DEVOUR — Restaurant in Kirklees

Mixed experience... Came here on a recommendation for someone's birthday. I understand that there were 14 of us and we were there for a few hours... But that doesn't excuse the faults that happened. There were mistakes on the food order (ie, two of us got the wrong starters and when challengd were told we would have found what we ordered boring anyway) missing sides that were ordered. With the food that did arrive, there seemed to be a real mixed bag on sizes of entrees to mains. The salad that comes with the shaved parmesan had no dressing (think a bowl full of dry rocket) and didn't seem to have been washed so was gritty (dangerous to me as I'm pregnant!), two of the ladies had the risotto, which was watery and over salted, however everyone else seemed to enjoy their meals. Service was very mixed, the staff at the bar were nice and one did check with the kitchen for us if we could include chicken with the main salads, but when we got to the table we had to keep asking to get more drinks, there were several wait staff attending the table which meant no one really knew what was going on. They did to a candle in some tiramisu for the birthday girl which I think had to be prompted... As we were leaving one of the wait staff made a rude comment "thank God they're going" not realising one of the group was standing behind him struggling to reach her coat (they didn't offer to help get our coats back for us). I get we were there for about 3 hours, but it did take over an hour for our food to arrive and were still eating and drinking during that time. My food was delivered significantly late (not just after everyone else, but some people were finished or most of the way through their meals when mine arrived) my side salad was missing, so further delay in getting that and I was then still eating and was rushed to finish from the organiser of our outing because it felt like they wanted the table back to her (not sure if they explicitly said something to her) and we had to go. Overall, very poor experience and I wouldn't go back for a long time or recommend it to anyone. It's a shame because the location and inside of the restaurant are lovely and there are others I know who have been and had a great experience (albeit the service was slow). I understand that they have only newly opened, but that's no excuse for very poor training of all of their staff and not actually being able to take an order and get the right food to people. I've given it 2 not 1 star because I know large groups are difficult and most of us did enjoy our food, but there is no real excuse for what happened.

Edit: further note, just for the record, no one from Devour has contacted me directly as they said they would. Further...

Really disappointed with Devour. Made a booking for 8 people on 25th Feb for the 2nd of April as myself and my partner had been earlier in the year and really loved it, so we wanted to celebrate his birthday there with friends.

I received a call yesterday telling me i HAD to reduce my party size. When asking why i was told it was because they were short staffed and the kitchen would be slow.

Now, if they had called and asked if we minded that the food would be slow, we would of said it was absolutely fine. To call and tell me to kick 2 people out of the group or cancel my booking, which id made well in advance was extremely rude and puts me in a very difficult position.

What do you do when you have 6 people travelling in for a meal that's been organised nearly a month in advance? Cancel on two people and single them out?

When i asked why they couldn't just seat two less people and serve our party if it was an issue of how many people were coming through the door, i wasn't really given an answer. I was told the manager would call me back.

The manager has NOT called me back.

Overall i feel this is extremely unfair to put on the customer. I appreciate they may be having staffing issues but ultimately this isn't mine or my guests responsibility.

If we reduced the party to 6 but the 2 who were kicked out then booked seperately they could of been served so why not just keep the party of 8 and not seat a table of two to accommodate for it? It really doesn't make any sense.

Very unhappy with the service and the fact we have been treated like an issue when this is on the restaurant to find an appropriate resolution. Even more disappointed that the manager never called. Really makes you feel like an inconvenience and like your business is not welcome.

I can say that from now on I will be giving devour a wide birth which is a real shame as we did genuinely love it last time we went.

However, if this is how management treat customers im not suprised 5 members of staff have left in the last week (as i was advised by the lady on the phone) I also just want to note that when we went earlier in the year we were also advised then that they were having staffing issues as people were leaving very quickly after being employed. So this isn't something new to...

We've eaten here twice. First time was a few months ago. We were seated in view of the kitchen, a prime spot to watch who I presume was one of the chefs/food prep staff (largeish guy who was wearing a black shirt at the time) routinely cooking up food, dipping his bare fingers in, and helping himself to a few bites, occasionally right from the plates being served to customers. The same fingers/hands he used to wipe his brow, nose, and everything else they came in contact with.

Disgusting. Though I'm sure the kitchen staff know precisely which person I'm speaking of.

Second time was one of those times when you want to take the family somewhere a bit different and think it would be a fun, novel experience for them, and Devour came to mind.

It was fun, in a sense. The £12 asparagus literally consisted of three asparagus stems, a poached egg, and a béarnaise sauce. Laughing yet? We were.

The tomato-based pizza sauce was sickeningly sweet (we're talking dessert sweet), and the sauce of the wild mushroom tortelloni was virtually pure salt. The sun-dried tomatoes weren't sun-dried at all--they were watery, and Devour's ingredients seem about as sub par as your local corner pizza shop.

We weren't impressed by the food the first time either, but Devour is a very well-decorated establishment, and it has a very appealing aesthetic.

Unfortunately, you can wholly expect to be shouting to each other at your table because it's the only way you'll be able to hear each other. The noise from the loud music and other tables shouting to make themselves heard, too, is ridiculous.

Also, if you're hoping to enjoy the outside seating you'll unfortunately have to contend with a smaller menu. Seems that they can't handle serving the same menu outdoors for reasons known only to them.

I've given this place two tries. I'm very much over it now.

In all honesty, we enjoyed a humble pub not far from Devour far more, and paid less than half of what we paid here, for a far more satisfying and pleasant experience, and much...