The Shed Steakhouse & Grill — Restaurant in East Devon

Not sure why this place has such good reviews.

From the moment we arrived the service was slow, we were pointed in the direction of our table (not even walked over and seated properly) and told our drinks order would be taken 'as soon as she got a minute' 20 minutes later we had to beckon the waitress to take our order for drinks and by this time we had each read the menu from cover to cover so ordered our food at the same time.

From the moment we arrived to the moment our food was put on the table took an hour and a half. I can make an allowance for a busy restaurant but an hour and a half for 5 lots of burgers is hugely excessive and as the place started to clear out the service didn't improve. Although the staff were friendly and polite, maybe they could do with some extra resources.

A quite concerning incident was the fact one of the children's meals was ordered with a burger which was PINK in the middle! Now I know they boast of using steak for their burgers but for a child's meal to be presented like this is in my opinion verging on negligence. Children should never be served raw meat no matter what meat it is. We were told that this was perfectly fine and that it is ok to serve meat to children in this way, my argument in that case is why do they not ask if you would like your burger rare or well done? They did offer to refund the meal or re cook it but by this time we were pushing 10pm and quite frankly wanted to go home.

In total we spent 2 hours at The Shed and had only a main course and the kids had ice cream.

Really disappointed with the whole experience as specially as it was meant to be a birthday treat. The prices do not reflect the quality of the food and the service leaves little to be desired.

We eat out fairly regularly and know what good food and service is. Perhaps the bar is a little higher near big cities but even taking this in to account there is nothing positive to gain from the experience.

My advice, go to the chippy round the corner and eat your chips on...

Such high hopes for this place but it unfortunately feel short...

The restaurant needs a good clean, dirty floors and windows. The kitchen is within view of the restaurant, and you could see the sous chef's long acrylic nails and at times questionable food handling abilities.

The food was so so, the steak was a good cut of meat - from a local butcher. It was also perfectly cooked, however - it did lack flavor. It is a shame the steaks are not seasoned with salt and pepper and butter basted with a bit of garlic and thyme. To at least have this offered as an optional extra would have been nice.

The menu is probably the sort of prices you'd pay for a premium experience, and I feel this was not a premium experience.

The chap serving us was great, had a good sense of humor. I think he may have been the owner. So could not fault the service itself.

If you own this place and read this, I have a few amendments that I feel could get you top marks!

1. Staff should wear uniform of some description, even if its a polo shirt and an apron, adds a bit of class.

2. The bar area was a right mess, clear it up - its the first thing customers see when they walk in. Also maybe add some cool IPAs or varied beers to the drinks menu?

3. Are some of your ingredients from the Aldi across the road? I witnessed you pour skin on fries / mozzarella dippers from a freezer bag into a fryer - I mean come on, right infront of customers who are paying premium prices? So easy to make homemade chips!

4. Overwhelming amount of salsa/guac/sour creme on the nachos, more quality instead of quantity would have been great!

5. Tables need a bit more dressing up, very basic.

6. Some artwork on the interior would've been cool, maybe American themed?

I don't wanna sound like I am slating the place too much it was not horrendous, just so many little things that need changing. I even almost feel bad writing this as the guy who served us was such a nice chap.

Anyway, all the best - hope you...

Initial hick up with finding our booking but eventually seated by the manager. Ordering was pleasant and general staff very friendly. Problems started when our cocktails arrived. Sent my margaretia back, it wasn't right and lacked any salt around the glass. Came back almost half empty in the glass and no ice at all so was neither frozen nor on the rocks. My husband had a moijito and was missing some syrup. Next our steaks arrived and I had asked for a rare fillet which was dry and overcooked. My husband's steak was over cooked as well. We asked for them to be sent back and here started an interesting challenge that we have never experienced at all. The dishes went back and came straight back to us with the manager telling us we were wrong and that they were both rare. My husband and I always order rare and sometimes we get medium rare which we will accept but not medium. Then came a full on debate at the table with the manager who was literally telling us over and over again we were wrong instead of actually apologising and sorting the problem out. Our two young children were so tired and started kicking off so the situation became quite uncomfortable. The manager eventually took mine back and begrudgingly gave me a new dish which was, actually, really really good. The waitressing staff were so lovely and looked embarrassed. Afterwards my husband tried to give some constructive feedback to the manager who ignored my husband completely until he had had a chance to fetch the owner who, you'd think would be interested in what had happened, was just so defensive and aggressive. Not somewhere we would ever go again, shame because my 2nd attempt at the steak was actually really spot. We did not get an apology or reduction in our bill for the...