The Bareca at Bike & Boot Leisure Hotels - Scarborough — Restaurant in England

We were staying in the hotel this restaurant is housed in and ate here and brought our dog. It’s got a good vibe, modern and quirky. We were firstly confused by a tapas offer they had on a menu on the table. Three tapas for £13 but the exclusion notes were confusing and we couldn’t work out if it applied to us. We asked and it didn’t (why have that offer on the table then?). I had chicken Milanese that came with lots of lovely roast potatoes. Couldn’t fault it. However my partner is vegetarian. He wanted three of the tapas dishes. One was truffle and Parmesan fries shown with a V. He asked about the Parmesan and if it was actual Parmesan (not veggie as it’s made with animal rennet) or a vegetarian hard cheese. She went to check and said it was Parmesan so that ruled that dish out as it wasn’t vegetarian. Next, garlic cheese bread. Asked again about the cheese. She went to check and came back and said it was just cheddar ( vegetarian cheddar?). This was getting tiresome. Then the deep fried mozzarella (we lost the will the ask if it was vegetarian mozzarella). Unfortunately that came with a dollop of pesto on top which wasn’t on the menu and as pesto contains Parmesan it isn’t vegetarian so ent it back. So a message to the restaurant. Don’t put a V on a dish containing cheese if the cheese used isn’t vegetarian (I.e. contains animal rennet made from a calves stomach) AND educate your staff about vegetarian cheese. We shouldn’t have to ask if a dish is actual vegetarian if you put a V on your menu. And if w had just relied on the V symbols my partner would have eaten meat derivatives without knowing.

As a result of this it spoilt our meal and my partner left feeling hungry. We would stay at this hotel again but would have to eat somewhere...

Came here about 5 pm on a Thursday. Glad we came early as it soon got busy. We had 8 tapa and a paella between us.

Roast Potatoes with rosemary - these were exquisite, one of my favourites. Slightly crunchy giving way to a melt in the mouth centre with the healthy taste of fat !

Truffle and Parmesan Fries - I was disappointed in these, did not pick up the truffle at all and they were just bland.

Mac and Cheese - Sauce good for dipping other stuff in but again this lacked punch and depth of flavour.

Charcuterie - Served in a dish on a layer of rocket. Would have been nice to have some olive oil on the table to drizzle on.

Hot Spicy Chicken Wings - not hot or spicy but were tasty enough.

Fresh Mussels - Came in their own little mussel pot, quite a lot of broken shells and grit. Thin watery sauce. My biggest let down. Doubtful of how fresh they were.

King prawn skewers - advertised as barbecued, shame I saw no char but they were tasty enough.

Calamari - these were immense. I believe they were in Panko breadcrumbs which made a real difference.

Seafood Paella - The top cm of rice was chalky and undercooked but once you got through it was tasty enough.

Although there are negative comments we really enjoyed the meal. The atmosphere was top notch, room big and airy with great views. Only two waiting on staff and I had difficulty in gaining their attention when required. But they were very pleasant.

Had one Old Fashioned cocktail and this was very well made.

Service charge added to bill at 5% which we were happy with. Total bill 90.

Accessibility - stairs at the front but they can let you in the back door to avoid them. There is a...

After lack lustre evening meal before a theatre event, we thought to give Bike & Boot a second chance with a Saturday lunch. That was a mistake. The service charge added to the bill added to the sheer disappointment that a place with so much to say for itself can offer such poor quality and un-lovingly plonked overpriced garbage. I had the grilled chicken burger for the second time and was appalled with a wet through bun soaked in chicken water... an obviously boiled or otherwise destroyed chicken breast with anaemic cheddar cheese or some semblance of it.. My partner had Mussels which came in a "tomato sauce".. The sauce transpires (according to the staff we asked) to be the pizza base tomato gloop, mixed with mater and splash of wine... It was horrible. It spoiled my weekend to fork out £37 for a junk wet through burger and mussels prepared by someone with a hatred for food. Same on you.. I expected better... I'll take my £ somewhere else next time. Twice...