Clucking Oinks - Castlegate — Restaurant in England

We booked a table for two at 7.45pm on a Friday evening as part of the restaurant week deal. The server that took our drinks order was friendly and we received our drinks quickly. However, we waited 50 minutes for our food to arrive: 2 burgers and 2 fries. The kitchen was clearly running behind as other tables were complaining about the wait. No server came to check on us until 45 minutes in when the server passed by and said our order will be out soon. We were patient as we had previously dined here before and found the food great. While waiting, we overheard a deliveroo driver complaining that it had been 60 minutes that they were waiting for the order and overheard the manager rudely responding with “that’s how a Friday night is here, nothing we can do guys”. It made us feel uncomfortable to say anything as they did not seem to be open to any in-person feedback. Their responses to 1-star reviews shows their distaste towards honest feedback. This should not be a ‘normal’ Friday night and there are ways to mitigate issues like this as the manager of the restaurant.

When our food came, the fries were great and really tasty but we were quite disappointed with the burgers. The buns and the chicken were dry. Nobody came to check on us during our meal until we were finished. I gave feedback about the food and the server awkwardly apologised and walked away to bag the rest of my chips. The manager had responded to other reviews and advised to give verbal feedback instead of a Google review, which is exactly what I did, but they didn’t take it onboard. If we had come outside of restaurant week, having to pay £18.50 for a burger and fries, I would consider it overpriced for the overall...

We were wandering around York on Saturday evening (15.02.2025) at around 19:00, looking for a place to grab some tea. That’s when we stumbled upon Clucking Oinks, an absolute hidden gem!

Since we hadn’t made any reservations (our trip to York was completely unplanned), we were relieved to be seated almost immediately. The two lovely people behind the till welcomed us warmly, explained the menu, and gave us plenty of time to decide what we wanted.

My partner went for the Big Cluck Burger, while I opted for the Dean Martin, both came with Classic Fries. We were tempted to upgrade to Loaded Fries for just an extra £2.50, but our stomachs were already in for a feast!

We also couldn’t resist trying the special small plate of Cornbread, topped with chopped red chillies, salad onions, hot honey, and gochujang butter, an absolute flavour bomb! 🤯

The food? Faultless. We paired it with a J2O Orange & Passionfruit and the best Karma Sparkling drink Ginger Ale. The portions were generous and great value for money, we even had to pack up our fries for a midnight snack! 😆😆

Now, about the two amazing people running the place. It was packed, every seat full, and yet they managed everything with the biggest smiles on their faces. Having worked in fast food myself, I know how stressful it can get, and I have to say that their service was absolutely banging!

We raved about Clucking Oinks to everyone we met that evening, and we’ll definitely be back, hopefully with more room in our bellies next time! 🤭

(ps. Just the running jokes about people who take 10 whole minutes to do food photography stressed me out so I ended up taking a very blurry snapchat picture, will definitely click better pictures...

Impromptu visit never having visited before. Ignored initially and was asked what my order number was. “Sorry what?” - “I don’t have one” - “Who are you collecting for?” - “No one - I want to eat in.” The staff thought I was a bloody Deliveroo or Über collection driver!!! Ask next time - don’t assume. Got told 30 minutes, then found me somewhere instantly.

Food ordering service was quick and courteous. Disappointing that there was no decent cider - Rekorderlig isn’t really a cider. 😁

Food and drink was nice enough though. I had the Dean Martin Burger and it was very tasty although I wouldn’t have the bang bang salad again - way too wet and not my idea of a salad. Classic Fries. “We don’t do vinegar” - random! Victoria (Spanish) lager was refreshing enough. The only thing was the paper under the burger starter to break up and I found myself eating paper - chewy!

Mandatory / included service charge. Begrudgingly paid despite being mistaken for a collection driver!!

Very little atmosphere - and oddly the young couple beside me got their food and drink after me despite order ahead of me.

Might return next time I’m in York because the burger was nice....