San Carlo - Manchester — Restaurant in Manchester

PART 1/2

My Girlfriend and I visited this restaurant for my 22nd Birthday on 15th March, and she had booked it as a nice surprise, a week ahead.

I have a very serious allergy so understand that it may not be a completely smooth process. I am in fact allergic to poultry (chicken, turkey, duck etc.), and am 1 of 3 in the country for the allergy. I'm also allergic to Crustaceans.

Due to this my girlfriend called the restaurant before booking and spoke to a waitress, then a manager & then a chef, who said that they would be able to cater for my allergy, and that although there would be some restrictions, they would be able to find ways to cook what I wanted. With that, she was satisfied and booked.

We got to the restaurant at 4.30pm, so that it wasn't too busy and that it would be easier for them to cater for it. Upon sitting down, the waitress asked about allergies & my girlfriend explained the situation. She got the manager to come over and speak to us, and to take our order. (The waitress by the way handled this faultlessly, we were very pleased.)

Salvador, the manager, requested that I write down my allergy on his pad, so that he can discuss with the chef. So far, so good. After about 5-10 mins, he came back and said “the chicken is just an intolerance, correct sir?” Which at this point was ridiculous as we had called and spoken with Salvador on the phone, and explained the seriousness of the allergy in person, (showing the Epi pen). At this point, I was beginning to lose faith in the quality of the service.

After another wait, he came back and told me that due to cross contamination there were some dishes that I wouldn't be able to eat. He then went on to say that out of the 4 sections of the menu, I wouldn't be able to eat 2 of them: any of the pastas or steaks/meats. Due to my Crustacean allergy, the only fish dishes available were the whole seabass, the whole monkfish, or the whole Dover sole. He gave us time to think and went away.

I have eaten in many Italian restaurants before and they have always been very accommodating and safe, so I was shocked that I couldn't eat any of the pasta dishes. We were confused and asked him to explain when he came back. He said that the pasta water had lots of cross contamination with the chicken and that "there is chicken in the pasta water". I was very confused and quite miffed.

It is worth saying that the only fish available were the 3 most expensive & that pizza is pizza, and is fairly the same everywhere, which is why I really wanted to try some of the pasta. When he came back the next time, I asked how the fish would be cooked, and he said that it would be done in a section away from all chicken, and done in a new, separate pan. I asked why the same couldn't be done with the pasta and he repeated the same line "there is chicken in the water, we can't risk it".

By this point, it was becoming rather embarrassing and the tables around us were looking over. I still don't understand why there is chicken in the pasta water, or what that means for people who want their meals to be vegetarian. Unfortunately, my allergy is also a severe thing, so when the manager didn't seem able to properly explain, I didn't feel comfortable staying and eating at this restaurant, which was a great shame after the amount of time & effort we had gone to booking & calling.

By the time we got up to leave, the table next to us had ordered, eaten starters & mains & asked for the bill, and...

PART 2 (carrying on from Sam Tomlin's review)

✨chicken allergy ✨

On our way out, we spoke to the hostess, who was at first confused as to why we hadn't ordered, and then seemed shocked when I explained what Salvador had said. She said that "I don't understand why they can't cook it separately, in the same way they would something else" and she was rather apologetic. We then were introduced to the General Manager, who I thought was Salvador. He apologised, but seemed equally adamant that chicken was in the pasta water. We do understand his position as he had only just been made aware of the situation and the particulars of the allergy. However at this point the trust in the kitchens ability to cook anything was irretrievable. Further, he was still unable to explain why there was chicken in the pasta water.

We were offered complimentary drinks and snacks, but had plans later that evening & didn't want to stay any longer. This palava had taken close to an hour and we were now left trying to find a place that had availability on a busy Saturday night and that would be able to cater to my allergies, which from our experience we know is difficult.

It then took 8 different restaurants before we found another restaurant that could cater for my allergy and had a table.

We still don’t know why there is chicken in the water at San Carlo’s Manchester. Nor why their chef's cant cook pasta in a pan with boiling water. But this is not for us to judge. Why we weren’t told this over the phone, however, we can judge.

While this is obviously a unique circumstance, it does call into question the cleanliness of the establishment in the kitchen. Do they not wash the dishes? Is raw chicken on every conceivable work surface? Do the chef's know anything about food hygiene? The doubts continue. For such a fine dining establishment, one would think they would care about the hygiene & the customer experience.

Thank you for reading about our experience, after talking about this with our friends and family, we have heard of another San Carlo restaurant that also was unable to competently deal with an allergy. It goes without saying we won’t consider eating here again and encourage other people with allergens, dietary requirements and preferences to save themselves the bother.

Thoughts for improvement, (we want to improve the industry, not just state issues) so here’s some things to improve.

Communication - restaurants should take longer to discuss the particulars of any allergen over the phone. Menu restriction can mean many things, from the obvious (no chicken dishes for me) to the down right ludicrous ie over half the menu.

General allergen awareness- The customer knows their allergy the best. Listen to what they are saying and try to make it as easy for them as possible. I don't expect to be pampered, but it would help if the manager listened and tried to make alterations.

A note on this restaurant in particular: there were many empty tables, but we were instead crammed in on a back wall between two other tables. Knowing that other customers can hear and are listening intently, makes the whole debacle much more...

Had the worst time for my birthday dinner! Definitely would not recommend for queer couples 🙄🙄

Upon arriving, we had to wait 25 minutes to get a table even though we had a reservation. When the host finally rushed us to our table, we got seated 2ft from the kitchen. As soon as I sat down, the host was gone. It seemed like every other table had their coats taken & hung up for them but we weren’t offered this. It was so loud, we couldn’t hear each other across the table.

Despite this, we ordered drinks and appetizers which were actually good. I couldn’t enjoy this though, because staff and customers kept walking by our table (right next to the kitchen) and bumping into me/hitting me in the head. My chair was pushed all the way in and I was leaning into the table and yet this happened 10-20 times — every time someone walked by.

Eventually, I got hit in the head by a staff member right in front of the server who was pouring our wine, and I was able to get us a new table. The new table was nicer (not getting hit in head) however the noise level was still insane!! We couldn’t have a conversation for the whole dinner.

Our mains came and they were disappointing. I got their “most famous pasta dish” and it was so bland, I didn’t even finish half of it. My partner got steak and a side of potatoes. When they ordered this, my partner was asking for more detail on the options for sides and the server was so rude, and basically just read the menu back to us instead of answering their question and acting like they’re stupid for asking. When it arrived, the steak was fine - nothing special, and the potatoes were so greasy.

It took 40 minutes for them to come clear the table after we’d finished. During this time, the table next to us had paid their bill. Then, another server comes over to them 5-10 minutes later asking them to pay (??). They went back and forth for a few minutes and the customers literally had to pull out their receipt to show they paid. So disorganized and frankly rude considering the price point you’re paying to eat here.

Based on the service we’d experienced, we had already decided we’d have dessert and cocktails somewhere else instead. My partner asked for the bill. The server brought dessert menus. My partner asked for the bill again.

Other tables had received free dessert and even got sung happy birthday (?) in the time we’d been there. Not sure if we would have gotten this since we left early.

The only thing I wanted at this point was to take a picture with the beautiful decorations they had outside. We couldn’t do this because there was a big crowd of drunk men outside.

Anyway — we walked 1 block to Hawksmoor where the service was incredible. We could actually hear each other talk and had a delicious dessert and cocktails. This was by far the best part of...