The Bastion Restaurant — Restaurant in Liverpool

We had our booking for 4pm Friday 23rd August 2024. Was really excited to come as I’ve heard great things about the shankly and felt as if it was a luxury to go there, my mum and sister had been the night before and said that it was one of the best meals that they have had and that it was a very personal experience not bombarded with people or a noisy environment. I regret to say that my experience it not what I was expecting and didn’t live up to expectations. The entrance it’s self beautiful so aesthetic, the restaurant the same lit up with lamps and decor it did seem dull very dimmed and the atmosphere the same no other customers in sight no music it was a very awkward atmosphere. Me and my partner arrived 10 minutes before our booking and were sat straight instantly but not in a way I expected we were not shown to our seat or shown the menu just pointed to a table behind a plant and nothing else was said, we sat ourselves and waited for our order to be taken the menu is small but definitely something for everyone being as it is a well known hotel and restaurant I thought that there would be more things in place like water pitchers or clean napkins with every course but there wasn’t, there was training being held while we waited the whole time I would have hated to be in the young women’s shoes who was being trained I mean I don’t know how high there standards are for training new staff but I would have cried if I was her. Or order was taken by a nice young man who told us the soup of the day and gave a brief explanation of the menu before we ordered. We got the spicy sweetcorn soup for starters and beef burger and chicken burger for mains. We waited about 20 minutes for our starter when it came out I was going to be a hit or miss like anything you havnt tried before you don’t know whether you’ll like it, the soup was completely covered in olive oil to the point were it was curdling and splitting the soup and had this thick skin forming on the top every time it was mixed the taste was ok but the texture was just off. Our cocktails were in sort of champagne flutes which I thought was strange as pictures posted have sort of bowl glasses. I felt really awkward trying to take photos I felt like all eyes were on us like some sort of fish in a tank not very relaxing. The mains came out well presented nothing could be said about the beef burger apart from that it was delicious and chips were good. The same with the chicken burger apart from the chicken itself it was sort f grizzly with alot of veins which I don’t...

Ate here twice over a 2 day stay. I had a pan roasted chicken supreme first and can honestly say it was not Al a carte. More Al a wheelbarrow, dry bland and just not really worth it. Although the cocktails masked my pain of enduring a sub par dining experience, it sadly was not up to standard. Undeterred by my first experience, I thought I'd give it another chance and try the Shankly burger. I assume it's named the Shankly burger in homage to one of his old pair of football boots. Tough over done and bland presentation was poor. I sent the first failed attempt back in hope I would be delivered something edible. After what seemed like a 90 minute wait, I was served an absolute home goal. Disappointed and approaching the last few seconds of injury time the manager made an appearance. Seemingly agreeing with all of my criticisms of the food she then produced me the full bill for a totally disgusting main. I paid and left. I questioned why somewhere Al a carte couldn't serve a proper burger. 5 guys is over the road and as a fast food restaurant commands a considerably better standard. I am always looking to give a positive and honest review but on this occasion it seems that it's status over substance. Very sad as this is a venue with extremely good potential. Perhaps the chef needs to cook himself a P45, because I wouldn't trust him in a McDonald's, to...

Went for afternoon tea on sat 5/10/24 as a group of 5adults 2children. We had been 2 yrs earlier and it was amazing with food served on little picnic benches. However: to my disappointment, this time - the sandwiches (ham and mustard which tasted spoiled, cheese and onion tasted mediocre, curry wrap very bland and capers on bruscetta which never have I ever been served at afternoon tea??? was vile) were curling a little as if they had been prepped the day before and not stored correctly. The cakes were standard if not basic. Due to this we ordered 2 sets of fries and later on asked for 2 more portions which were not delivered but which wrre added to the bill (which we asked for removal of). Onto the service...the staff were very friendly but considering we had unlimited tea... we had to ask twice for refills and were the only guests in the restaurant for an hour so unsure why staff were not more prompt to offer refill. The atmosphere made it as considering we were alone, they had a DJ and brazilian dancers on and the dancers welcomed my 4 yr old and were happy to chat to her and have photos taken. Unfortunately would not be going back as not...