Giggling Squid - Windsor — Restaurant in Great Britain

If you are looking for a review regarding front of house management, customer service, and allergen / intolerance advice look no further 🤷‍♀️

My husband has a SEVERE intolerance to garlic and onion - it’s borderline allergy at this point- it’s quite a hindrance when eating out so we are always extremely careful, and direct with staff. Upon entry we made this clear - the staff told us they would get someone to come over and chat.

After sitting for maybe 10minutes we had to relay this again to the next server - who wasn’t sure. Another 10minutes later she came back with a QR code- not only did this not work because there was no Wi-Fi nor mobile connection, it only listed allergens (not ingredients) so was pointless for us. She said she would get to paper list and speak to the chef (she never came back to us).

Half an hour in we received drinks and managed to smoothly order starters - the lady who took our drinks order relayed that she had been told all the curry dishes and the cashew stir fry would be fine for my husband so we ordered accordingly.

Noticing the starters came with a sticker “no onion/garlic” we felt quite safe that after the initial 30minute hoo-hah it was all settled and we could enjoy our evening- we were wrong.

Mains came and my husbands plate had a sticker saying “no onion” - we were dubious immediately. Furthermore my dish had no sticker and as we had made it clear we were sharing - we didn’t touch the food and queried immediately- they made us wait for another 10minutes before someone came over to say all the curry dishes had curry paste that has both onion and garlic powders - and the only thing he could now order was a cashew dish.

It was all a big joke. We decided to leave without eating - and the server had the audacity to then charge us for starters mentioning the drinks (which were not finished as our meal had been constantly interrupted) were on the house. I told her I did not expect to pay for anything as their service had completely disrupted our evening. Not only this - we now didn’t have time to dine before our evening cinema showing so it was a complete waste of time. The whole process of leaving in itself took another 20minutes.

The fact that the entire meal was not automatically on the house and we were not then presented with a voucher of some sorts for them nearly poisoning my husband is BEYOND me - especially as we made it very clear the intolerance was borderline an allergen due to the severe symptoms that have left him bed bound previously.

Despicable restaurant management and a poor excuse for a supposed mid-tier...

Ok, having opened up right next door to a well established Thai restaurant I expected this place to be pretty firm on their goods.. The decor is not the best for a That place but not horrible, the place feels kinda claustrophobic, though, as tables are very close together.. Let's start with the good.. The food was amazing, full of taste and the right amounts of spice.. The menu is amazing, so amazing you have a hard time deciding and you want to try it all, obviously whomever created the menu and is running the kitchen is ambitious and wants the place to do well.. The bad? Service! Party of four, we ordered starters and mains all at the same time.. The starters (appetizers) took a while to come out but finally did and were quite tasty.. Then it started.. About a forty minute wait and eventually someone comes to us to tell us that two of the mains weren't available, the lamb shank Massamam... It shouldn't take them that long to figure out what's available it not, so the two people pick different dishes.. Another half hour and finally the food comes out and all, I mean all orders are wrong and they actually bring us one of the orders they said wasn't available.. It goes back, and about ten minutes later right order comes out for one of the dishes be stone cold.. Staff is informed and a few minutes later cold dish comes out, obviously nuked in a microwave..yum.. After we are done dishes just sit there for another half hour, no clean up process or dessert offered.. When someone comes to pick up dishes we ask him if he's the manager and explain the situation and not a "we're sorry" is said.. We ask for bill, which arrives promptly and when we explain that we would like the service charge removed it becomes very, very complicated to them, to point that honestly too another fifteen minutes for another check without service charge to arrive.. Finally on way out, a lady, very young says she's the manager and says they're sorry, but honestly at that point is just a little too late.. Side note, we sat on the portion between the from room and the back room and from front room there there's as small two step decline that every time stay (which is mostly teens) goes by, they just jump landing with a constant loud, very loud thump on the floor.. Again, not trying to be negative as menu is amazing and whomever created it is on the right path but staff needs to be trained on...

on the 16th of December I went to a Christmas work party here. Unfortunately so many things went wrong. we pre ordered food and requested no nuts for myself and my partners food as he has a severe nut allergy. When our order was taken and the pre ordered meals were checked, I triple checked the waitress to confirm our food was no nuts, which I also personally checked myself. However, when my main arrived, despite a flag clearly saying "no nut" on our food it Was riddled with cashew nuts underneath. When I complained, I received a new meal (which I never finished) but when I addressed this near fatal mistake with who I can assume was the manager, she offered me a free drink and told me off for ordering food which was dressed with nuts. I made it clear I did pre order and triple checked the food but she seemed less than sympathetic. The dish was sprinkled with nuts at the end, there was no sauce with nuts etc but none the less her response was insulting and lacked genuine concern for what could have been fatal for my partner as often try each others food. Another person at our table also received pink pork meat in their main and ended up refusing their food altogether. The same manager made 10x more fuss over this issue, offering new food and removing the meal off their bill. At the end, although they apologised, taking off a glass of wine as an apology was more than insulting and despite all of this they still added a £50.00 service charge on our bill which we refused to pay. Although some staff were nice and helpful during what seemed to be a busy service, the mistake of putting nuts in food for someone with a nut allergy is outrageous. I would not eat here again and would not recommend this place again, especially if you have a nut allergy that could be fatal. Thank god my partner was okay and had...