WestBeach — Restaurant in England

The short version:

This was the most terrible restaurant experience I have ever had in my fairly well-travelled life. Shameful really particularly as it is an expensive restaurant. Forget value for money or any type of recognisable service. Avoid.

The long version:

We were a group of 6 and had booked a table for 8pm.

We ordered around 8.15 -8.20 but then the waiter came back 2-3 times to tell us things had run out and we had to find something else. Starters arrived about an hour later at 9.05. In the meantime, we were just left to drink wine with nobody having thought to at least bring some bread out to keep us going. I had ordered a fish bouillabaisse for my starter. This had no fish in it or taste. It was a tomato soup with two mussels thrown in it, some discusting slimmy cheese at the bottom of the bowl and a paper-thin tiny bread slice. See photo. The price for this was £8.

By about 9.20 we were finished with starters. At 9.40 there was no news of our mains so I went to talk to the manager who said “oh yeah it’s fine your food is coming”.

A few minutes later, the waiter came to our table to say they have no more of the fish I had ordered and I had to choose something else – but that they had also run out of most of their dishes. In the end I asked for the same food as what another person in our table had ordered – cod.

Note: one person on our table had ordered seabass and had asked for their food to be gluten and lactose free because of a serious allergy - which was exlplained to all staff that spoke to us. Around 10.10 a different waiter brings the seabass and the two cods that were supposed to be the same, and says: “here is the normal cod and the gluten free 'replacement' cod” and pops the seabass in front of the person with the special order. We said to him that the cod was not supposed to be gluten free, but the seabass was (as well as lactose free) - exlpaining the allergy once more. The waiter very arrogantly said "no this is what you ordered". And further dismissing us said, the seabass is fine. We asked for the manager as this was not a mistake one could play with. The manager took around 10 minutes to come. The manager comes -and says to us that the seabass is fine to eat. Meanwhile another waiter turns up with my initial food – my original order. We all were buffled.

But! They then bring to the friend sat next to me something entirely different than what they had ordered. And said to him that it was his food in the end that they had run out of. And they just substituted with a different dish without asking him.

At this point the time was 10.30. That is 2 hours and 30 minutes after our arrival. I started eating my fish which was tasteless (and a very small portion) – price-tag for that dish was £22.

We ate in the empty restaurant as all other customers had left by this point. In the end the manager understood that he could not ask us to pay (after previously having offered to not charge for my main dish only). He said he would "file a report about the incident".

We decided to leave £5 each as tip for the one nice waiter that was the only decent person there and the only one that seemed to really feel bad and understand how unacceptable all of this was.

The overall price of our meal would have been over 250 pounds. I still cannot believe all of this happened in a restaurant that is supposed to be expensive and relatively up-market. It was like a surreal, bad comedy sketch. Avoid and spend your...

What an absolute disaster our visit was today. We had been drawn in by the mentions of fourth best fish restaurant in the UK and placement in the Good Food Guide, surely those diners must have been at a different restaurant. I'd advise you not to be so gullible.

We had a yardstick of Angler last year and Rick Steins the day before, an amazing and a very good establishment respectively, (as well as the always dependable Fish House for a Friday treat near home), so we took the fourth best with a pinch of salt(water), but we went to enjoy our dinner anyway or so we hoped.

Sadly, problems began pretty much as the starter arrived, a honey and sesame halloumi, with jalapeño yogurt and tabbouleh, a dish that sung to my Lebanese roots. Whether it was the absence of any honey or sesame on a lazily grilled slab of cheese - the side to the plate had failed to touch any heat, or the the poor waiter, who obviously had no idea what tabbouleh was when we enquired which part of the dish was the tabbouleh, or the concerted effort of the chef to suggest that a few pomegranate seeds and some chopped leaves was tabbouleh that things really started to grate. A replacement side dish of a take on tabbouleh was eventually supplied and with a hint of saffron, a spark of turmeric turning the bulgar yellow and a real kick of chilli, I struggled to work out why the dish wasn't just served as described in the first place.

The second course however was even worse, a real "challenge accepted" it seems by the chef. A hake fillet, skin burnt to a sad and upsetting crisp, swimming over risotto. At least the swimming part perhaps got it right in the sense that like the sea I tried to make my way through both cold and hot parts to the risotto, supposedly of the smoked applewood and butternut variety, which lacked any semblance of the smokey (but surprisingly artificial) flavour of the cheddar cheese supposed to be in the dish. The crispy sage must have been sitting next to the tabbouleh bowl as it didn't make an appearance, instead I got some decorative fresh leaves, maybe baby lambs lettuce? Who knows. The dish was left at the half way stage.

I'm all for needed changes in a menu but these should be advertised at ordering. Westbeach well and truly falls into the don't care brigade band, serve it and the clients should eat it as we obviously have no pride in our menu and if challenged, well let's push back. I came away with a real distaste in my mouth only partly to do with the food itself.

All in all, on pricing terms this was at a par with Rick Steins, and certainly not worth the requested value of the final bill - this place is a literal world away in quality of cheffing and service. Please do yourself and your friends, family, colleagues or whoever else you care about a favour and...

It’s taken me over a week to get around to writing this after our experience on 25th March. As working out what to rate and say, as the restraint had some redeeming qualities.

• Our service was funny and great with the kids. • He did try his best when something was not right. • The kids portion where generous, and the item from the small bites seems reasonable. • The location is lovely.

The however …

• The triple cooked chips are raw in the middle and close to being burnt on the outside. • One of the meals had to be sent back as it was cooked so poorly. • The mains and the drinks, you are paying a huge seaside tax • We’d sent most of our orders over in advance to help as we were a large group, so the meals came out as close together as possible, but there were big gaps in all the parties food coming to the table, and when ordering drinks there was a huge wait. However, looking at other reviews it appears we did get our food quicker than most that day. • And the issue that affected me the most. Do not go here if your veggie or vegan. I’d seen that it was vegan veg friendly online but could not see anything on the menu. Called up in advance and was told that these options where part of the daily specials.

Once I got there, I could not see anything on the specials, so I asked our server. He looked confused, and said he’d speak to the chef and see what he could do. I was a bit taken back about why he’d be confused.

Without seeing any menu a ‘Salad’ came out that contained a roughly chopped iceberg lettuce, some thin slices of cheese and 1 poached egg. My family could not believe that was the veggie option and my sister complained, so it was taken away and a few slices of pepper, some humus and a slice of bread was added.

I did not dare be that person to check as it was hard cheese if it was in fact veggie, though many would. So, I dread to think it they understand the true intricacies of a vegan mean or would they just be a bowl of lettuce. I mean even McDonald understand it a better now.

I’ve been veggie of vegan 20 years and provided I know in advance if a place dose not cater, I can make a meal out of a mix of starts and sides, or even I have been known to bring my own food so that we can all eat at somewhere nice. This was the first time we’d been able to meet as a whole family since before the pandemic, and so really wanted a great will and these may seem like little things, but really did dampen the experience.

Ow additionally they charged me £16...