Westbourne Grill House — Restaurant in Great Britain

I have pondered over writing this review for a few weeks now. Reading all the great reviews, I feel like we went to a different restaurant. I spent days searching for the best place to take my dad for a birthday dinner. He never has much luck with steak, so I wanted to make sure I was choosing a good place, that advertised good steak. When I went online to book, it only showed me 2 available times 6pm and 6.15. Ooo its a busy place I thought, must be good! We arrived to an almost empty restaurant, and apart from a few other couples it remained that way all evening. Why only offer 2 times on the booking system? No atmosphere at all.

The front of house greeted us cheerfully and seated us, and held us the menus. When we looked at the prices of the drinks, we almost left. £8.95 for a pint!? Really? This is Bournemouth not London....its no wonder you don't advertise your drinks prices on your website as I imagine it would put people off.

Now to the food. Starters, delivered quickly and were lovely. Apart from the 4 tempura prawns that looked like they had come from a supermarket, and were a price of £9.95. We saw the exact same prawns in Asda the following day, 6 in a pack for half the price. If you are charging that price, a few more prawns would be good.

Mains arrived, 3 rump steaks and a chicken burger (mine). My husbands steak was perfect, my mums was ok...very chewy and not enjoyable. Dad's, birthday boy....had to he sent back as that was very fatty, tough and chewy. When they brought it back, all they had done was give him a new steak. They didn't replace the whole meal, which is what you would expect from a restaurant charging the prices they do. The replacement steak was better, but still not up to the standard that is advertised on your website. We ate, paid the bill and left. Dad's birthday meal, total disappointment. Sorry, but we won't be...

My husband took me here for my birthday as I’m a big steak lover, and this didn’t disappoint. We were greeted warmly as we entered and because we were a little early we were free to choose our table so we took one tucked away in the corner overlooking the rest of the restaurant. We ordered a bottle of Pepperbox red wine and sharing charcuterie board to start, the cheese was crumbly, olives plump, bread crisp and selection of meats great quality, it was already rather filling before the main. For main we ordered the chateaubriand with garlic butter and bone marrow gravy, it came with beer battered onion rings, skin on fries, roasted balsamic glazed tomatoes, green beans and beetroot. We had the meat cooked rare. The chateaubriand was a little too rare but still very tasty nonetheless and I’m very happy with eating rare meat so it didn’t fuss me too much, but my husband found the centre to be a little too chewy, based on the rarity, for him. But the flavour was incredible, as was the sear on the outside. The Pepperbox red wine went perfectly with the meat. The fries and onions rings were wonderfully crisp, garlic butter flavoursome and the gravy tasty, albeit a little thin, it would have been nicer if it was a bit thicker. We could have done without the bean and beetroot combination as it didn’t seem necessary. There was so much food we really struggled to finish it all, which means it was great value as well! Unfortunately we were far too full to order dessert, which is a shame as the couple next to us had the sticky toffee pudding and it looked amazing! Our server was incredibly friendly throughout the meal and had a good laugh with us when we struggled to finish the meal and were jealous of the desserts. All in all a great meal, with a few tweaks it would have...

One of the best steak houses I've ever been to! I highly recommend this restaurant.

I made a booking for one last minute and they accommodated me quickly. Unfortunately, when I arrived and was shown to my table it was laid up for two and the waitress even put down a second menu. I chose what I wanted and was seen to quite quickly. Despite ordering a glass of wine, one starter and one main, the waitress then asked if I was waiting for anyone. As a single dinner this repeated assumption that I must be with someone else made me feel quite saddened, especially as I had pre-booked for one. The wine was very good, and the starter came out in a flash.

I had ordered whitebait but what I was presented with was surprising small considering it's £8 (roughly) price tag. The fish was good and the batter was done well. The accompanying sauce/dip and salad were both good as well. The main issue was portion size for me, especially as I see whitebait as a cheap option in normal restaurants.

I had the rib-eye steak at £30 (roughly) and ordered it blue. Something that is always risky in my experience, but the chef did it to perfection. I think it is the best blue steak I have had in all of the Bournemouth area. The garlic butter was divine and the chips and onion rings were well prepared. The grilled tomatoes were very good, I must say.

Over all, the food was absolutely exceptional and the service was absolutely on point! Except for the price and size of the whitebait and the service making me feel a tiny bit awkward for being alone, I would have given 5* across the board.

The place is quite pricey, for me alone with just a starter, main and two drinks plus the tip came to £70. However, the steak was so good that I would still recommend it if you are able...