Chives Wine Bar & Brasserie — Restaurant in King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Myself, my partner and my son (who is a toddler) entered the restaurant looking for a nice meal rather than pub grub. We stood patiently waiting to be seen by the waitress who looked at disgust at my son. She asked how many we wanted a table for. We replied 2 and a highchair. We were rudely told that they do not have high chairs as they have no where to store them. As there was no where else to go for food (we had already walked around for 30 mins) I said that I’d sit my son on my lap. We were given a corner table by the door, which had a place for the buggy to go. But meant my partner and I had to sit about 3 feet away from each other. Hardly a nice family meal. We ordered our drinks and food, which came relatively quickly however We were not offered child portions of anything or even a spare plate or spare cutlery so I could feed him or even a drink for him. The food was ok - nothing special to be honest. I had carbonara ( so my son could eat it) the sauce was really runny ( I could have probably drank it through a straw) although portion size was good. My partner ordered a pizza which for £11.50 wasn’t great either. The cutlery was smeary and I had to wipe before using it. There was no service with a smile at our table but other tables we noted got a completely different service. We’ve never been made to feel so unwelcome before. We felt we had to eat our dinner quickly and get out. The restaurant was quite busy but I don’t think my son caused a nuisance in fact he was particularly good. Needless to say we never ordered any deserts or coffees - not that we were even offered any - we paid the bill and left. There was no ‘how was your meal’ or even a thank you. I’ve worked in catering and hospitality and I was shocked at the unwelcoming and rude service. The restuarant has some what a captured audience being the only type of place to eat like that in Hunstanton. Certainly if we visit Hunstanton again we will never visit this restaurant again! It seems it’s trying no to be something it’s not quite. On closer inspection of the premises, broken floor tiles, cardboard holding tables square from wobbling and brown parcel tape holding a blind together we all noted. Together with smeary cutlery and Poor service and ok food. Were we come from this restaurant wouldn’t be open longer than...

We left our dinner place to chance last night, and this is where we ended up. A very well decorated restaurant. Owned by a semi retired couple I believe. The menu offers a variety of british cuisine with a few italian dishes to supplement. My girlfriend started with the mushroom soup. It was very creamy rich and fresh, without being too heavy. It was served with an italian bread. I started with calamari. The fish was cooked very well. The squid was completely soft, it was served with a small amount of a chilli dressind and a salad garnish. The batter was a little dissapointong. It was standard fish and chip shop batter. It was under seasoned and tasted like it was cooked too hot in old oil. The table next to us ordered tempura prawns, this looked like the same batter was used for both. Not tempura. We chose a chicken and bacon pasta and a parma ham wrapped monk fish for main. When ordering the pasta, we were asked what type of pasta we wanted. Im sorry, but a restaurant should know what type of pasta suits their dish and holds the sauce best. The monk fish I think was frozen at some point. It held a lot if water. However, the fiod was all eaten, we enjoyed a brilliant evening. The staff were welcoming and friendly, and allowed us to drink and vape outside after our mains. They then brought the desert menu's outside to us and left us too it. Good choice of wines on the menu. We really enjoyed the evening. The...

We walked in and booked a table for later in the day. When we arrived for our booked table the restaurant was full and the girl I spoke to went inside and we could see there was a problem. She didn’t come back out to speak to us.

The lady who took our booking was speaking to other customers next to us outside and saying how a number of tables had arrived but it seems there bookings were misplaced. She turned to us and said these tables had arrived and now no tables were available. We were not initially offered to wait for a table or an apology until after a bit more discussion. Although, no table would be ready anytime soon. I did mention that it would have been good if someone had taken our telephone number when booking so could have warned us before we arrived of the error. Another couple arrived while we there to be told the same. It was now 8.30pm and Hunstanton is a small town with not a lot of alternatives. We then tried a number of other restaurants or to sit in for fish and chips which were closed and our only option was to dine in at the Indian restaurant down the road.

A disappointing situation which could have been handled a lot better by staff when we arrived and been more apologetic to...