KITTEN — Restaurant in Manchester

DO NOT VISIT AT ALL COSTS – Unprofessional and horrible service!!!!!

If I could give zero stars, I absolutely would. Our experience at Kitten was nothing short of a disaster, and their complete lack of professionalism afterward has only made matters worse.

We dined here on January 3rd for a birthday celebration and were treated with nothing but rudeness, dismissiveness, and terrible service. We brought our own cake to surprise the birthday girl and discreetly handed it to a staff member, expecting them to handle it properly. Instead, while we were mid-meal, another staff member came to our table and bluntly asked when we wanted the cake to be brought out—completely ruining the surprise! We were flabbergasted! When making the reservation, you are explicitly asked about the occasion, and I clearly stated it was for a birthday, so there is absolutely no excuse for such a huge mistake. We paid a £20 cake charge so you would think that this would at least cover the element of surprise for a birthday cake?!? We were expecting a celebratory atmosphere, but instead, we got one bored server awkwardly singing and a ruined surprise because staff couldn’t even coordinate properly. We felt rushed through our meal and pressured to pay the bill before we were done with the meal. We were seated in a secluded corner and were denied our request to move, despite the restaurant being mostly empty. Their Google listing states they close at 1 AM, but they actually close at 11 PM—something that was not communicated at all. Staff kept staring at us, making us uncomfortable, and it was only when we asked at 10:59 PM that they finally informed us they were closing.

To top it off, we were charged a ridiculous £18 service charge for service that was practically nonexistent. However, the real issue began when we submitted a formal complaint on January 4th. It is now January 30th, and despite multiple calls and promises of a response "the next day" or "by the end of the week," we have heard NOTHING. Not only have they blatantly ignored us, but they have also hung up on our calls multiple times. This is a shocking level of unprofessionalism for any business, let alone a so-called "high-end" restaurant.

When speaking to a staff member on the phone on the 18th January, he initially introduced himself as James but then, when asked to confirm, suddenly changed his name to Joel. That alone speaks volumes about the level of dishonesty at this place.

They have repeatedly lied, claiming our complaint was passed on to their ‘operations/events team’, which I now firmly believe does not exist. To make matters worse, when we spoke to someone named Ruth, she blatantly lied and claimed they never received our email. Even though I had already sent a follow-up email to ensure they got it. To prove this, I forwarded the email again while on the phone with her, and she confirmed receipt and promised to pass it on to the "operations team," assuring me that I would get a response by the end of the week. That was two weeks ago, and shock nothing happened. We even reached out on Instagram and were told that they only handle social media. Could they really not forward our complaint to this so-called operations team? Or does it simply not exist?

Never in my life have I experienced such horrific service and a complete lack of professionalism. This place is a total joke, and I would never recommend it to anyone. Save yourself the frustration, disappointment, and don’t waste your money. There are plenty of restaurants in Manchester that actually care about their customers. Kitten is NOT...

This was by far the worst dining experience we’ve ever had, and it completely ruined our joint birthday celebration. We booked a table for 6 a month in advance for 8pm on 18/1/25 and were told we’d be on a set menu. My friend, who has Coeliacs disease, noticed there was no allergen info on the menu, so she called a week before to ask what she could eat. They told her they’d check and get back to her—spoiler alert, they never did.

On top of that, I called to confirm everything a few days before, including the fact that our table was now for 5, not 6. They acknowledged this, but when we showed up, they tried to charge us £25 for the missing person, even though I had told them ahead of time. We sat down, and it took 20 minutes before we even got a chance to order drinks. Then, it took another 45 minutes for them to take our food order. At this point, my friend still didn’t know what she could eat because there was zero allergen info, and nobody had followed up with her like they said they would. Eventually, they came back with a marked-up menu, of everything she couldn't have.

Our cold food finally arrived for three of us, but then we had to wait over 20 minutes for the hot food to come out. When we asked, we were told the food comes out as it’s ready. Fine, but nobody had told us that beforehand. To apologise, they offered us free drinks and dessert, but the drinks were so strong we had to send them back. By 9:40pm, only 3 of us had eaten anything, and we were getting stressed about being late to our next booking, which at 10 pm and only 5 minutes away.

At 9:50pm, my friend still hadn’t gotten anything to eat, so she told them to forget it. We spoke to the manager, who seemed sympathetic, but by this point, it was too late to do anything. We asked if they could at least take the cost of dessert off our bill since we didn’t have time to have it, but they refused. The situation escalated, and we ended up arguing with staff in the middle of the restaurant. Finally, when we paid and tried to leave, the older guy—probably the restaurant manager—told our friends, “Sorry you have such terrible friends.” It was so rude and completely uncalled for.

To top it all off, a few days later, I checked my bank statement and saw 7 transactions of £20 charges from them! I was horrified. Luckily, my credit card company refunded the charges and is investigating.

Honestly, we were so excited to support a local restaurant, especially since we live in Deansgate Square, but this was a total disaster. After seeing how many others have had similar issues, I can’t stress enough—don’t waste your time or money here. The...

3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

We're rating it this, with the hope it catches the attention of the management to resolve the issues experienced - because the restaurant has the capability to be 5 star, but fell short on numerous 'basic' errors:

👉🏻 I was feeling very faint and asked if could get padron peppers quickly to help me - waitress said 'yes that should arrive quicker than the other dishes because it doesn't take long to cook', instead of 'gosh let me get onto that for you' - quelle surprise, the peppers never arrived

👉🏻 I also asked for water - it didn't arrive either

👉🏻 the food arrived (except peppers), so we cancelled the peppers

👉🏻 the peppers arrived 5 minutes before we finished the food ❓️ - caveat this: the manager was great, apologised and removed the peppers from the bill ✔️

👉🏻 asked for a drinks menu half way through, which was received, but then took too long before someone came to take my drinks order

👉🏻 I ordered a malbec, it never arrived

👉🏻 15 minutes later, I chased my malbec, it didn't arrive

👉🏻 it finally arrived, it was chilled as it sits in a fridge at 14'c

👉🏻 while some red wines are nice chilled, chilling a malbec dulls it's potency and flavour. I chose a Malbec because I enjoy a deep red vino 🍷

👉🏻 I went to the bar myself because by this time I'd given up on waiting times - the bar only had red wines chilled. Caveat this: fortunately one of the waiters was stood by me, heard the whole thing and resolved it immediately by getting red wine directly from storage. He deserves ✅️ (However, the bar staff were only able to offer me chilled red wine)

👉🏻 Also one other small point; empty glasses weren't removed from the table during service (see photo). Again, nothing major, but these details matter if you're trying to make it to 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️👎🏻👎🏻

Small things, but it all removes the person from kicking back and enjoying their dining experience.

I did too much chasing and navigating gaps in service than I should do for a two person meal at £110.

Otherwise, the vibe is 👌🏻 and has the potential to wipe the floor with Australasia 💜 xx

OTHER KEY POINTS TO NOTE:

🟢 the food is delicious !!

🟠 there's too much ice under the sashimi, it soaked some of pieces

🟠 there's no 'standard sake' by the glass - I don't always want fruit...