Silks Bistro & Champagne Bar — Restaurant in England

We are locals in Newquay and have used silks for some special occasions in the past and loved it. The change in management seems to however made this place go down hill completely and I would not recommend to locals or those visiting; my husband called to book a table for 2 to mark our anniversary, when the booking was taken over the phone they had said they would do something nice for mark the occasion at the restaurant. When we arrived half the doors weren’t even open, there was no one in the restaurant other than the chef. We stood for a while expecting someone to appear but they never did so we approached the chef who went and got someone to seat us. When we got a menu we asked a few questions about the wines - with it being a champagne bar we wanted to have something special however there was no one on site who knew anything at all about any of the wines which was very disappointing. We eventually chose a wine and the waitress went to get it. After a 15mins wait with no drinks at all she came back to advise they don’t in fact have it. The squid was super dry, Camembert average. We ordered steak which was well over done - kindly the server took it away to correct it however with the chef being out in the open (we and other guests were able to see him) his reaction (angry and fed up) and the faces he pulled when asked to re do the steak made us feel very uncomfortable so we did not say anything when the plate came back with the steak incorrectly done for the second time; instead I tried my best to eat what I could but left most of the food. The tomatoes were not cooked and half the plate was filled with them. Nothing at all was done to mark the occasion in-fact no one even knew that it was a special occasion which my husband was quite upset about as he would have done something himself had he not been told they would handle it. We were slapped with a £90+ bill at the end and were very upset with our experience. The ladies who served us were wonderful and this was the only good take back we had. I later called the restaurant to discuss our experience with the manager who kindly offered for us to come in for a free meal with free drinks he even offered to serve us himself and was very apologetic; he said we would receive and email with Confirmation of this. The email never came - I have made multiple calls now over the course of a MONTH and every time you ask to speak to the manager he is “in a meeting” or “doing interviews” I’ve been promised multiple callbacks/emails and not once have i received one. The way the complaint was handled was far worse than the complaint itself and we feel very let down. We have given up now and have made the sensible decision to avoid this place like The plague and warn our family, friends, locals and visitors not to waste their money on Silks. Overall a very underwhelming, disappointing and pretty pathetic experience. I hear the restaurant at the headland is wonderful for a special occasion and I plan to try there next - I suggest you all do the same. Better views too ;) Shame really as this was a nice spot once...

The setting was lovely apart from chandelier needing that needed to be re-attached

The menu options are the standard steak, burgers, fish and chips which you can find any hungry horse, but it was highly priced so of course I had high expectations.

Ordered a glass of champagne, not only did it seem like it was being fetched from afar, but by the time it arrived, it was flat, poured from a bottle that was opened yesterday it seemed.

I started with the muscles, it was fine, nothing out the ordinary apart from the odd bit of bacon thrown in, which is something I’ve not had before.

I had steak for main, asked for it rare, then came over medium, had to send it back, it was re-made, but then came back after my friend had finished her main. The steak seemed to have been cooked in an old pan or old oil had a very bitter aftertaste, I ate the steak to save face and left everything else on the plate.

I didn’t have any dessert as it totally put me off.

Waitresses were okay, Asian lady was very sweet, the other waitress seemed to want to turn the table over quickly, even though there was only 4 tables in a 30 odd table restaurant, so felt very rushed.

Overall, menu needs to be updated, or if keeping the same menu, the quality needs to be improved to match the expectation the place gives.

Sadly...

Such a shame. We came to the hotel to celebrate my parents joint 80th birthday last weekend which was a wonderful event, and tonight was my mother's actual birthday and she wanted to come to Silks to ring in her actual day. The staff tonight were doing their best to serve everyone despite only being three of them. The two front of house and one chef in the kitchen had to handle the drinks and food orders.

Our table of 7 had to wait nearly an hour before our food order was taken. Several tables came in after ours and had their food get served first, but they also had a long wait. Both of my parents were excited to come here tonight and they were let down, both actually feeling angry and frustrated.

To be clear, this isn't the fault of the people working tonight. They were let down by their management as there were no managers on duty as both had gone home. The chef had to prep, cook, serve up and clean. I've worked in hotel kitchens and know the struggle to not have someone assisting the chef. The two girls making drinks and serving the food had to work double hard to keep things flowing. They were lovely and professional throughout.

I expected much better, and the leadership of the restaurant let everyone down......