Humber Fish Co — Restaurant in England

Firstly, I'm usually all about supporting local independent businesses as Hull can benefit with more great places to eat out and socialise. So it really pains me that I feel the need to write this review and only give it a 1 star rating because me and my friends were so disappointed and upset with the service we received during our visit to this restaurant. Writing this review is to hope that the restaurant owner will see this and hopefully improvements can be made so that future customers will have a better experience. However after reading previous reviews, and restaurant owner's vicious response to any negative customers' comments (and seems like we were not the only ones who had the same bad experience) and lack of accountability, I'm not hopeful they will take this in a constructive way and I'm already prepared for an aggressive reply from the owner but here we go... We were a group of 4 and booked a 5pm table. 3 of us arrived at the restaurant at 5pm and 1 of our friends was running slightly late (15-20mins). We told one of the waitress at the door that we were still waiting for 1 more person as we arrived and she was on her way. We got sat down and ordered our drinks, 5-10mins after we sat down, the waitress came and asked us again when would our friend be arriving, we said again she was on her way and shouldn't be long. Then the waitress told us we need to order our food soon as they need our table back by 7pm (this was not mentioned to us when we booked the table by the way). Anyway at that point it was only 5.15pm so there was still plenty of time so we were a bit baffled to why she was rushing us and pressuring us to order.

When our friend arrived, we felt really rushed to order our food. Food came, however while we were still eating (this was about 6.30pm) the waitress came back and "reminded" us again that they need the table back by 7pm as they have another booking straight after us. We looked around the restaurant and there were plenty of empty tables, so again we were very confused to why she was rushing us. We did ask her politely, to which she replied abruptly, because our table is a table of 4. But when you looked around, all the tables are the same size so it's very strange to why only our table can sit 4.

The worst part was that one of my friend was still trying to finish eating (around 6.45pm) and the waitress already came over and started clearing our table and taking things away (literally took the plate away as my friend were taking her last mouthful), and gave us the bill before we even asked for it (I see this as a very passive aggressive way to tell us to hurry up and get out)! I dine out all the time around UK and never experienced anything like this! We felt so rushed and disrespected and constantly be reminded how much time we have left, it was not an enjoyable experience! The funny thing is when we left at 7pm there were no one even waiting for a table at all and the restaurant was still half empty! We walked past the restaurant an hour later our table was still empty! So we had no idea why the need of the rush, it was so uneccessary!

I understand that restaurants have to try and turnaround as many tables as possible to make money but at the cost of good customer service and experience, really is unjustifiable and unforgivable. It's such a shame because you don't find many specialised seafood places in Hull and I did have high hopes but the service was that bad (food was very average and definitely don't compensate the horrible sevice) we definitely will not be returning again.

In response to restsurant's reply: As expected his reply style it to retaliate, twisting the truth and put all the blame onto the customer and taken zero accountability. Shame on you! We are genuinely nice people and in no way was rude to anyone. Anyway if this is how the owner thinks this is the way to treat their customers and thinks he is never in the wrong and refuses to take any constructive customer feedback, then good luck to him! I'll be surprised if this restaurant will still be open in...

Response to owners reply C was used so I did not name your staff member in a public review. As you have stated you prefer for her name to be on my review, I have updated it accordingly We did not ask for service every 3 minutes: this is a false accusation Insinuating insult to the royal family in your response is a reflection of your immaturity, an unfortunate reflection of your upbringing and respect to the royalty of your country. I ate the prawn and it was sour. therefore, i believe it is rotten. You have no right to dismiss my experience

I have read the responses to the poor reviews and the 'owner' has been consistently dismissive and condescending in all the responses - name calling and ridiculing customers who have had a poor experience.

I have tried to make my response rude as yours but simply cant stoop to your disgusting level

This is my experience and it is truthful =====

Meal: Dinner at 7.45pm Date 28 June

Quality of Food: 4/5 Quality of ambience: 5/5 Quality of service overall: 4/5 Quality of service from table waitress: 1/5

Booking 7.45pm 8.05pm I asked for recommendations for dinner. We were provided with 2 recommendations and ordered

At 8.25pm we were approached by Caroline who asked us what we wanted. I informed her we had already placed the order but she wanted us to tel her the order again which we did.

At 9pm I asked the wait staff for the food and how long it would take

Caroline returned to our table with her piece of paper and indicated to us with ‘evidence’ that we had placed our order with her at 8.25pm. At that point in time, I felt her manner was poor and seemed to accuse of us being impatient but I chose to smile and nod.

Our food arrived at 9.15pm 9.25pm Caroline asked us how our food was. We ordered 2 platers and from what we had eaten the food was good and seafood fresh

At 9.45pm I was peeling the King Prawns and the flesh was totally mushy - as seen in photo and it tasted sour.

I informed a male wait staff who apologized and said he would check up on this. Caroline returned to our table and asked us what the matter was. After I explained she told us “Well all our seafood is fresh catch from the day. When I check with you just now, you said it was all alright.” I re-eiterated that the prawn was rotten and gone bad.

Caroline said that she could see what I meant but again said that I had told her that the food was alright when she checked earlier in the evening.

As a feedback to Humber and Co This response from Caroline is unacceptable and seemed to implicate us in our concern over the food we ordered. I am not responsible to ‘check all the food’ in the 10 minutes it appears on my table. Less so when I order 2 platters. In any fresh catch there are always seafood that are dead and start to rot almost immediately. Just because your seafood is caught in the day, does not mean that it is all fresh.

My review is tainted because of Caroline. My experience with all the others were pleasant and had it not been for these interactions, I would have...

Went here for lunch and chose from the lunch menu. Would not do it again, there was a vast difference between items from the set lunch menu and the same item being served from the a la carte. I chose the basic haddock and chips, the fish small with just 8 chips hidden under the fish, good mushy peas. I understand the idea of a reduced plate size for a lunch menu but that was ridiculous and average. Nothing to complain of but nothing to make you want to try again. My partner had the sea bass fillets, a delicate fish best suited to a lighter tempura batter but it comes in a heavy chip shop batter, a shame as it meant removing it to get to the bass fillet. Coming from the south coast, I know a little of good and bad fish restaurants. My personal feeling avoid the lunch menu it is not good even though you get two courses for the set price, buy a main dish from the a la carte. The a la carte looks good and food being served around us looked of a different calibre entirely. The staff efficient and friendly, a real plus. The restaurant bright and clean. A shame we were left feeling ho humm about the meal that cost nearly £65 for lunch. We hope to have the amazing experience others have had, next time we go After the reply from Humber fish about plate sizes I acknowledged the plate size difference, I did have issue with the ridiculous point of 8 chips, that was sidestepped by yourselves. I acknowledged the food around us looked very good and my point being the dish we were served on your lunchtime menu was of a different standard The sea bass in siracha was not good. Complaining in a restaurant now is not wise, as mostly you are looked on as trying to get money off your meal or it Comped. This is not so. I noted your good reviews and can only imagine as I said they are for your a la carte because our experience of your lunchtime menu was...