The Saltaire Bar & Eatery — Restaurant in Leeds

I chose your restaurant as a pre holiday treat rather than eat in Burger King or buy a sandwich. I considered ordering nachos but enquirer with the bar man if the toppings were generous. He then looked at the kitchen and said not if Gavin is cooking! I decided to order fish and chips and my hubby bbq roast chicken. The dishes were very unappetising and of poor quality. The chicken was scrawny and grey with bbq sauce drizzled over it....not bbq roast chicken! My fish and chips were so tiny and the fillet was split like two thin fish fingers making the fish dry as a bone. Peas amounted to no more than a tablespoon not the flowing ramekin as shown on your menu. I was upset and felt cheated. I asked the waiter if this dish was normal presentation and he offered to return it to the kitchen as he said we get a lot of complaints about the fish and chips. After a few minutes he returned with my now cold food and said the chef says this is how we serve fish and chips and he was not going to replace it with another portion. I was and remain disgusted at Gavins customer service. He completely ignored my complaint and believes that is the standard of food his customers should expect. I was so upset as a complaint should be addressed not just my food returned with a “It’s tough luck” attitude! I then complained to a manager who after some discussion on portion weight etc she apologised for Gavins behaviour and refunded our bill. The cost is irrelevant you are employing staff who have no customer service and have no interest in satisfying their customer. Your level of stars on TA is embarrassing with most people rating you as terrible. What are you doing about this? The food is a complete overpriced rip off and customers are being made a fool of. I have over 600 reviews on TA and I firmly believe in supporting business by writing my praise in a review but I would have given you 0 stars if it were possible. You are taking advantage of a captive audience and as such have an appalling reputation. I will pay over the odds for good food but I refuse to be cheated. I will never eat in your restaurant and that is a theme on your reviews. The start of our holiday was ruined and we boarded the plane angry upset and stressed. You must address the appalling food and service at Leeds Bradford Airport...

Subject: Feedback Regarding Missed Breakfast Service – Sunday 13th July

Dear Team at The Saltaire Bar,

I’m writing to share our experience from Sunday 13th July, hoping it will be taken constructively to improve future service.

We arrived at 10:45 and sat at the large table near the food prep area. A staff member informed us we had 8 minutes to order breakfast, so we promptly tried using the QR code—but it failed to load on all our phones; party of 10. Ironically, it appeared breakfast service had already been prematurely halted.

We headed to the bar at 10:54 to order directly. A young male staff member was occupied with a customer paying in loose change, and ahead of us stood three others waiting to be served. Meanwhile, another staff member was preparing a coffee for a separate customer and didn’t acknowledge or attempt to clear the growing queue before the 11:00 cutoff. There was a clear lack of urgency and ownership. Logic would of been to say, I will bring your coffee over shortly once I get the queue down, or shout, anyone waiting for breakfast, queue this side please as the 11:00 cut-off is near.

This unfortunately didn’t happen; when the presumed supervisor announced to the queue that breakfast was now finished, I voiced—rather frustratedly—that we’d been waiting for under eight minutes. Her response: “It’s 11:00, breakfast has ended.” No discretion. No consideration.

This wasn’t just a casual oversight—we were a group of 10, ready to place a significant order, alongside several other customers also left unserved. Unfortunately, the staff on duty—particularly the young male and the older woman assumed to be the supervisor—did not demonstrate the responsiveness or professionalism expected in a fast-paced hospitality setting.

I hope this feedback is taken on board, as there’s great competition now in the newly extended venue, and you should really be upping your game!

Best...

Beyond dire.

Dirty, poorly organised, poorly led by ineffective leadership.

Sat down, scanned the QR code and made an order.

The two soft drinks at £4 each came in about 10 minutes, as did the news that my wife's meal was not available, so I had to go to the bar for a refund. I particularly enjoyed how I had to go to the bar even though it was their mistake. Online ordering, face to face rectification.

No apology, BTW.

Waited 30 more minutes, and my meal did not arrive, so 40 in total. Went back to the bar and the same manageress in a very rude manner was dismissive and said it was because the first meal was cancelled. She then told a colleague to refund me and turned her back on me. She was blonde, plaited hair, 50s, around 5'2", and in serious need of her NVQ in customer service refreshing.

So both meals were refunded, and we left and got a meal deal from Boots at one THIRD of the cost.

Unless there is a nuclear holocaust of some sort and this is the only available place left, I'd suggest trying one of the other options.

By the way, the refunds took 48 hours to reach my account. Funny that, eh? Payment left instantly but 48h for it to...