Giggling Squid - Chichester — Restaurant in Chichester

I couldn't eat anything!

Went here Monday night for the first time for a friend's birthday meal. Having zero tolerance for spice, I checked the menu ahead of going and wanted the "duck confit".

On arrival the restaurant is decorated lovingly, but some of the seating was odd to say the least, including the "bird cage" as my friend called it, at the very front of the restaurant. We were seated in the middle and was a reasonably sized table, if not a little cramped towards the end of the meal with all our empty glasses still on it.

We ordered our starters and mains very easily including a few alterations which didn't seem complicated. I ordered the spring rolls - to play it safe, and the duck confit, emphasising to the waitress that I wanted ZERO spice. 10 minutes goes by and our waitress comes back to me and explains they have no duck dishes!

So I ordered the Seafood Curry as it had no mention of spice in the description. And I assumed that the waitress would remember my detail of "no spice". Turns out, she did not. When the dish arrived I got a huge flaming kick down my throat, and I couldn't eat it! I tried my friend's dish who said "it's not spicy at all". Next thing I know I'm running to the bathroom coughing my guts up to douse my tongue, throat and stomach in as much water as possible from the bathroom tap.

I was asked to pick something else from the menu. I had the tuna steak. The smell of this dish was vile and didn't aid the stomach ache I now had from the spicy dishes I had tried. I swallowed this as quickly as I could to just get out of the restaurant and not embarrass my friends any further.

I spent the walk home with my stomach ablaze, struggling to catch my breath (despite being a fit and able bodied person). I even had to text my mum to ask what she would recommend me do, on the verge of attempting to throw up. I ended up eating an entire pack of chocolate just to line my stomach.

It's the next day and the boyfriend (who was with me and has the mild crying beef") has stayed in bed due to no sleep because his stomach is in knots.

Won't be coming back. I won't pay for something...

So we went today to the Giggling Squid and after the four of us spent several minutes thinking and deciding what to have, the waiter came and said "we don't have that", "oh, we don't have either"... "mmm we don't have that either, apologies". Well he should have started telling us what wasn't available before spening 15 minutes deciding from their 2 menu carts. We had to ask for a drinks menu because it wasn't any on the table. The starters arrived after a while and apparently they don't give you plates to eat them if you are sharing them so we were eating food over the napkings. I had to ask twice for a straw for my son. The drinks came after the starters. Although other people arrived after us, they were served before us. The food is good. Incredible pricy. When we asked the bill the waiter came and said "we normally charge 10% for service but because this time we couldn't serve you what you wanted from the menu we are not charging you". I was shocked. Should I said thank you for not charging me something that you shouldn't charge in the first place because it's up to me decide if I want to give you a tip or not? Shocking. If you are going to compulsory charge for service you have to state it in your menu, put a sign in your window or say it to the costumer verbally as soon as they sit at the table. What you are doing is basically illegal. The food is good, but to be served food in wicker baskets, greasy paper and cardboard cones I could go to a food truck and been served the same way but paying a 10th part of your prices. I am giving you 1 star because that last comment...

Ordered from here for the first time (there were only two thai options on Deliveroo). Delivery time kept changing, so came later than quoted. Portions were very small for the price. Ordered a vegetable green thai curry. Opened it and half of it was filled with tofu, which is not listed in the ingredients. I do not eat tofu and would not have ordered it if I knew that they would add it as an unlisted ingredient. Phoned the Chichester branch immediately, the man who answered the phone was apologetic and acknowledged that it is not listed and said he would get a manager to call me the following day, as I had requested a refund as I could not eat the dish. The manager called me from a Brighton number the next day, but wasn’t really interested, and said I should have called to see what the ingredients were?! It is not the responsibility of customers to call to see if the restaurant is going to add ingredients not listed. Appalling customer service and very unhelpful. Will not be returning and will stick to Lemongrass in future.

Edit in reply to response from Giggling Squid. Your lack of concern at adding ingredients not listed is extremely concerning. I would not expect to find tofu, chicken/fish etc in a vegetable dish so if you are choosing to add those, without it being on the menu, then that is concerning on many levels and your menus should actively reflect the ingredients used. Again, customers should not be expected to phone you to ask if you add unlisted ingredients. It wasn't a vegetable that wasn't listed, it was a completely different food group - and that's not...