Rasa Restaurant in Lichfield — Restaurant in Lichfield

This was honestly really disappointing. I've been past this place for years and have always wanted to go, based on the reviews and the price I've always kept this place in mind for a special occasion. This year has been a particularly difficult one for me and my husband for a number of personal reasons and we have been unable to go out all year so as a treat and to try and end the year on a positive note, my husband booked us a three course meal here which we had to pre-book. We reviewed the Christmas menu which seemed very simple which is completely fine as I've found that usually the more simple the menu the better the quality, along with that fact we were asked to pre-book and the total cost I was expecting quite the experience. We arrived at around half past 5 and considering it was just a few days before Christmas it was unusually quiet, which I put down to the events of the last years so I didn't think much of it. I would like to make it perfectly clear that the staff working there were absolutely delightful and we're providing an outstanding service, sadly anything positive I have to say about my experience ends here. At first glance the place looks very pretty and I did enjoy the lighting, however the restaurant itself was actually quite grubby, there were stacked up rubbish boxes in the entrance on arrival and I noticed the seats at the tables were not only mismatching but also quite dirty. As for the food itself, well the starter and dessert were just fine. I had a potatoe rosti with mushrooms which was the highlight of the whole meal and the dessert which was a sticky toffee pudding which tasted great except the pudding itself was overcooked and crusty which wasn't that paletteable. The main was a turkey dinner which was tremendously disappointing I'm sad to say. The turkey itself was fine, it was cooked well and wasn't overdone and the gravy was nice, but I'm affraid everything else on the dish was just bad. There was no stuffing which was a let down, there was however a disc of meat that I think was supposed to replace it as well as chipolatas which were absent from the meal. The vegetables, especially the roast potatoes were the most disappointing of all, they looked and tasted like they had just come off from the boil and had spent at most 2 minutes in an oven. Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting any kind of miracles but for £100 for 2 people, I'd like something better than Toby carvery. Everything apart from the gravy tasted underseasoned and bland as well as being such a ridiculously large portion that most of it got set back to the kitchen. For a pre-booked meal, I expected a hell of a lot better. I hate leaving poor reviews, but I just had to on this occasion as it was a huge let down. I hope McKenzies will take this on board and improve their business, it would be a shame if places like this started...

Avoid this place!!! The service of this place absolutely let's it down from what used to be a lovely venue/ restaurant of it's previous predecessor restaurant 'Mckenzies'. I went for my Mum's birthday meal with a group of about 12 of us, we were the only ones there for the majority of the night, yet we were waiting almost two hours for food to arrive, you'd think okay maybe they're preparing the food to arrive all at once so everyone can eat together... wrong. Some sizzling meat dishes arrived that catered the four who ordered them and the remainder of the table were left waiting still for even longer for our food to arrive. We were told they'd arrive in 10 minutes... 10 minutes pass then 20 minutes and still nothing by this point those who had their food already were almost finished whilst the rest of the table are still hungry and getting agitated at this point. Then we get told there is only one chef and the WAITERS are helping with the cooking. Yes the waiters, I hope they have the right training and following the right health and safety food precautions s the chefs because the last I checked cooking wasn't in their job description + all the helping hand and still the long wait? And why was I seeing a chef on the phone in the kitchen anyway (my chair for in view of one of the kitchen doors so when it opened I was shocked with the laziness and lack of care.) Finally the food arrives and flavour was mediocre, presentation bare minimum and lot of forgotten dishes or dishes made wrong and not how we asked them to be made! I was the last to receive my food unfortunately because as to my surprise 20 minutes later we were basically getting kicked out saying the restaurant is closing this is at 10pm yet on their web online it states they close at 11:30 and I'm still half way through eating the food that they were two hours late with which is their fault so why should I feel rushed? They took my water and wine that was still full and half of the table had to leave with unfinished food and drinks that we paid for. The staff at this point were very quickly becoming rude and aggressive when we showed any sign of upset with the treatment we were receiving as anyone would. I think because we were the only ones there they thought they could get away with the attitude. The waiter handling the bill refused to split the bill and wanted one complete transaction as he couldn't be bothered I know this because, he rushed out to have a fag outside as we saw him on the way out. Don't get me started on the woman who was serving us, she was vile, when we were sharing our complaints she responded "don't come back we have plenty of customers" I'd like to know where these customers are during a Saturday night because there was absolutely no one but us there. So disappointing and ruined my poor Mum's...

A lovely meal spoiled by service going from attentive to non-existent.

Five of us arrived for an early Saturday evening meal and our Polish waitress buzzed around us at just the right level of attention. Meals chosen and drinks ordered, we relaxed ready to eat when the starters arrived surprisingly quickly. There was an error with the drinks order that was quickly rectified without fuss and then the main course arrived very promptly too.

All of us really enjoyed the food and sat back to let it settle, with my daughter commenting she'd prefer to wait a while before eating the brownie she had her sights set on. At this point, probably around 7.30 a few of the tables had begun to fill up and "our" waitress appeared to have been allocated the busier section of the restaurant in which we were sat. As a result we had to wait for her to take the dessert order, unintentionally providing the desired gap. My wife ordered a cocktail instead of dessert and we all modified our order with various tweaks on the custard/ice cream accompaniments. All of these were readily accommodated willingly and courteously.

At this point the restaurant began to fill further and a large, noisy party took up the table behind us. The gap between courses had then grown too long, with no sign of the cocktail arriving either. Eventually three of the desserts arrived via a combination of different waitresses, none of them "ours", whilst the final one was at least 5 minutes behind the rest with still no sign of the cocktail. The food was 'dropped' onto the table leaving no chance to ask for its whereabouts.

We'd all been very pleased with the quality of the food, but the rapid downturn in service had soured the evening a little by this point. To make matters worse we couldn't even get the bill so I had to go to the bar area and ask for it. At this point it was obvious that "our" waitress had been reallocated to drink preparation. Then we got the bill (I carried it from the bar), checked it, got the credit card out and waited to pay. And waited. And waited. And waited.

Somewhat frustrated by this point, I decided to go once again to the bar to sort this out, as the adjacent party were too loud for us to merely sit and relax. I sought out "our" waitress to pay and to offer her a personal tip before heading outside to await the taxi that had been finally ordered by the Maitre D' after some further delay.

The failure to offer a full 'end-to-end' service was really disappointing and additionally one of the waiters was seen exiting the toilet wearing his apron, something of a no-no in food handling terms. A good 4.5 stars for food knocked right down by the tail-end service level. Oh, and my wife is still waiting on that...