Rancho Steakhouse Fareham — Restaurant in Fareham

The quality fell short and wasn't worth the price.

Ordering a delivery from Uber Eats on a quiet Thursday evening, i was expecting both great quality food from the photos and the prices, as well as a fast delivery time, however unfortunately this wasn't the case.

Once my order placed through and it was accepted by the restaurant, a good 35 minutes went through with no updates when i then decided to phone the restaurant and ask for an ETA, were i was then told by a foreign man with a strong accent which was hard to understand, that they hadn't even started to make my food yet, and only just seen my order because i called in.

Another 30+ minutes later and i get a phone call saying they'll arrive in about 5 minutes, so i walk out to meet the driver, however it took him over 15 minutes to actually arrive, and he just stood there next to his car looking around clueless, so clearly didn't read my instructions or notes left on uber eats, of which he never actually updated either.

The food itself was disappointing, ordering the Ribs with chips, Onion rings, Calamari and a sticky toffee pudding.

No utensils was provided and the ribs was provided in just tin foil. The ribs tasted okay so no complaints there, but there was hardly any meat on them and was certainly not worth the individual price.

The Onion rings looked to be your standard frozen ones which was disappointing.

The Calamari was absolutely ridiculous as you can see in the photos, certainly not what was advertised on their website, google maps or uber eats, with absolutely tiny rings of Calamari and hardly any batter on them, certainly not worth £7 for a single tiny portion. It also unfortunately arrived soggy and lukewarm so it was a bit of a gamble to eat it.

The sticky toffee pudding was also a massive let down, was clearly a pre-made item in a packet/pot, extremely dry and crumbly, and tasted bland and awful and again wasn't worth the individual price.

Overall for spending nearly £40 on a single person, you can spend half this amount and get better quality, bigger portions and faster delivery's from the likes of TGI Friday's, and i would not reccomend Ranchos Steakhouse at this time, which is very disappointing as i did have high hopes for the place.

Unless anything major changes, i won't be ordering from here again, and i'd advise anyone looking for a quality meal to look...

I had Rib-Eye Steak, chips and mushrooms with a Pornstar Martini and chaser.

So let's start with the positive.

I asked for medium rare, bloody but not dripping - got exactly that - excellently cooked, slightly chewy but not too bad. There was grizzle (see photograph) and I don't know how restaurants manage to buy steaks with grizzle. When I buy a rib-eye from the supermarket (you know the one everyone compares with) it doesn't have grizzle. OK so I cut it off the steak and it was good. So it's 4 out of 5 for the steak

The chips were good. Difficult to salt as the salt shaker needed a good bashing first to get a small amount of salt out. But that's nit-picking. It's a 4 out of 5 for the chips.

There was no Service Charge on my bill. So that's 5 out of 5.

Now the negative. I expected grilled mushrooms but what I got were mushrooms, with some sort of herb and garlic. They definitely looked like they came out of a tin. I asked the waiter if they were fresh and cooked with the garlic in the restaurant. He replied he didn't know - so I said "please ask Chef if they are freshly cooked". He still replied he didn't know. The server said he'd take the price of mushrooms off the bill and I said "that's not the point I want to know whether they are fresh" as to me they didn't taste it. I never got an answer - how difficult is it to ask chef? So mushrooms 0 out of 5 stars.

Now we come to the Pornstar Martini which tasted like orange squash with a little vodka - their PM is not the standard type Pornstar Martini - I checked their menu later and they add orange juice and as for the passion fruit - couldn't taste that at all. I've tasted far superior Pornstar Martinis. I have no ideas if it was made at the bar or came out of a tin. Tasted like the ones I buy in a tin. So 0 out 5 for the PM. PS the chaser was not a good one in my view - again tasted far better prosecco.

Service - he tried his best but failed with the simple question of "are these mushrooms fresh".

Price was OK - middle of road. The steak doesn't come with anything other than a little salad, so you have to order everything else.

Would I visit this restaurant again? No,...

Cannot fault the food, the steak was beautifully cooked, desert was fabulous. Great food for a great price. Unfortunately the thing that let's this place down is the service.

We waited 15 minutes to order drinks. We ordered one starter that took nearly 30 minutes. Mains arrived, and starter plate hadn't been cleared. Two meals were served the wrong way round despite clearly saying whose was whose. (Might seem an innocent mistake but when one steak is medium rare and one is medium well, the person who ordered medium well was put off by the blood when cutting into the steak) Sides didn't arrive and had to remind staff. After meals were finished, ordered another drink that never arrived. Deserts arrived in good time with no problems.

Whether staff are over run or under staffed I dont know. But it really does leave you feeling disappointed when you go out for a special birthday meal.

Update: We did return and use the 15% off voucher offered. I'm so glad we did!

The service was fantastic, much quicker and attentive. Food was lovely, chateaubriand was delicious as always. Fajitas were very flavoursome and great portion size for the price. Steak bites were perfect for my nana who can't eat a lot. My partners steak was lovely and perfectly cooked. So definitely didn't disappoint. Drinks arrived promptly on all orders and deserts arrived in great time too. Genuinely cannot fault this visit!

Our only suggestion, and this really is minor, was the music, probably because club classics isn't our vibe. But that's just us. We think (personal opinion) having some country/western easy listening would enhance the atmosphere, bringing the theme of the place all together.

Thanks to the team at Ranchos Fareham! We will...