Harvester Beehive Ilford — Restaurant in London

Really upset at the fact that we were made to feel very belittled when we were here last week. Have been here over the last few months numerous times. Always have been welcomed in with a smile from the staff. Never had any problems with anything. Service has been great , food has been absolutely great. During the eat out to help out, myself husband and 4 children dined here many times. Always felt very welcomed. This day I reserved my table like I always do. I walked I side with my 4 children while my husband parked the car. Was met at the desk by a worker who I personally haven't seen there before. He asked my name and found our booking. Before he actually took us to be seated he made a quick statement to myself. 'You know children are not allowed to be walking around,and if they do i will ask you to leave and refuse to serve you.' I was actually taken back to be honest as to what he had just said to me. I replied to him ' me and my family have been here many times before and haven't been told that by any other worker that has actually shown us to our table.' He rudely ignored my answer and we was told to follow him to be seated. I am actually still today very upset as to why this worker who we have been told by another worker at the beehive his name is Shaheem. If I'm correct I think he is some sort of manager. Me and my family have never had problems here ,never caused no problems here. Always have been so lovely to see the way workers on previous visits have been extremely helpful and friendly. We are a settled Irish traveller family. On giving my name and obviously him hearing my accent, this is when he so rudely told me what he did. Is this why this happened on that day. Previous visits like I have said with other workers, during this covid 19 pandemic, have never made that statement to me in regards to having the right to refuse service and ask us to leave. Why did he have to make us feel so very low, when others before have always welcomed us in with a happy smile. Was this told to others with children? Its sad as that was the last time me and my family will be coming here to enjoy like we have many...

Wow... Won't be in a rush to go back here. How disappointing as years ago food was superb here. Firstly we expected it to be busy as we went here for father's day. A group of just 3 adults and 2 children. We first got escorted to a large table which was promising but table was still dirty, chairs had food on it and food around the table on the floor. We soon gave our waiter the name of Mr. Happy... Clearly didn't want to be there! We sat down to which the fathers day menu not offered to us, no drinks menu - drinks ordered which took around 20 mins to arrive then food order was taken. Food took an hour and 15 mins to come out (just ordered mains). My order was the ultimate grill, steak was a bit tough, chicken was barely warm and very dry so that tells me it was cooked prior to my order and reheated. One of the eggs was broken and dripping down our waiters shirt as he placed (almost dropped) onto the table. Ribs very dry and a poor attempt to cover it up by covering in BBQ dip, sausages burnt. Massively disappointed with the children's food, broccoli was well.... Hardly broccoli (see photos). Kitchen need to learn how to do cheesy garlic bread. Bread not toasted and the cheese, yep you guessed it... Burnt! Ice creams came out very quick from ordering but looked such a mess and unorganised that I reckon my 6 year old could of done better on presentation skills. Bill came in at around £96 after after waiting so long for the waiter to come back we opted to pay via the app. All in all was there for a complete unnecessary 2 hours and 45mins. Honestly I don't think I will be returning back here any time soon. Parking free on Sundays and Monday to Saturday you can claim the ticket off your bill but you might be better off going...

We’ve been coming here for over 35 years. Many an enjoyable family occasion has been spent at this restaurant. I’d like to add that it is the people who greet you and serve you, that make all the difference to your experience. We’ve had great service here over the years on the past.

However, twice in the last two weeks, I’ve had a negative experience with the same waitress who happened to serve us on both visits.

On the first occasion she was clearly rushed off her feet so we cut her some slack, but then she spoke to me in a most condescending manner as we had ordered from the bar and maybe she thought we wouldn’t be tipping so she didn’t have to be polite to us. On the contrary we would have left her a nice tip if she hadn’t been so rude.

The second occasion (today) was the final straw. Rolling her eyes whilst our son was enthusiastically but politely ordering his lunch, followed by ignoring any details we told her about our lunches, ignoring our request for water for the table, extreme slow service all round.

Also today we were chastised by what seemed like the manager for just turning up and not booking a table. What happened to being spontaneous and just being able to rock up at your local Harvester on a Tuesday afternoon?! Which was half empty anyway?!

The quality of the staff and food has gone down the pan. Don’t even get me started on the stale, grey coleslaw in the salad trolley, the dried up pieces of cucumber or the rock hard, days old bread rolls. How are they getting away with this?!

We have been customers for over 35 years. We shall not...