Rostick Restaurant.. — Restaurant in Eastbourne

We ate at this charming restaurant last Saturday night.

I booked via the online booking system just to give it a try. Table was for my wife and I. She had been away and I had been working nights so I asked for an intimate table for two. We were not disappointed. Upon arrival our table was ready. Lovely window table that was set for two but had plenty of room. I hate small tables where you can barely get all the plates on.

The décor is a pleasant mix of modern rustic. Lighting is good but not overpowering. Tables are set up simply but functional. All cutlery and glasses very clean and shiny. The staff and owners were very welcoming and helpful. The menu is comprehensive and covers everything Italian you could hope to order as well as some dishes you wouldn’t have heard of. The owner and chef also has a whole host of specials that he will come tell you all about and don’t appear on a menu anywhere. These are mostly fresh seafood. So if you are a fish lover? You can’t go wrong with this place.

We started our dining experience with a couple of traditional cocktails. Aperol Spritz. For those of you that have never tried this. I find it both refreshing and appetising. It is an orange base with plenty of ice, Prosecco and soda. If made properly, it is amazing. These ones were.

After our aperitif, we shared a Calamari started. This was well prepared, and lovely presentation. Came also with a grilled king prawn, and a langoustine.

A bottle of well-balanced red wine was ordered to go with our main course. This was a Nero D’avola. At £23 a bottle, this was a little high, but not outrageous. Was a very nice wine.

Our mains were simple but traditional. I ordered the Lasagne and my wife her favourite pasta dish, Spaghetti Carbonara. Once again. Both were well presented, and of exceptional quality. My Lasagne was hot, attractive and tasty. Very good infusion of ingredients, and not just a bunch of tomato sauce and pasta. My wife was equally impressed with her Carbonara. A side order of garlic bread was equally tasty and well presented. Crispy and not dripping with excess butter. Was just the right amount of garlic for flavour.

We rounded off the meal with a couple of rich and flavourful coffees.

The whole restaurant was clean and welcoming. So were all the staff. Toilets too were very modern, and spotlessly clean. I chose this restaurant because it was awarded Eastbourne restaurant of the year. In my opinion. This was well deserved.

Thank you for a great night out. We...

Only eat there if you want bad food and a bad experience. I have just come back from Eastbourne and the food was terrible. I had a seafood special with monk fish. The owner made a great effort to sell us the specials raving how fresh they were. Trust me it was definitely NOT fresh and had been cooked from frozen. The dish had plenty of shells in it (razor clams, clams to name but a few) but there was nothing in the shells, but that might have been a blessing, as the shell food that was in the dish was rubbery and tasteless. Once you arrive you are treated like royalty, where nothing is too much trouble, you are given free! breadsticks and olives, both of which are very salty to make you want to drink more. The owner can not do enough for you, but you begin to smell a rat as he is over the top, continuously coming to your table, telling you how to eat your meal and how they do it in Italy. It was only when after yet another visit to our table he asked if everything was alright and I said no, I did not like it, the fish was overcooked and rubbery things dramatically changed. He then got very offensive prodding my food practically in my face then snatched at my bowls without saying anything and took them away. He then never spoke to me again and kept taking things off our table until we asked for the bill and then left. The only regret I have is that I was stupid enough to pay for it. Because at £20 it was definitely not worth it. Avoid it...

The worst dining experience of my life. Visited with two friends after reading reviews online and thought it would be a positive experience. Drinks and order requests were taken soon after arrival, but then we waited almost two hours for food. We had travelled a long way to visit this restaurant, and when telling the manager this and asking how much longer the food wait was, he shrugged his shoulders and informed us we should just take the last train home if we were that bothered. We let this comment slide, and after the food arrived and we asked for the bill and kindly asked if there was potential for the final bill to be reviewed in light of the wait we had. The owner aggressively screamed in my friend’s face, told her he will kick us all out of his restaurant and that we should ‘F* off back to where we came from’. We were shocked and just asked to pay the bill and leave. However, the owner told us we had not seen him aggressive yet and shut the door and proceeded to scream at us and move closer to our faces. We kept asking to pay and leave but he went after my female friend and my other friend (male) had to stand in the way. Other staff members had to apologise on his behalf and stand in front of him to stop him being physically and verbally aggressive. Cannot believe this happened, I am deeply disappointed that Eastbourne has to deal with such a restaurant owner who clearly has no respect for his guests and especially not women. Would...