble. You won't be...

We arrived and had a reserved table with 2 very high stools, which was not good for my disabled partner. Then it got worse ! We were given half a flat bread and humus for me and my fiance for starters....this was pallitable ! For our main the waitress gave us - 1 x kebab, 1x chicken kebab (consisting of 3 pieces of meat), 2 x falafell, 1 x small tomato salsa, 1 x small humis and some mixed salad. It all sounds good up to this point, BUT the tiny portions listed above were all burnt to a cinder !!! It was not enough food to have 1 person contented ! It was a disgusting snack of an offering for the deal I had paid for ! It cost us £14, half price of the usual price ! My fiance complained because we had made a special day of it...we had travelled £20 worth of fuel plus our meal price to be given "burnt slops".....we complained about the food discretely and the reply was "WELL..YOU MAY HAVE PAID FOR A CHEAP TASTER, BUT YOU WON'T BE COMING BACK WILL YOU!!!!" Please do not go to this place ever! THAT IS OUR RECOMMENDATION.......ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. DO NOT VISIT, AT ALL COSTS. THE OWNER IS RUDE AND THE...