The Offshore Bar and Restaurant — Restaurant in England

We arrived for our meal (for 9 people) which was previously booked with the manager at the start of September. Having paid a deposit and (almost) pre-ordering I was under the impression the booking was going to be organised and professional. When emailing the manager, there were changes to our table when she explained the main menu will no longer be offered after we had already made our pre-orders as requested. Unorganised but things happen.

On arrival to our booking, the table of 9 was separated into 2 tables of 4 and 5 and we were asked to not move the tables - this was not discussed with us first and we were obviously wanting to sit together. The menu which I was told was not being offered was also on the table. The waitress then told us our order will have to be taken in 2 - this led to the 2nd tables food coming out 45 minutes after the 1st. A table of 9 is not a big table, especially when we had booked 5/6 weeks in advance and they were not busy for food.

When approaching the bar, i asked if I could hand over the birthday cake to a female member of staff, her response was 'not to me, no', asking who I should give it to then she responded 'a waitress'. The staff were overall rude, unapproachable and clearly did not have any management overlooking there work or in general the floor of an entire bar and restaurant on a Saturday night. We do not expect 5* service but gosh some manners would've helped the situation!

Another server who often brought our drinks to our table, would only hover the tray of drinks above our heads expecting us to reach up and grab them off the tray (fine if the tray is placed on table due to covid etc) but this was not the case. The server did not know what drink was in each glass leading to her giving a pregnant women an alcoholic drink rather than 0% lager which we luckily soon realised ourselves.

When asking for a manager (silwiya) towards the end who I had booked with, a FOH explained she wasn't on shift and got a different manager. A lady wearing the same as the waitress', who could not be identified as a supervisor etc, did approach me (although we had not seen her all night) and did listen and apologise for the experience we had that night (16th October). I was not told her name but she had a foreign accent.

We would like to add that the food was completely faultless, when it did finally arrive. We had a range of different things off the menu and we all thought it was really tasty. We however were not offered desserts which with 9 people is a huge loss of profit on the business' behalf.

The manager then brought the cake and the bill over for us. I must say she did justify this experience by taking a considerable amount off the bill which did rectify the frustration of what was supposed to be a great surprise for my partners birthday. She did apologise during discussion which was hugely appreciated but we weren't spoken to when leaving.

We would return for drinks in the summer, but we would not return for a meal due to the lack of control, service and general manners of the staff but thumbs up to the chef who is obviously providing great food but should definitely be capable of cooking for 9 people at once on a...

I visited here Saturday night with two friends after it was recommended to me. The location is perfect and if the weather was kinder, you could have compared it to a Mediterranean setting. Alas, it was a little chilly and we dined outside the restaurant at 20:30.

A little confusion at the start of the meal as the staff seemed disorganised and erratic. Things calmed down and we were given menus then informed that the kitchen closes at nine. We had to pay for the meals in advance which I found strange. I quipped “ is it because I’m not only Welsh but mixed race as well?” The server politely informed us that people often leave without paying, not just outside but also inside the restaurant!

Onto the meals then. For starters, I had the pork belly bites. They were very tasty and seasoned well and garnished with coriander. Just a small bowl but were just enough to get the taste buds fired up. I haven’t had surf and turf for many years and couldn’t resist after seeing it on the menu. I had a Sam Miguel on draught and friends opted for soft drinks.

The mains arrived after 10-15 minutes so not long at all. The restaurant was busy inside and we chose to be away from the crowd deliberately. I had the fillet steak cooked medium rare and peppercorn sauce. Chunky chips a mushroom and cherry vine tomatoes accompanied the dish. Also in a small bowl were three king prawns.

The steak was magnificent and cooked to perfection. Medium rare it was and at a guess, I’d say 6-8 ounces. I never got told. Peppercorn sauce was in a gravy dish and the chunky chips were sadly frozen ones but not bad. My friend had scallops with a side of fries. He seemed to enjoy it. His partner arrived not long after and had some of his meal as the kitchen had now closed. Although what she was wearing certainly made her dish...

Disappointing Experience with the Table-Only Service.

Three friends and I visited Offshore on Saturday for some pre-dinner drinks. Unfortunately, the experience was let down by poor service from the outset.

When a couple of us popped our heads into the bar to see what drinks were available, we were promptly ushered out and told to be seated, as it was a table-service-only establishment. That’s fair enough, but what followed was disappointing. The member of staff who had seen us sit down proceeded to serve other tables and then returned to her station outside, simply standing there. We had to wave her over to place our order.

After we finished our drinks, it took over 15 minutes and another wave to get her attention again. Not long after this, more friends had joined our table, but no effort was made to come over and take their order either. It felt like we were being more of a bother than paying customers.

On a trip to the toilet (which genuinely felt like I needed permission for), I noticed around 6 or 7 staff just standing around inside chatting. I asked one waitress if there was a licensing reason for the restrictions, but she said it was just a management decision due to the restaurant's nature, and that it’s a regular complaint.

It’s a real shame, especially since all the customers sitting at the tables appeared to be drinks-only. If you’re going to insist on table service, it needs to be done properly; the staff should be attentive, friendly, and proactive.

We ended up heading to Elton’s Piano Bar after dinner, where the contrast was stark: genuinely warm, fast, and welcoming table service. Not once were we left with a single empty glass; the staff were constantly checking, exactly how...