Catch at The Old Fish Market — Restaurant in England

THE SERVICE WAS HORRENDOUS. We had the most terrible experience upon arriving at Catch in Weymouth. There was a misunderstanding about our reservation. We paid £90 to reserve our table. Upon arriving, they refused to seat us. The reason given was that we had our 6 year old daughter with us. This was very unfortunate as we were all looking forward to celebrating a birthday and our daughter loves to eat fish. The evening was to be a special treat for her.

To be clear: the no child policy is visible when looking at their website on a laptop BUT MUCH LESS SO ON A MOBILE PHONE. The mobile/app version is extremely ambiguous and opaque. The type and font (on a phone) are very small). When you look at the reservations page on a laptop, the policy about Children is clear. However, we made our booking on a phone. When you book on a phone, the calendar tool for making bookings comes BEFORE the big paragraph about children. As such, one would never see this paragraph unless they scrolled BELOW the booking tool (which we clearly had no reason to do, once the booking was made!). Before the booking tool on the phone, there is one brief mention of children buried in another paragraph... but anyone needing reading glasses, could easily miss this when using their phone to book.

On top of all this, the concierge at our hotel, had also called for us in advance. This is relevant because it is common knowledge that the hotel we were in SPECIFICALLY caters to families. The host at Catch acknowledged this when we spoke to him upon arrival. It would have saved everyone a lot of pain had he mentioned this (very odd) policy to our concierge when he spoke to her on the phone. He did not.

Despite our disappointment at being refused entry with our daughter, we were fine to accept this outcome. However, things then only got worse. As they later admitted to, this was not the first time such a thing had happened (which begs the question: what have they done to avoid this situation?). We would have been happy to walk away and find somewhere else to eat, but we did ask for our £90 deposit to be returned given the lack of clarity on their website (when using a mobile phone) and the call earlier that day from the hotel. The situation was clearly a misunderstanding. One of the owners and chefs (Mike Naidoo) then spoke to us directly. Instead of handling the situation with kindness and respect, he was arrogant and downright rude. HE REFUSED to return any money whatsoever. He then also pretended like he did not have the authority to return our money (despite admitting he is an owner/shareholder in the business). He also refused acknowledge the lack of clarity about how their website looks on a mobile phone. Lastly, he then told us the only way we would see our money was if we ate downstairs, outside at Hatch despite it being a chilly evening and none of us being dressed for outside dining. Hatch has a completely different menu and wine list and does not have a toilet for their diners (our daughter was allowed to use the staff toilet when she needed one). We did not want to eat at Hatch but were given no choice as it was this, or completely lose our money. Wow.

Catch restaurant does not deserve the accolades it has, in our view. Their arrogance was appalling. The rudeness of the owner was disgusting. I had to ask my wife to walk away with our daughter, from the discussion, so that she would not witness what was taking place. A sophisticated establishment would have handled our situation with grace and integrity. Had they done this, we would have happily come back, another day, without our daughter in tow. Sadly, Catch at The Old Fish Market is apparently not run , nor owned, by individuals that exhibit any form of class, whatsoever. The handling of the situation by the one owner we met in person (we understand there is also another "main" owner) made the whole place feel like a we had just been scammed by some street, con-man.

There are many good fish restaurants in Weymouth. Our personal recommendation is that you...

Edited to make more constructive having had time to properly reflect

Overall: would go back next time I’m in Weymouth. Great food with a fledgling waiting staff and a determined attitude to continually improve.

Firstly, thank you to Mike (head chef and owner) for taking us through the story behind this restaurant and the ambition for the future. His experience at Michelin starred restaurants in London should prove invaluable to the success of this venture.

That said, this restaurant and the experience is truly like a game of two halves.

A good half: The kitchen: run with military precision, like clockwork. Really strong, dedicated, full-time staff and some really strong, focussed, detailed chefs. Great potential.

B bad half: The service: it seemed (we think) to be led by a man who didn’t seem to care about any kind of service etiquette or guest experience, and who only came over to take payment. There were a few inexperienced waiting staff, who did their very best, but the whole experience was rushed - the wine pairing and the dishes were not always introduced properly, and the attention to detail was somewhat lacking. If this place is to achieve a Michelin star, it needs to improve on this front.

The ambition of Mike plus the ownership team, however, seems to be to provide a haven to nurture young talent and serve good food to local people. Indeed, there was a lot of young talent in both the kitchen and the waiting staff. Admirable, for sure.

I just worry that with a £75 tasting menu + £45 for wine pairings, the restaurant should focus on getting the basics of service right first, to complement the excellent food. I struggle to see a loyal base of local people paying those prices.

In terms of the food, the £75 tasting menu is served across 8 courses. It started with bread and lobster butter, which was very tasty. The courses were then: Scallop tartar - excellent Trout tart - very tasty but we found we needed separate plates and an explanation of how to eat this rather messy dish, neither of which were forthcoming Crab cannelloni with crab bisque - truly excellent Mackerel and oyster - average. And it came so quickly after the crab that I’d barely even got halfway through my (very large) wine pairing from the crab dish, before my mackerel wine pairing was poured and the mackerel was brought out. All very rushed. This course was also a little big for an 8-course tasting menu. Gurnard - tasty but again, far far too big. There were 2 full gurnard fillets on the plate, along with an entire stew of vegetables and undercooked beans. Strange course, made all the better, however, by the fennel salt it was served with. Pork - tasty fillet of pork with veg, incl a stuffing Bon Bon wrapped in a cabbage leaf (of sorts), and an excellent pork and red wine reduction. Very tasty, but by now we were really full already, due to the large portion and wine sizes Blackcurrant sorbet. Tasty but possibly the most sour thing I’ve ever eaten, including sour sweets. I liked it, but my partner left his. Chocolate and cherry (effectively a Black Forest gateaux). Tasty but very heavy after all that food. Served with a dark sherry which again was a little too heavy. Ate half.

Listening to Mike, this place is on a journey, and I’d like to see how that...

As a local, I was excited when Catch opened & chose it for my 30th family dinner. I’d heard mixed reviews regarding the service from others but the menu looked fantastic! Upon arrival the table wasn’t ready (still people eating) so we went for a walk for 15 mins.

Starters came quickly and were fantastic. The presentation, the flavours, they were brilliant all round. These were cleared and after an hour, we hadn’t received our mains; The restaurant had 4 tables empty by this time 21:30 (it’s not huge though). When I spoke with the lady in all black (hostess?) she didn’t apologise at all, and said did I want her to find out how long it would be & she said 4 minutes. 10 minutes later (1hr 10 wait) the main came.

Unfortunately the hake was raw. I asked the waitress if it was meant to be pink and cold in the middle and she asked the chef. The chef said yes it has a bloodline but I advised again it was cold. He leant over the counter, raised his voice and said “if it’s cold bring it back then”. At this point I asked to speak with the owner, as I said I’d rather discuss so she can rectify the bad experience than say nothing and leave a bad review. Although she was lovely, she didn’t apologise or even offer any kind of drink or even extra bread/water given I’d waited 1hr 10 for a raw piece of fish - she didn’t seem too bothered? During this time another gentleman came over to her and complained he had been waiting over an hour for his dinner and was clearly irate, and another table of 4 requested some more bread as they’d been waiting over an hour for their mains.

When the hake came back it was lovely & beautifully presented (although the hostess in black delivered it without any apology) The bill came and after I’d paid (total £173) the Hostess in black didn’t say please or thank you she just walked off. I raised this and she said it was because she was french….?! She then said she was joking but we didn’t find it amusing.

I wouldn’t have left a review had the Owner/Head Waitress made an effort to rectify the poor service, rude manners and raw hake incident when we discussed this with them. However complaints were met with “it’s fine dining” “teething issues” “I’m taking this all in” and just a severe lack of any apology. So, so disappointed, it’s such a shame. Food was fabulous (when it came and was cooked) and the restaurant is beautiful, but the service (kitchen time) and the rudeness and severe lack of customer service from the hostess & chef was astonishing. To top it off the lack of any apology was deeply...