The Fat Fig — Restaurant in Chichester

I read a few of the reviews for The Fat Fig prior to my visit, it sounded promising and looked good, however, this was not the case.

Firstly, one reviewer said that the portions were Large! This was not the case! I ordered Poached eggs on toast with bacon, I asked for extra bacon and extra black pudding… what came out was 2 poached eggs and 2 small slices of bacon crammed onto 1 slice of sour dough toast with a bit of green garnish thrown on top to make it look presentable. Now it tasted very nice, I can’t fault the food itself, however the portion was tiny, and when I’m paying £18 for it, I expect something far more substantial! My partners eggs and avocado was exactly the same, tasted lovely, but unsubstantial in size. I then ordered 2 more slices of toast and an extra slice of Black pudding to make up for this, again the black pudding was amazing, the toast, not so much… it came out Like warm bread! The coffee was nice and reasonably priced, however £3.70 for a Coke Zero is ludicrous! Michelin Star restaurants don’t even charge that much!

Although the cafe is clean, and tidy, The staff are soulless, impolite, and have no real serving etiquette when dealing with customers, Something which I observed on several occasions in the short 50 mins that I sat at the table. The main remit for this cafe is to get people seated, fed, and out the door as quickly as possible to get the next people in, which I get, but everything was rushed in order to get you to move on. And when you’re charging people the money you are for a breakfast, you expect some form of courtesy and friendliness from the person taking your order and serving you

I think this establishment need to realise its target consumer, it’s a high street cafe in Chichester and not a fine dining eatery in London.

Very Disappointed and wish I’d of eaten somewhere...

I used to really enjoy the Fat Fig so it was a no brainer grabbing something to eat here today. However the service was sadly absolutely abysmal. First we ordered fresh juices, and watched them sit on the side for about 15 minutes before being brought over to us. Which wouldn't have been so bad, had we not had to watch the staff argue amongst themselves over tips. There's a time and a place for that, and during a busy service is not it. The food was fine, except after my plate was cleared away I noticed a slug on the table that must have come from the lettuce in my burger. We told the lady who was serving, who immediately went on the defensive. "It came in from outside" considering we were at the table away from the door that would be concerning in itself. I then heard her in the kitchen talking to the chefs "it definitely came in from outside". Because there is no way on earth a slug could be on lettuce apparently. Honestly I could have let it go but she was so rude and almost insinuated we had planted this slug there. When my sister went up to pay she told the guy behind the counter she wasn't paying for the burger, and she comes storming up to confront her. "The slug came from outside" "well no l, we would have seen it when we sat down or our drinks arrived". "There's not even salad on those meals" "there's lettuce in the burger" "well why did you eat it?" "Because we didn't see the slug until the plate was removed" Frankly this one woman ruined anything positive I would usually have to say about the Fat Fig. I've worked in the industry for years and stuff happens, but it's how you deal with it that reflects the ethos of a business, and this attitude is not what I would expect from a business with rampant...

Bad food accompanied by poor service. After being seated almost immediately when we entered, we were then left waiting for at least 20 minutes before a member of staff approached to take our order (they also commented on how long it had taken to serve us) despite the restaurant being nearly empty. Once we finally managed to order, the incompetent staff member had to get us to repeat our orders at least twice each just to make sure they were right. The food was brought over fairly swiftly, but staff members basically laid on the table with how far they leaned over us to pass plates. This aside we were just grateful to get our food. That gratefulness was short lived. One person ordered poached eggs and salmon on white toast and paid £12 for the privilege, only to be greeted by one measly slice of toast, watery eggs and a sliver of salmon. Another ordered jacket potato with bolognese, dry bolognese, and a potato dryer than Gandhi’s flip flop, despite being advertised as ‘oozing with butter’ on the menu. After begrudgingly finishing our mediocre food we had to accost a staff member in order to get our bill, which when brought over, we were left for a further 10 minutes and finally resorted to just walking up to the till to pay. At no point did anyone ask how our food was or if we were okay as they all seemed much too interested in having a laugh and a chat with their coworkers. We witnessed the same staff members dealing with a separate table and they received far superior service despite us being nothing but polite and patient. Don’t go here as it is very much not worth your hard...