Perch on Worthing Pier — Restaurant in England

I booked a table for a party of 5, 3 weeks prior to our attendance at the restaurant. When we arrived on the day (5 minutes before our booking) we were told the table wasn’t ready yet and we sat at the bar with no offer of drinks and were ignored for around 10 minutes until someone showed us to a table that was now “ready”. The table had not been wiped as it was incredibly sticky all over and there were only napkins on the table (no cutlery) as we were just seating ourselves a waitress came over to ask for a drinks order, we asked if we could sit and look at the menu first, she walked off and never came back.

We were then ignored for around 20 minutes and had to flag someone down to come and take a drinks and food order. The drinks took around 15 minutes to arrive, 2 beers and 2 iced coffees, the water for the table never arrived and we had to again flag down a waitress for a glass of water for the child at the table.

The food came out after a reasonable wait (around 25 minutes) however, I know why it only took that long. We ordered 2 portions of muscles, a Korean chicken burger, child’s mac & Cheese, and a protein plate. The muscles were exceptional according to the friends eating them, the rest of the food though, absolute farce. It was all stone cold, had next to no flavour and appeared to have been cooked hours prior and only partially reheated and thrown onto a plate. We had to ask for cutlery from 3 separate people before it was eventually provided and the waitress carrying the muscles to the table decided to hold the rims of the plates with her sleeves which is a hygiene issue.

The only redeeming point to our visit was the manager had the courtesy to remove everything off the bill other than the muscles which we advised we were happy to pay for. We left disappointed with the service and food and sadly will not be returning.

Advice to the management – Train staff better so they are more attentive to their tables or hire more staff if they cannot keep up with the pace. Request your kitchen inspects what they are sending out as, if I worked in a kitchen, I would have been embarrassed to send that to a table and expect guests to eat it, let...

Atmosphere and decor was second to none however food and service was a bit of a let down. I had celebrated my birthday when we attended. I remember once we arrived when we had to wait for our table, we weren’t offered a drink from the bar and had to wait 15 minutes before we were sat down. As we sat down, it took another 10 minutes to even have another staff member to offer us a drink too. As they arrived, the waitress hadn’t known the order in what was given and for me, not myself drinking alcohol, I was told the glass was a Diet Coke when it fact it was a vodka and coke and I immediately spat it out using the salt on the side to take the taste away like I was taking a tequila shot. Mains had eventually got ordered and they were very nice especially the dry beef that had come out. As the meals had finished, the waitresses can kindly asked if we wanted the dessert menu in where we received this another 15 minutes later. I had been here before and knew especially of the cheesecake was very good from previous occasions. However this was a disappointment and affected the whole experience for me. We had been served the cheesecake and I never had one which felt so rubbery and unprepared. I only had two mouthfuls in where this was easy on the eye on look at but it genuinely has put me off eating cheesecake. Other members of our party had been disappointed with there orders as well as the donuts too in where I know people had spat there’s out and felt sick. We had complained about the order and I mentioned about the cheesecake too, the waitress had said about our order to say sorry I can see what we can do and they only took £3.00 off a £7.50 order off the cheesecake which I found incredibly embarrassing and sour and probably will not be returning of this. I had planned to give a tip but that made me not want too. Very disappointed with the experience and for such a lovely building with great interior and views, I had expected a lot more. Breakfast and Lunch might be a different occasion but dinner sadly didn’t reach the levels in...

Perch On Worthing Pier: Where Traditions Meet Confusion (And Possibly Curry Sauce)

Yes, it's a restaurant, not a seagull directive – though given the pier location, the confusion is understandable. Perch delivers on the classic British seaside experience with the sort of friendly, efficient staff that makes you remember why we're supposed to love coastal dining.

Coming from proper northern stock, I arrived with the sacred expectation of fish, chips, and mushy peas – the holy trinity of seaside sustenance. The fish and chips were genuinely excellent: crispy, golden, and satisfying in that way that makes you forgive Britain for most of its culinary crimes. Skin left on the fish, which purists might debate but I found perfectly acceptable.

Then came the peas. Listed honestly as "pea purée" rather than traditional mushy peas, they arrived as a vivid green mound that looked more like something from a baby food jar than a northern chippy. Fair enough – accuracy in menu description is commendable. What wasn't expected was the mysterious curry undertone that somehow infiltrated my innocent peas. Either there's been some interesting cross-contamination with the curry sauce, or someone's been experimenting with fusion cuisine without updating the description.

Being a solo diner lacking the confidence for face-to-face confrontation, I suffered in polite British silence while my peas sat there tasting of distant spices and confusion. Sometimes the awkwardness of complaining outweighs the disappointment of substandard sides.

The pier setting more than compensated – watching the cliffs stretch into the distance while seagulls performed their usual aerial harassment routine. There's something about dining with your feet dangling over the English Channel that makes even curry-flavored peas seem like a minor inconvenience.

Four stars for staff efficiency, four for that unbeatable pier view, but only one for peas that seemed to have had an identity crisis.

Next time: stick to the fish and chips, skip the...