@Twenty5 — Restaurant in Ipswich

We have always enjoyed coming to At twenty5 with friends and family. However, after my visit with my 8 friends Saturday evening we will not be returning!! We arrived at 7.30pm and seated at our table, which was extremely tightly tucked away upstairs in the corner. We didn't mind so stayed where we was and chose not to bring it to the managements attention. However, the table was not laid correctly, 3 sets of currently missing which we had to ask for on 5 occasions, the table was missing wine glasses too. We had already pre ordered . One of our party is Gluten Free. at no point did the waiter or Tina the manager/owner ask who that might of been. We ordered our drinks, well 4 of us as the waiter forgot to ask one of the party. finally the drinks arrived after 10 minute wait. Then the other drinks was then ordered. or Starters arrived 45 minutes after arriving. The lady who was gluten free asked if the starter was definitely gluten free, the response was "errrmmm i think so" "ill check" a waiter came up and said "i don't know so we will cook it again" the manager brings up the starter 5 minutes later, we had all waited for the starter to come, our starters was cold by this point. after we had finished it had taken the staff 20 minutes to come and clear the plates. We was not asked if they was ok at all. neither was we asked if we wanted more drinks. we had to ask for someone to take our order. The drinks arrived a couple of minutes later. One of our party went to the toilet, the walls have polyfiller in them, the sink was dirty, there was a salt grinder on the toilet! the toilet seat was covered in stale urine where women and men have to use one toilet only. The second toilet was "out of order" but the door was wide open. The toilet was being used as a storage area/changing room for the staff, which gave out an unpleasant smell. our main course arrived an hour and 40 minutes after our starters was cleared, cutlery then arrived after we had asked for it. we had to wait for the last meal to be finished being cooked. so again had to wait until we all received our meals before we started. The chips were raw, still hard to cut and bite. The two steaks that was ordered were wrong. the Medium rare came out rare. the Medium well that was ordered came out rare too. that one was sent back, to be sent out AGAIN RARE!! the mushrooms served on the side had not been cooked, the peppercorn sauce was congealed within the jug that it could not be poured. One of our party ordered Salmon, it was raw inside! It was supposed to be served with crushed spicy potatoes and tender stem broccoli it was served with 3 new potatoes in butter and 3 overdone asparagus. It was questioned, the response was....this is what it is being served with now. but not once was we made aware of the changes. On the email confirmation it also stated different too. for the tiny portion it was £15.95 for 7 items.!! Another lady ordered the risotto, it can only be described as rice (too much of it) with spinach 4 button mushrooms and cream, it was awful. this was sent back, nothing further was ordered. Could the chef be a chef or was there no one who knew how to cook the meals? The lady in our party who was gluten free was brought her fish and chips, again no knowledge as to if it was gluten free batter.!! Did the staff understand the request? There was never a point where we was asked if everything was ok, did we need any more drinks. nothing. We was understandably upset and annoyed, we brought it to the attention of the owner Tina. There was no apology, the only response we received was "we are busy this evening if you are not aware" this was beyond professional. The meal was ruined. Our evening was ruined. The manager came up and said "i have taken everything off" that was it, no apology again!

Since being taken over from the old owners the restaurant has gone down hill considerably. which is a shame. I will not...

We were visiting Ipswich and wanted a nice evening meal. We chose this restaurant because my wife enjoys a good steak. I prefer fish but also enjoy steak. They seemed from the menu to specialise in steaks.

On arrival we nearly walked out again. The ground floor is a pub and loud music was playing. I hate music when I have a dining experience and want to converse. The young lady assured us it was quieter upstairs and she showed us to a quiet corner where the music was barely discernible.

We both had starters. My spicy chicken thighs were excellent and very tasty. The portion was generous. I was disappointed that the cod with pancetta was no longer on the menu. I went for a rib eye steak instead. The steak was one of the best I have ever had. It was large and cooked perfectly rare as I asked. I am a bit used to restaurants charging high prices for steaks that are inferior to one I could buy in Aldi for £5. This steak was excellent and reasonably priced.

The young man and young lady who served us provided excellent service and were warm and friendly.

We didn't really want a dessert but the young man persuaded us to try their raspberry crumble on the house. We had one to share because neither of us had much appetite left. It was delicious.

As a steak restaurant, Twenty5 is first rate. For me to return more often there would have to be a more varied...

Quite a puzzling visit after reading all the good reviews.

The welcome and the staff were very friendly and attentive, service was fast and the food fresh and hot. However, it seemed to us that there was a lack of passion in terms of aesthetics and flavours. We both had the roast veg tart served with sautéed potatoes and fine beans and it was exactly that - nothing else, dry. We had to ask for some mayo and garlic butter to jazz it up a bit and then it was probably on par with a lunch you might get in a cafe at a gallery or nature reserve. When charging £15 - £25 for a main there needs to be a little bit of imagination and craft - even more so with vegetarian dishes. Butter, oil, herbs, spices, balsamic, garlic, salsa verde, dijon etc are all really good and simple ways to make an otherwise bland meal of fresh ingredients delicious. The decor of the place is approached in much the same manner. We don't like going to chain eateries but at least most make an effort with atmosphere, aesthetics and flavour.

In short: If you're happy with hunks of steak and don't care about the rest then these guys will sort you out in a friendly and efficient manner - if you're expecting to be able to deviate from the meat dishes and still have your tastebuds tickled then I'd go...