Shoals Restaurant — Restaurant in England

We came here for a family birthday. We booked a 1 O’clock sitting, we were seated at around 1250, by a lovely waitress with purple highlights. At this point we were told there was not any mussels available today. Out of the four in the party I was the only one who was vegan. Looking at the menu there was one starter (Hummus, olives and Pita) and one main (vegan Lasagne). So this was what I planned to order.

They were prompt to take out order. Upon ordering, I was told by the other waitress I couldn’t have the starter as they had also run out of olives. I asked whether I could have another starter and I was told there wasn’t any other options “unfortunately”. Nor was she proactive to find me another option.

The three others in my party had chosen the Sardines and the scallops. Both of which I heard were of very good quality and fresh off the grill.

The table was cleared at around twenty past one. After almost an hour of looking out on the fantastic view we were served our main courses, as other tables around us were served their mains prior to ours we assume our order was forgotten about. Which isn’t what you expect when the total comes to over £100 for soft drinks and food.

The three fish eaters had the monkfish scampi. Each of which were left questioning whether it was in fact monkfish due to the texture and taste of the animal. My Lasagne was okay, nothing special or to write home about. I would say it was not worth the long wait, nor would I order again. However we agreed the chips were very good quality.

From our visit I got the impression the restaurant was slightly understaffed. Which was made obvious when the chef started running table orders himself. When we left, we noticed their was an upper section to the restaurant which was completely empty, however there was two staff up there. Perhaps would be made for useful if they were helping in the main section of the restaurant?

Based on the experience we had we would not return with the current offering for those with dietary requirements. Not to mention the long wait from the starters to the main course. Since there was not even an acknowledgement from the waitress that we were waiting for such a long time. This made our table feel forgotten about and unwelcome.

I hope that this was a one off event and others who are visiting have a better visit then ours. At least there is a fantastic view...

A large group of us visited here this evening for a special occasion. We pre-booked (several months in advance) so we could all celebrate together. On arrival, the lady with the red hair was incredibly rude and made us feel very unwelcome. We pointed out that it wasn't clear that we would be seated at different tables. We politely asked if we could join the tables as we wanted to celebrate as one group. The lady with the red hair proceeded to roll her eyes at us, sigh loudly, mutter under her breath and had the tone of a grumpy teenager when talking to us. This lady made us feel incredibly unwelcome. We managed to rearrange the tables ourselves. This lady left and another lady with blonde hair served our table. This lady was equally as rude to the entire group. The same lady clearly did not care that we were celebrating a special occasion and even abruptly told us to "MOVE" as our families were trying to present us with a special wedding gift. The same lady also refused to provide us with dessert and explicitly expressed her discontentment that we had requested dessert for a few members of the group. Several of us agreed that it was the worst and most aggressive service we have ever encountered. The food was fantastic, the chefs must be commended. The main redeeming factor was the wonderful Zach. He was incredibly lovely, attentive and an absolute pleasure, despite working with two incredibly rude colleagues. The two ladies need to take a leaf out of his book. He deserves 5 stars for his effort and friendliness. He managed to change our impression of the establishment. Zach deserves a promotion, a...

Take a walk along the sea front out of the tourist hub and you won't regret it when you stumble on this gem! They seemed busy and we're struggling for space which is always quite a good sign. We managed to get a table outside overlooking the sea pool and beyond.

Don't be put off by the plastic traditional style bistro menus, which gives the impression of deep fried fish from the freezer vibes. No this is so much more!...

Unfortunately after ordering we were told the dish had sold out, a little disappointed at first just because we really fancied the crab sandwich - but hey ho this happens in hospitality- so we made an alternative choice.

The service was impeccable, so friendly, attentive, and automatically bought extra side plates as they knew we were sharing- all the condiments, extra spoons for sauce, and lemon finger bowl and shell plate. They just had it right. And that was before we even ate the food.

It completely shocked us how fresh and tasty it all was. The freezer goujons we expected were 2 big pieces of fresh meaty fish hand battered and fried with a delicious herby homemade tartare sauce. Then the mussels, prawns and scallops dish was the tastiest we have had. Sometimes the white wine cream sauce so often with mussels is limp and too harsh with a white flavour not cooked out enough- but this had been reduced and had so much depth of flavour we even found a few bay leaves which was very promising. Overall exceptional portions, value for money, service and food. Will definitely be back and you could see from how many locals were coming back- we wish you all...