Rocksalt Epsom — Restaurant in Epsom and Ewell

Nice place, the staff is good, but the owner needs some management training. I agree to do not serve alcohol when someone is drunk but when we asked a Long Island ice tea with lemonade it arrived with just lemonade. They were 5 ing to make this cocktail. If you use 15 ml that makes 75 ml of alcohol which you should test it. Never mind because as I previously said they did good to don’t serve anymore alcohol if someone is drunk already and that’s why we left it until the Check came out. Hilarious, they added the 11.90£ on the check but it was only lemonade and at this point we didn’t expect that so we went to ask for some explanation. Bad idea guys. As soon as I approached the bar with the drink on my hand to explain that we ordered a Long Island ice tea with lemonade and it came just we lemonade thinking that the barman didn’t add any alcohol the situation escalated in 0.01 sec. Aggressively the Barman said : yes I make the cocktail I’m the owner but don’t say that, DONT SAY I DIDNT PUT alcohol, I put alcohol. What do you want? Take off the check? You don’t want to pay? Wow guys, I was shocked, all my friends 5 of them said what was that? the only thing I wanted was just to let him know that I’m more than happy to pay just for the lemonade because clearly it wasn’t any alcohol there but he didn’t even let me explain my point of view. The check was 130 pound already so I don’t think for 10 pound less is gonna change my life. Anyway after that the “owner” took the drink off the bill but definitely he needs a BIG COURSE OF MANAGEMENT TRAINING. Hopefully you are reading this because in 11 years of hospitality experience if you don’t change attitude, the place will be shut down JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR RIDICULOUS ATTITUDE TO CONFRONT COSTUMERS/GUEST And remember THE COSTUMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT if you mess it up...

I went out with a friend for Dinner. For my starter I had the calamari, which was unfortunately very chewy and probably, hit it, for the worst I've ever had. For my Main I had the chicken fijitas and found 3 hairs in my food, which because of the extremely dim lighting I wasn’t able to figure out if they were mine or not, however as it had happened more than once I am going to assume it wasn’t, nonetheless the fajitas were delicious but I was rather put off, after the repetition of hairs in my mouth.

I ordered the ‘porn star martini’ which kind of tasted like it came from a can, it lacked any real flavour and was a rather watery consistency for a cocktail (I like mine thicker with a passionfruit puree)

I then ordered the ‘Whiskey Sour’ which was not what I was expecting at all. It wasn’t sour, it was just strong and essentially tasted like whiskey on the rocks. Upon inspection the ‘Amerretto’ was (optional) and so was the ‘egg white’ which was in a fine print underneath so perhaps this was my fault, however usually I assume that unless it is said you don’t want something, you would then not add it… which to me defeated the whole point of a whiskey sour, otherwise I would have just asked for Whiskey.

I gave two stars because I did enjoy the ambience, and the wait time was reasonable, not too fast and not too slow, however the dimness made me feel tired, like my eyes were stinging from constantly trying to make things out, so if you have bad eye sight maybe reconsider...

Situated in Epsom, Rock Salt offers a mixed dining experience that, whilst having some merits, falls a bit short of being truly satisfying. The staff strike a suitable balance - professional and efficient without being overfamiliar - and the service moves at a respectable pace.

The quality of the food is acceptable, though the portion sizes leave something to be desired. Whilst the ingredients appear to be of decent quality and the preparation competent, one might wish for more generous servings to justify the price point.

However, the restaurant's most significant shortcoming lies in its architectural layout. The combination of low ceilings and tightly packed tables creates a challenging acoustic environment. On our busy evening visit, the ambient music, coupled with the overwhelming din of neighbouring conversations, created an almost unbearable cacophony. The noise levels were such that normal conversation became virtually impossible, rather spoiling what might otherwise have been a pleasant dining experience.

The difficult dining environment makes it challenging to recommend, particularly for those seeking a relaxed evening meal or hoping to engage in conversation over dinner but if you prefer a loud, energetic environment then it's probably...