Birdies Bistro — Restaurant in Great Britain

Really disappointed to post this, but it’s not the place it used to be. Maybe there is a change in kitchen and culture?

Have always loved quality at Birdies. Now with massive extension, I have also enjoyed lovely meals in stunning surroundings. The inside and outdoor extensions are very tasteful and there is a massive increase in table availability/ something that is not met by parking provided. When we left, the carpark was completely full - but plenty of tables still available. So do not be put off it it looks too busy - if you can find somewhere else to park which is not easy.

A big but though - our recent visit with a group of 4 was disappointing. Specifically arrived early for lunch when less busy. That was fine, about a 3rd full.

But the issues we had have put us off a return. That was not just one of us, as we left the shared experience was “not coming back here any time soon”.

Issues started with the difficulty of attracting staff attention to order. You expect when being seated that someone will come to take order after a few minutes. Reality was staff just chatting and avoiding customer eye contact. We were inside so could see staff just chatting while we and a few tables very keen to order. We waited a long time (over 10 minutes) with no attention and only got any attention by waving menus when staff occasionally looked at customers.

At table, staff were friendly and drinks came quickly. But the next issue was food - I suspect chef has changed as the fish and the chicken in batter were overdone. Nobody likes raising an issue as it disrupts the group environment but one of us sent back the fish. Profuse apologies but what came back was equally overdone. Chicken was not returned but it also was into the well overdone look and taste.

And prices seem newly targeting the tourist market. I know prices are rising but £19 for crab sandwich with fries seems high, and even more so when it is not white crab meat!

What seemed to underline a change in culture here - the lovely cakes now replaced by donuts with Maltesers on top. You get better cakes at Dobbies!

I hope things improve when visits come in volume or ratings...

inconsistency in service. visited this beautiful bistro 3 days in a row, and as much as we loved their food (beautifully presented and quite tasty too!) their service standards should be something to work on in our opinion few more things to mention:

we asked the waitress to wipe the table (covered area, outside seating) because it was visibly filthy as we sat down, she brought a container full of water and a sponge, hardly even touched anything with it. we asked her to wipe the entire table because the stains were absolutely everywhere from previous group of people who were sitting at that bench before us. we surely didnt want to eat at that table, but did she have a problem of understanding us? who knows.

then today, on our last visit we decided to order 2 dishes, one eggs benedict and fruit waffle, to share in between the two of us as we didnt feel very hungry but still did want to try their fruit waffle dish; ordered an extra foccacia to have it with eggs benedict but it never arrived. we also ordered fruit waffle to bring it to our table once we finish our eggs benedict, but both dishes arrived at the same time. we noticed that the fruit waffle dish is actually served warm, so by the time we finished our eggs benedict, the fruit waffle dish has gotten cold. oh man… & to top that off, the waitress got us only two sets of cutlery so we ended up eating with the same fork and knife that we ate eggs benedict with. nobody even checked up on us in 35 mins of our visit but fortunately we wont be back. 2 stars for the food & decor. both service and cleaning standards need to be worked on. disastrous. shocking. such a...

Bit disappointed. Even before we got in a sign said "Be nice or leave" I was a little taken back by this.... a good start. Seamed a little unorganised when waiting to be seated. Was shown seats in middle, wife asked to be seated at the window, waitress was reluctant but had to oblige as it was vacant. Young daughter didn't want anything on menu so I asked older waitress if they could do her pancakes the responce was "no! Thats the menu" there's ways of declining customers requests and being abrupt isn't good for customer relations. We ordered, apparently the waffles came covered already with sugar (they should leave it for the customer to add) plus the maple! Was too sweet for her. My full English was greasy, cheap sausages that were tasteless, thin slices of hogs, luke warm tomatoes. Location was nice and divining area. We ate, paid n left. The above areas need addressing to take the business forward, couple next to us weren't over impressed with their breakfast. We had to ask for condiments and cutlery as well plus milk for my coffee. Outside there was an extensive list of rules to read on a board... felt like a prison canteen (not that I've experienced prison dinning! 😆) This is feedback not to damage business. We felt that the clients they were aiming at weren't family, bit frosty to my girls and kids menu wasn't very varied. We probably won't visit again which is a shame as location and...