Daffodil — Restaurant in Liverpool

A deeply disappointing experience and complete lack of accountability

We visited Daffodil Liverpool to celebrate my birthday, having specifically saved it for a special occasion. We ordered oysters on the Saturday evening, and by Sunday it was clear something was wrong. By Monday, four of us were extremely unwell – experiencing symptoms aligned with shellfish poisoning: fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration, headache, and joint pain. Two of our party were due to go on holiday, which was completely ruined.

I initially contacted the restaurant via phone, email, and Instagram to ask if they’d had any other reports – and heard nothing. Only after I left a message saying I would be contacting Environmental Health did someone finally get in touch – the operations manager. She mentioned she would look into it and share relevant information with the EHA, including fridge temperatures.

I explained how frustrating it was that the matter wasn’t taken seriously until I mentioned EHA. I also asked for a gesture of goodwill – at the very least a refund of our meal – given the experience and lack of basic concern. She said the owner would contact me directly. That was over three weeks ago.

After following up again, I was told he would be “nudged”. Frankly, I’m shocked he needed nudging – this isn’t just poor service, it’s irresponsible. I have still not heard back. I’ve since heard from friends, and friends of friends, who’ve had similar experiences. There are even other reviews referencing food poisoning. Now, I see oysters have been removed from the menu – which only reinforces our suspicions.

Beyond the illness, the restaurant itself was cold, the toilets unclean and poorly stocked – not what you expect from a venue positioning itself as high-end.

I’m not someone who leaves negative reviews lightly, and I have no interest in damaging small businesses. But the lack of accountability here is unacceptable. All it would have taken was a simple call to ask if we were alright, offer an apology, and perhaps a drink on the house next time. Instead, we were met with silence and avoidance.

Needless to say, there won’t be...

Completely gratuitous use of your own resteraunt.

I'd like to start by saying that despite the negative review I am actually willing this resteraunt to do well. I like the concept and the staff were great. However the night was somewhat ruined by a completely inappropriate atmosphere.

Ate here on valentines day. Expected a nice romantic meal with the missus, romantic setting, low lighting, good food.

Basically they'd taken a booking for a large table of about 12 people right in the middle of the room. I'm not some major crank that has an issue with people having a laugh, but in a confined space as the resteraunt inherently is and on valentines of all nights, it's just completely inappropriate. I'm sat there trying to whisper sweet nothings to the missus and we can't hear each other over this rowdy table having a big piss up right behind us. I'm informed that the owner was eating there that night, I can only surmise that this was his table. The best part of the night was when we went to stand out on the deck to have a smoke, watch the water and get some peace and quiet.

Other than that the food was good, I can tell the chef has put a lot of effort into putting an interesting and exciting menu together. Reasonably priced for what it is. Service was good too, both friendly and professional.

Had some cocktails upstairs afterwards, was made completely wrong. My partner ordered a cocktail that was described as "nutty" and is supposedly made with wallnut. This was served with an orange peel instead, when we asked where the nut was he told us they didn't have any, hence the nutty cocktail was unsurprisingly not nutty. Mine was supposed to be made with blood orange, they substituted this for plain orange juice. Crap. Sounds like I'm being petty but they're £12 each like you want them to be right. Sounded really sophisticated on the menu but was executed really poorly, hers tasted like straight booze and mine tasted like pop.

We left our drinks on the bar and got off. Probably would have forgiven the cocktails but the atmosphere in the resteraunt was a real killer. Might still bring me mum for lunch or something...

Beautiful setting and we understand the business is still in its infancy so likely to be some hiccups but a couple of points worth mentioning. The heating is in adequate and we had to wear our coats throughout the meal, (2 adults and 2 children) we ordered a cocktail (Irish farewell) and was told it was not available. The starters are very small and overpriced for what we received, (£12 upwards). We waited some time for the main course which did not include sides (the main steaks come with small tomatoes so it costs extra for chips or potatoes, veg etc..unless your happy with just meat, all sides have to be ordered separately at a price of £4.50 per small portion). Each steak cost £28-30 so the sides quickly increase the overall costs! We received the wrong mains order so the waiters are still learning but not a major issue but we had waited sometime for the mains and the kids were disappointed when the wrong food arrived. When we received the bill it included a service charge of 10% (£15.80) which took us by surprise as we had not been informed beforehand and for a family of 4 is an excessive charge, taking our bill to £173.80. We normally leave the waiters a tip but £15.80 is excessive. Overall the restaurant was cold, service was poor, (but charged 10% for it) food portions were small, and the food was cold when it arrived. If drinks are advertised then they should be available. The restaurant looks fantastic and it’s great to see a part of Liverpool culture used in this way, hopefully the owners will address the points highlighted, if they do then I am sure the restaurant will be a great success. I would however recommend reducing the prices until they can produce a quality product and remove the service charge or make customers aware before they order so they can confirm they have the funds available and are willing to pay it. Unfortunately we are unlikely to return due to the...