St Davids Gin & Kitchen under new ownership: www.no16stdavids.wales — Restaurant in Great Britain

My wife and I were really looking forward to eating here, but, wow… what a massive disappointment! And, that began the moment we walked through the door…

The waitress, seemingly distracted, barely gave us the time of day and quickly ushered us to a selection of tables without really seeming to care we were even there. I don’t expect to be welcomed as if royalty, but a smile and some attentiveness doesn’t go amiss. Once we were sat down, it was 10 minutes before we were asked whether we’d like anything to drink, even though there were only two other customers in the restaurant at the time. Okay, I appreciate it’s good to be given a little time to settle in, but 10 minutes in an almost empty restaurant?

I had the espresso martini which, I must say, was fantastic. I enjoyed every drop. At that moment, my wife exclaimed, “Well, that’s a good sign.”

Sadly, she was mistaken.

Being predominantly a tapas restaurant, our food and drink arrived in dribs and drabs. Or, not at all, as was generally the case. We had to remind our waitress of our request for water after a 20 minute wait. We had to ask our waitress to light our candles. We had to ask our waitress where the chips were, which were meant to accompany the lobster. We had to ask for follow up drinks, having been empty for 10-15 minutes whilst other customers - some of whom were treated as if friends - were tended to superbly. Was the fact that they had a Welsh twang to their voices a factor? Who’s to say…

I could elaborate further, but I’ll briefly explain the other issues:

We got given another table’s food, even though, as mentioned, we were one of only three couples in the restaurant.

One of three mains, steak, was off the cards due to the lack of that particular meat. We were offered mutton as an alternative. Mutton also made up 20% of the tapas menu. Really? Do you only serve sheep? Why not make sure you’ve got enough steak prior to opening?

As mentioned, my wife was meant to receive truffle fries with her expensive lobster main. What she actually received was the restaurant’s chunky fries with a notable absence of truffle. Upon asking if we’d received the right item, we were informed by the waitress that they were indeed fries. They weren’t. We also had to ask if they actually had any truffle on them. She took them away and seemingly gave them an extra squirt of truffle oil. Lovely.

I ordered what was meant to be a refreshing citrus cheesecake with blackcurrant sorbet. What I received was a pathetic disk of gritty yet gelatinous goop that had seemingly been pushed out of a mould only moments before (definitely not homemade) and a sorbet that tasted suspiciously like cherry. Thoroughly underwhelming.

Upon paying for this dreadful experience - a wholly unjustified £100 - my wife was left alone with the card machine for five minutes whilst the waitress disappeared into the kitchen to do who knows what, prompting my partner to approach the counter to complete the payment. The waitress eventually returned and exclaimed “Oh, sorry!” for what must’ve been the tenth time that evening. Sorry wasn’t good enough, unfortunately, as the experience had already been ruined by the utterly average food and dire service.

By the way, the toilets are rather unpleasant, too.

We shall never return to Gin & Kitchen and very much doubt that it will remain in business should other customers receive the kind of food and service that we received this evening. Grim & Kitchen is a more appropriate name. Maybe give that a...

NEVER AGAIN at Y GEGIN TYDDEWI / GIN AND KITCHEN RESTAURANT!!! POOR SERVICE AND TOUGH CHEWY LOBSTER. I love Lobster especially for a celebration treat. My husband booked our lobster a month in advance with Y Gegin TYDDEWI / St Davids Gin and Kitchen. We have dined at the Gin and Kitchen 7 times over the last 4 years and always ordered the same. We have always enjoyed the food, atmosphere and service. I usually have a whole Lobster and my husband has the surf and turf (Steak and Half Lobster) on this occasion we were celebrating our Anniversary. Our meals were served and I tried cutting the lobster but I couldn’t cut it because it was so tough and really chewy, one bite was enough. I explained to the waitress and she said she would call the owner. The owner ignored her and carried on behind the bar/counter, attending to other tables etc etc. Meanwhile our meals were getting cold and he could see that I wasn’t eating my meal. The waitress reminded him a couple of times but he assumed I would just eat my tough chewy lobster. My husband’s half lobster was fine and tender, a significant difference. Eventually the owner attended the table next to us and I managed to grab his attention and explained to him that my lobster was tough and said to him, “look I can’t cut it”. He said “that’s how they come”. I said “no this lobster is over cooked and tough”. He then said “what do want to do about it”? I said “I would like a lobster, have you got another lobster”? He said “yes” but he was very reluctant to change my meal. Meanwhile both meals were getting really cold, the side of broccoli and chunky chips were wasted because they went cold. Disappointingly we eat separately for our wedding anniversary celebration. When the replacement lobster came back, half was OK and the other half was still chewy. I think they gave me the untouched half of my original lobster. Whilst eating my replacement lobster he never once came over to ask if everything was OK. Unfortunately for the owner, I will never dine at this restaurant again after his unprofessional handling of a complaint. He missed out on drinks reorder and deserts. Any other restaurant would have changed it...

On arrival we were shocked to see the outside of our accommodation - it resembles scruffy student accommodation. |The owners seem to be focusing on the restaurant and gin business to the detriment of the b and b:-||The only hot water tap wasn't working - had to heat water in kettle. We didn't report as we felt we didn't want workmen in our rooms - already felt like staying on a building site with scaffolders next door intruding and work on gin business on our ground floor.|Concerned about hygiene standards e.g. no pillow protectors - just one pillow slip. Kitchen cleaner left in shower room - unsuitable cleaning products? ||Cheap . thin light coloured roller blind meant we were woken up at sunrise each morning .||No bedside table on one side of double bed. There are narrower tables available| which would have fitted. Had to put dining chair at side of bed for glass of water .This reflects a| lack of care and consideration. Also only | 5 coat hangers - cheap plastic and wire ones. |Poor standard of decoration- shabby windows needing a good clean and painting of woodwork . Bathroom door needed to be replaced- patched up with peeling wallpaper.|Breakfast had limited choice - just veggie breakfast or traditional breakfast. Our veggie was well cooked. We did hear granola being offered to another guest on our last morning . This hadn't been offered to us. No yoghurt,fruit or alternative cooked breakfast. It was between 9 and 9.30.|One morning they were sorting out recycling- glass - a dreadful noise - whilst we were eating breakfast! Also the window cleaner was working inside. Not a very relaxing start to the day. Another example perhaps of the b and b not being taken seriously.| The staff at breakfast were pleasant. |We were extremely disappointed with our stay except for the view of the cathedral and beyond .|The renovations on the ground floor for the gin business look of a high standard - hopefully they will look at the b and business in the same...