Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill Folkestone — Restaurant in Folkestone and Hythe District

I have been going to this restaurant for 4 years now, since I moved to England. I always go there with my family to celebrate special occasions like birthdays, Mother's Day and Father's Day... My last visit was on June 16th, Father's Day. I went with my husband and two children. My reservation was for 12:00, precisely to catch the early afternoon and have a quick and calm meal. I arrived 10 minutes early and the restaurant had only one table occupied and everything was conspiring to make it a happy day with a good meal, but that was not what happened! We sat down at the table and they simply left us there without any attention! The waitress, a beautiful young woman with Caribbean features, came to take our drink orders only 20 minutes after seating us at the table. It took her another 10 minutes to bring the drinks and then she finally decided to take our food orders.

12:50 she finally brought the starters and my 3 year old baby was already getting a little irritated because he was hungry and the children's dish that I asked for before hadn't arrived for him yet.

1:10 pm and the restaurant was full and many people were already eating and 50 minutes after I had ordered the main course and nothing had arrived

13:20 my husband's main course, my daughter's main course and my baby's main course finally arrived

And guess what? My main dish never arrived, which was the most expensive meat on the menu. 1 hour and 20 minutes waiting to have lunch on an important date for my husband and I simply had to watch the family eating and I was very hungry. 10 minutes later I called the waitress who simply didn't even come to check if all the orders were correct, how long would my dish take because all that delay was absurd!

The answer I received was that she didn't remember me ordering anything, which wasn't true because she gave me another menu with different options where I even pointed out to her which option I wanted and I even asked if I could buy the sauce separately and she asked if it was to be sent with the bread or to be served with the meat.

She turned her back and left and soon after a light-skinned lady with a short stature who was at the reception came and asked what happened. I was already frustrated because my family meal on Father's Day was being horrible.

The lady said she was going to take my order and I said I just wanted the bill to pay and get out of there. She insisted and I ended up giving in because I was hungry and I repeated the order again.

13:55 my main course arrived and guess what? the order was wrong!

FOR ME, THAT WAS THE ULTIMATE DISRESPECT TOWARDS THE CUSTOMER AND A LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM!

They came to apologize again and at that moment I could only cry with rage because I had booked the restaurant we loved in advance to have a great time and it was destroyed due to the incompetence of the person in charge of the restaurant.

We paid the bill and left very angry and outside the lady with light skin and short stature stopped me and repeated her apologies and offered us a courtesy to make up for the horrible experience I had. She said she would get in touch and give me the details.

Guess what?

Two months have passed and I have never heard anything from them and it was clearly just an attempt to mitigate the damage and make me rethink publishing my experience at the restaurant!

September 26th will be our wedding anniversary and for 3 years in a row I celebrated at this restaurant and unfortunately this year we will have to break with tradition and choose another option.

I don't want to risk ruining another special date.

Unfortunately, I never want to go back! It...

Dining under the banner of Marco Pierre White should, in theory, mean something. It should at least whisper of excellence, or if not, then at least competence. But at the MPW Steakhouse & Grill in Voco The Clifton Hotel, Folkestone, what we experienced was less hell-raising culinary icon and more beleaguered chain restaurant in need of a lie-down.

Our visit was part of a hotel package that included dinner and breakfast. This, however, seemed to be news to the waitress, who spent much of the ordering process in an ongoing dialogue with her manager, clarifying the finer points of what we could and couldn’t eat. Once decoded, our options were limited to a set three-course menu or any main dish under £25 from the regular menu—hardly the free rein one might expect from a dining experience carrying a celebrity chef’s name.

With a hungry child in tow, we sensibly ordered his meal first before turning our attention to our own. My wife opted for a starter, while I decided to go straight for the main event. Her prawn cocktail arrived, an unremarkable execution of an already tired classic, complete with two random pieces of egg white lurking in the mix like uninvited guests at a party. A mistake? An avant-garde flourish? Who knows, but I can’t recall prawn cocktail ever needing egg to improve it.

Then came the wait. Forty-five minutes passed before our main courses—fillet steak with gratin dauphinoise and green beans—finally arrived. The steak was serviceable but uninspired, a dish bearing the Marco Pierre White name yet tasting like something you’d be entirely unsurprised to find in a Wetherspoons. The gratin was pleasant enough, and the green beans, which I had requested without the almonds, were exactly that—green beans.

By this point, my wife had given up, retreating to put our very tired child to bed. I, ever the optimist, stayed behind for dessert and a coffee. The New York cheesecake was ordered but never arrived. After waiting long enough to assume it had either been forgotten or was being lovingly aged before serving, I cancelled it and left.

Service throughout was polite and apologetic, but the whole affair felt like an operation coasting on past glories. A large portrait of Marco Pierre White from his MasterChef: The Professionals stint in 2013 loomed over the dining room, and one couldn’t help but feel that, much like the photo, the restaurant itself hadn’t been updated since.

Perhaps the kitchen was having a bad night. Perhaps the whole establishment is just tired, much like the guests who leave without their desserts. Either way, for a name that once stood for something, this meal left little more than a lingering sense of disappointment—and an unanswered question about that...

I am under no illusions that when you go to these franchise restaurants that you'll ever get to see the Owners themselves - BUT I do wonder if Mr. Pierre does go frequently? I am quite sure he wouldn't be overall impressed but what is representing his name. As a couple food is our 'thing' - We eat in various establishments when it comes to relaxing away from the children and work life.

I looked forward to Marco Pierre in Folkestone as we had gifted our General Manager a meal at the Marco Pierre in Plymouth and he couldn't speak highly enough of the food and service.

Starter - I ordered the Macaroni & Cheese and my partner ordered Calamari rings... Faultless! Flavourful! Cooked beautifully.

Main - Medium/ Rare Singanture steaks one with King prawn and the other with garlic butter and Spinach/Mushrooms (with 7 chips each) Flavourless - Cooked okayish.

Drinks were well priced - Beefeater pink gin and lemonade for £5 very reasonable.

Staff - Well - Someone else reviewed previously and stated they just want to fulfil the table spaces and not give a delightful service and they hit the nail on the head. Repeatedly had to ask for our drinks - whilst serving they were totally uninterested.. There was a table that was extremely rowdy and argumentative and staff just ignored it. Someone was complaining at the reception when we walked in.. Staff didn't move the situation away from the front desk either instead allowed it to continue where everyone was walking in.

Have a...