Benugo Bar & Kitchen at Warwick Arts Centre — Restaurant in Coventry

We have visited twice this year with the aim of making our lives easier ahead of seeing a show, travelling from out of town. Both times Benugo's dreadful service has made things more difficult. We wrote the first experience off as a bad day. The second was just as bad so we won't be bothering again.

Both times we got there for 5pm to beat the pre show rush. The first time there were three of us. They brought out two people's mains. Never returned to the table. I had to physically get up and approach one of the oblivious staff, aimlessly wandering in between the tables. We were basically told it was our fault, until a manager finally intervened at which point the meal was prepared and not charged.

The second time, with the restaurant close to empty, we were left standing waiting to be seated inexplicably for 10 minutes while the zombie staff marched up and down between tables serving no-one and doing nothing. I took a few steps towards seating myself at one of their many empty tables and one of them sprang into life. The rest of the meal was promisingly uneventful barring a few very minor gripes. The food was just slightly better than okay (although when you're charging £18 for sausage and mash I think it ought to be incredible).

The our plates were cleared. We were not offered the dessert menu, as they were cleared. We did - at this point - want the dessert menu. We expected the server would return shortly. They did not. We were never offered the menu or the bill despite sitting there over 30 minutes after our plates had been taken.

Once again I had to take matters into my own hands and stand at the bar amongst the gaggle of employed but jobless staff members. I gruffly explained, when one of thel noticed me, the reasons for my dissatisfaction - and that we had planned on dessert but would not now give them our custom. They suggested taking the service charge off the bill, which I accepted.

On the two visits: Food - Acceptable Pricing - Unacceptable Service - The Pits

This is not the place for a quick pre-show bite - even at two hours out, you risk them making you late for the performance. Given that its housed inside the arts centre, you have to wonder why...

We came here and ordered food, the two people I was with received theirs and it looked fairly nice. After an awkward wait for mine to arrive, I told my friends to start rather than let theirs go cold. When they'd nearly finished, I thought I'd ask a member of staff about the whereabouts of the food I'd ordered. Finding someone to ask was a mission in itself, and when I did, he told us they're going to start cooking it in the kitchen "within the next five minutes". Seeing as 45 mins had passed since we ordered, we were running out of time so I asked him to cancel that part of the order. To ensure I got fed, I nipped out to the shop and ended up buying a reduced pastie and sitting in the restaurant eating that whilst we waited for the bill. Needless to say, none of the staff noticed as they were too busy neglecting other customers, who were also trying to get their attention to complain about the shoddy service they'd also received. It was all rather comical really! It's a pity as they were very friendly, one of whom was hilarious, but clearly incapable of running a restaurant. We prefer dining in a place where customer service is an actual reality.

On reflection, people pay for a 'fawlty towers' dining experience in London. I do honestly think this restaurant would do really well if it marketed itself as comically incompetent and sold tickets like it's a theatrical event. At the very least people would then know what...

I'm really sorry to leave a negative review. the barista was obviously a new starter.

Approached bar counter, rather than wait to be seated at main entry point. Assistant took order quickly. We ordered 1 latte, 1 bag of fresh popcorn, and 2 ice creams. I queried price but was told it was correct. At £17.75, i found it to be expensive.

The assistant asked if we could wait to one side until Barista made my hot drink. All other items were ready. Unfortunately, it took over 20/25 mins for my one latte to be prepared.

Firstly, there was an order in front of me, of 2 hot drinks, then somehow the customer served after me got his two hot drinks. Then the barista made another flat white, and i prompted I'd order a vanilla latte. Barista queried this, and i said i was sure of what i ordered, then a latte was prepared, and the cup had been filled too much to fit any syrup in. At this point, i was more than happy to take any of the drinks that had been prepared but was told to wait for the correct drink to be made.

Sadly, all this time wasted meant i missed the first song of the...