The Deck Emsworth — Restaurant in Chichester

Came for lunch, off to a bad start I paid for parking even tho it's for free when you dine at the deck, I didn't see a sign to the side of the ticket machine anyway nevermind, so in the restaurant nice light atmosphere sunny and beautiful day, I knew I wanted to seafood platter and my mother had an appetiser I can't remember what its called that wasn't great.

So firstly it was ok, over priced £82 for both of us. No still bottle water this really made me not happy I detest sparkling water and only really drink water so I had tape water, food quality was very good but the flavour was not great,

the Half a lobster was cooked ok but I could not taste the garlic and I believe to be coriander, I had to ask for some nut cracker's for the shell and the half the handles are missing.

the chip taste good, a few black bits in, but I couldn't see why you would put them with this dish.

The dressed crab was only half full fresh but I've had much better in the pass in Eastbourne and Brighton it was just lacking in flavour,

The vinaigrette dressing was bad tasted of cheap malt vinegar.

Smoked salmon was standard.

I love prawns, completely failed here, there was soon much dirt in the intestinal tract I could not eat them. I wasn't not pleased.

Oysters; now I personally don't like and this is my biggest grip with the meal, the menu I saw didn't list what was on the seafood platter, the boy who took my order didn't tell me what was on the sea food platter and at the time I didn't think to ask, as I'm chatting away not thinking about what is about to come out of the kitchen. Food waste is a insult to the restaurant. As well as not acceptable in any catering organisation. So either put it on the menu or ask the customer.

The mussels, were disappointing the sauce was bad I should of had them first but when you have to toss a coin of cold lobster or mussels.

So online it says the following but as you can see from my photo half a lobster

SEAFOOD PLATTER (ask server for price) Whole lobster, dressed crab, oysters, mussels, king prawns, With bacon, onion crumb, smoked cheese, gherkin, burger relish, smoked salmon. Served with hand cut chips & crusty bread

I think I was charged about £70 just for the seafood platter if it was on point I would have been happy to pay but not for that and the more I think about it the more I think it was bad, I didn't finish it got up to pay and was asked at the til how was it, I said ok, and was pushed to say more but not wanting to create a sense literally the til is in the middle of the restaurant just repeated ok. Would I go again well if I knew it was going to be on point yes. I believe there a lot of potential in the deck, weather the potential is growing or just left...

I think the picture with this post speaks volumes about the presentation of our breakfast and we can certainly vouch for the quality.

However, this review is more about the service we received.

We had a booking at 0930 but arrived very early at 0900 to a very warm welcome from Georgie. Karen delivered our menus and took our drinks order. Karen was a joy, smiley, happy and professional. We placed our breakfast order and not long after the food arrived.

One thing we noticed was even though there were only a handful of covers, the staff were busy, clearing, cleaning, squaring away, prepping, and checking on diners. It was very obvious that the staff were a well-trained team, quite rare in the client facing service industry these days.

The food was brilliant but paled into insignificance as the customer focus and attention to detail was so exceptional. After I settled my bill, I gave a cash tip which Karen at first refused as she felt it was too generous. I respectfully suggested that the level of tip was equal to the service received and was well deserved by all. As we left all the staff said thank you and wished as a great rest of our day, a perfect goodbye.

Downstairs I had a brief chat with Georgie who was a little overwhelmed, but I reassured her that great service should be recognised and that's all I did and that we will be back again and again.

Georgie, I found out was the manager! I wouldn't call her a manager but a Leader, managers work with goals, objectives and resources. Leaders, inspire, develop, hone share a vision and most importantly lead the way. The cohesive team I saw today have been shown the way and I think that is down to Georgie. Thank you, Georgie, Karen and all the team you made our day by going above and beyond.

One grumble for the owners! You have a premium venue, a premium product, which attracts a certain level of clientele. I guess that some of us would like to pay using American Express. I understand card fees may be higher etc but just a thought...

Celebratory dinner Wednesday evening for four. Stressful start with the car park - didn't have the app, or change couldn't get through to pay on the phone - others similarly confused. Then when we arrived we found out there was a free parking system at the Deck. There needs to be a prominent notice in the car park for patrons. 30 minutes from arrival to drinks. 1 hr to arrival of first starter. Intrusive raucous vocal music clearly determined by the taste of the young staff rather than the diners, left me battling with my hearing aid (not usually a problem) to hear my fellow diners and the waitresses and it dominated the evening. There appeared to be enough staff - willing and polite but clearly inexperienced and adept at avoiding eye contact. The food was OK, but just a bit disappointing. The hake was fresh and tasty, but the "Tempura" batter surrounding it was far short of the light crispy batter one might find in a Japanese restaurant - at least it wasn't soggy but the fries in the basket were flacid. We were asked three times by three different staff after each course whether everything was alright. Covid staff issues notwithstanding, it felt just a bit like a restaurant, which knows it is successful, resting on its laurels having...