The Best Dressed Crab Ltd — Restaurant in England

Slow service on the Isle of Wight falls into one of two categories. Either piece of life on the island, genuinely terrible service. Sadly, this falls into the latter more than the former.

We had a reservation for 2 pm and didn’t even get drinks until around 2.45. It was easily an hour after we arrived before we got some food. At least two tables who arrived after us was served and had their meals delivered before us.

There was hardly anything in way of an apology until we actually complained

We suggested by way of gesture, the restaurant could discount the price of one bottle of Prosecco, they brought us another free of charge. The wholesale cost of two bottles means they still made a profit.

Food is fine, although overpriced for what was ordered, sharing fish platter looked amazing. But one of our party had the coronation chicken sandwich which was average at best.

The restaurant feels more like a backstreet Café than it does a restaurant. There are far better places to eat and drink on the Isle of Wight. Save your money and...

Despite ringing twice in a week to book a table in advance inside the restaurant due to having someone with skin cancer with us and the staff calling us two hours before we were due to arrive to check we wanted inside. When we arrived we had been put on a table outside in the direct sunshine with no shade whatsoever. When asking for this to be rectified we was offered a two seater table literally outside the toilet even though there were three of us. There was a table empty which was reserved for someone an hour later and we were told that we could not have that one. This was a birthday meal with my family who live here and I had come over to see so our plans were totally scuppered and the staff were totally useless and didn’t even acknowledge it was their fault or try and sort it out, especially the lady serving who seemed to be completely on another planet. We left and will not be returning and went to the Crab and Lobster Inn where we had a lovely...

This was my second visit to The Best Dressed Crab. My first visit was in August this year; good service, good food and I was looking forward to returning. Today I arranged a visit with family and it was NOT a good experience. The tables were dirty and took a very long time to clear, even then they were left unclean. Service was very poor. We were left standing for 5 minutes whilst the scruffy looking staff member ate at our 'reserved' table and once we sat it was 20 minutes before our drinks were served. The glasses were dirty, one with stale lipstick and the other with debris. We ordered a seafood platter for 3, which was clearly for 2 people. Reminders for bread and the staff who did not speak English or understand the term 'wholemeal bread' was quite frustrating. We will not be returning and would not recommend The Best Dressed Crab. There are better places in Bembridge with much...