The Bay Horse Tavern — Restaurant in Manchester

★☆☆☆☆ Disappointing Experience – Poor Service and Misleading Promotion

I rarely leave negative reviews unless I feel compelled to, but my experience at the Bay Horse Tavern was frustrating from start to finish. Upon arrival, I was greeted by one helpful staff member who made a good effort to find us a table while I waited for the rest of my group. Unfortunately, that was the only positive part of the visit.

While waiting, I went to the bar to grab a quick drink. Despite acknowledging me and being fully aware that I’d been waiting for around 10 minutes, one of the bartenders (male) continuously served people who arrived after me. His attitude was dismissive, slow, and generally rude. He even refused to apply a staff discount for another customer simply because he couldn’t be bothered to cancel and re-enter an item—something that seemed entirely within his capability to do.

When my party arrived, we were seated quickly, thanks again to the one helpful host. But things went downhill again from there. When I returned to the bar to order food, we told the bartender we were seated by the window, he snapped back, "That doesn’t help me," in a very rude tone—despite the table being only a couple of meters away. Once we gave him the table number, he seemed irritated. The whole interaction felt unnecessarily hostile and impatient.

After ordering the fish and chips–which were promoted on some social media accounts as a full-sized portion available for £2.50 when purchased with any drink– we sat down and eagerly awaited our food. When it arrived, the portion was laughably small—nowhere near what had been promoted, I was genuinely shocked, even when comparing what had been given to others, mine was terribly small (SEE IMAGE 3). I politely raised this with the waiter, only to be met with a shrug and a dismissive, "To be honest, mate, I don’t know. I just started my shift five minutes ago." This was clearly untrue, as I had seen him serving outside at least 20 minutes earlier.

It might have been better to simply offer the 50% off Fish & Chips all day, as I would have just done this. Waiting and bar staff should have also made this explicitly clear, but aside from the food, the whole handling wasn’t great at all.

All in all, the service was at times rude, lazy, and unprofessional. Staff didn’t seem interested in helping or resolving even basic queries. The food I felt was not clearly advertised/promoted and poorly handled when questioned. It’s a real shame, as I have been coming to this venue on and off for years —but based on this experience, I don't think I will...

Having booked a table for 5 people, the start of our meal was very pleasant, the waitress was very helpful and gave us the time to properly look through the changed menu and to catch up with the rest of the table. Ordering starters pork belly starter and pie for mains, and various drinks, we enjoyed the surroundings on a hot Saturday night. As a Hindu I don't eat beef and had explained that to the waitress, it was another member of my table that said the chips were cooked in beef drippings. After sorting that small issue, we enjoyed our drinks. The pork belly starter was fantastic, really was good, you do need to try it, crispy and flavoursome. On the menu it did say the pie would take longer, which wasn't a problem for us and when it came that was also pretty tasty. The issue we had when asking for the desserts, we had to approach the bar to place our order, one of our party went up and was met with a snide comment and was told to order with another person. We ordered two Honey and ginger creme brulé and sticky toffee pudding, both were good, nothing really to shout about. The issue we had was when paying for the bill, total came to around £170, again taking the bill up to the bar to pay we didn't feel that service we had received warranted the £17 charge, instead we wanted to leave something less, we each paid the amount we thought was appropriate, covering the bill and extra for the tip, wanting to leave £15 instead. Once we all paid and leaving the pub, we were told that we were still short, we did ask if the service charge was optional and the person behind the bar said there was still money to be paid, the interaction left the evening sour and wasn't the experience I had expected. Good food but service could...

Dining Experience @ The Bay Horse Tavern. . Styled as a modern take on the humble pub, they quickly picked up awards for their delicious restaurant-quality dishes served in a cozy setting. . Ambience has plenty of classic pub character, including an antique feature fireplace, and decorated mantelpieces. The main bar on the ground floor features mustard-coloured chesterfields and teal banquettes, with tiled floors and a dartboard. Pop downstairs to find a cozy and intimate dining space, flanked by the open kitchen. . Service is friendly and efficient. Staff take and fulfil orders quickly, cleaning up efficiently when diners leave. Very welcoming, they also accomodate families with children. . Food is classic British English pub grub, from grazing plates to quick bites. Ingredients are locally sourced, dishes prepared from scratch. There's a good range of craft beers. Portions are medium sized for individuals. Prices are reasonable, budget about GBP £19 per person. . The Beer Bay Horse Pilsner (GBP £5.70) is the house craft brew, a refreshing tipple. . The Beef Steak & Ale Pie (GBP £12.50) features a medium-sized pie, with a flaky pastry pie crust dough carrying bready sweet savoury buttery flavour. . Within are chunks of beef chuck steak, white onions, and diced carrots, slow-braised with ale and beef gravy till everything turns tender and juicy, resulting in robust meaty salty savoury flavour. . The pie is garnished with crispy fried shallots, lending a light crunch and vegetal salty savoury flavour. . Served with creamy smooth mashed potato with starchy sweet savoury flavour, and chunky gooey mushy peas with vegetal grassy earthy sweet flavour. Completed with more beef gravy...