Drifters - East Wittering — Restaurant in Chichester

Have been here before but was very disappointed by the last visit. I felt quite cheated, ripped off, thought it was dishonest of all the staff who gave exuded ‘mean girl’ energy from the second I was seated.

Came in and was seated but wasn’t told they were due to close, if I had then I would have gone elsewhere. As soon as I was served a drink the man who had happily seated me mere minutes before told me in a heated manner that the bar was closing and I needed to order NOW if I wanted another.

Red haired waitress was really pass agg about it when she took my order and after the waitress with tight curls threw my plate down I felt I had to bolt a £20 dinner half of which was fridge cold, the rest was lukewarm, the fries weren’t soggy, they were wet yet still hard somehow?

All of it was tasteless.

The ‘blackened chicken’ was more like ‘barely cooked or seasoned cheap chicken strips which were pumped full of water’ Fed most of it to my dog. Who didn’t want a drink afterwards which gives you a clear idea the non existent seasoning and water content of the ‘chicken’

At no point did any of the wait staff check to see if everything was okay or if I needed anything. They quite tellingly didn’t even ask when they whisked away my plate and not quite finished drink.

They all started pointedly clearing and cleaning around me in a pointed fashion and loudly commenting about how they were glad they only had half an hour left.

Strangely none of the other guests seemed to be in a rush so maybe they were not put under the same pressure?

From previous experience the staff know how to guilt trip/pressure for a tip via the card machine which you have to choose the ‘no’’, ‘10%’ ‘20%’ etc option whilst they are inches away from you watching. Previously I’ve always tipped 20%

Red haired waitress suddenly became extremely friendly and attentive when taking my payment, complete personality change! But I didn’t tip.

I may visit again if nowhere else is open but will not buy meals here. The best thing about this experience is that I will never feel guilty about never, ever,...

After visiting East Wittering for the first time, and reading the reviews thought we'd give it a try. We arrived with one family in front of us. Not meaning to be rude, but the lady allocating the tables didn't have a name badge. Blond and slightly overweight. Anyway she asked the family infront of us whether they wanted to sit outside or inside. They requested inside, and were given a nice spacious booth. I asked for a table of 4, and no option was given to us for inside or outisde. She started to clear a table inside, and it was right in the middle. The noisiest and highest traffic area. The worst table location. I asked if there were any other tables and she said no. On looking around the restaurant was not full, and there were plenty of empty tables. She definitely had an attitude and quite dismissive. In the interim no customers had left however within a few minutes other customers arrived and they were shown to plenty of available tables in much better locations. As a result we had staff and other constantly walking passed us. I am afraid to say the only difference between us and the other customers, is that they were white, and we were not. The way she treated us from the outset, definitely made it obvious. Completely ruined the atmosphere and meal for us. I felt uncomfortable for the whole meal. I wish we had left initially. The food - I ordered the blackened chicken. It said it was a breast of chicken. It definitely wasn't a breast portion. It was flattened. Probably a 1/3rd sized breast at best. We ordered waffles. Both waffles need sauce on top, plus 2 decent scoops of ice cream. Only one waffle had sauce and one small scoop of ice cream. As a result it was quite dry. It's a real shame as the service from our waitress was fine, and we tipped her. The rest of the food was decent too. The restaurant should stop employing this person. Quite upsetting in this day and age. Owners...

To the chefs I apologise for for the two stars. The food was exceptional and truly 5 stars!! The service however was unbelievably poor and not for the food I would readily give 1 star. We were a group of 13 so I appreciate its a large group to serve. The drinks order was taken and most people received their drinks after a short wait. however one person seemed to be ignored completely after they asked five times for their drink before it actually came. We were then told that we definitely ordered drinks that we definitely didn't and were bluntly told that we were wrong. Despite pre-ordering our food we were told that there was no soup and that the people that ordered it needed to choose something else. 1 person asked if they could add a side to their order but was told no. Upon pressing they were told they could but it would come when it came. 1 male waiter kept joking about having an autistic moment which I found quite offensive. Despite all this the food was so good that we decided to return the following day for a cocktail which had looked good when we saw them the previous evening. It took 45 minutes from ordering drinks to receiving them. Needless to say we wont be returning to drifters on our next visit to...