As You Like It — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

Absolutely ruined what should’ve been a special birthday lunch.

We visited AYLI today for a birthday meal and honestly—what an epic disappointment.

We booked for 12:30 but arrived at 12:00 to enjoy a drink beforehand. When we walked in, the place was dead. No atmosphere at all. We stood around waiting to be acknowledged, then eventually had to go up to the bar ourselves. The barman (Darren—turns out he’s also the manager, apparently) barked “What do you want?” at my dad. No greeting, no smile, just rude from the off.

He also made a fuss because my mum and wife ordered two different cocktails instead of going for the 2-for-£13.99 deal. We were happy to pay full price! Drinks then took nearly 20 minutes to arrive.

We took them upstairs to our table (no signage, no staff to guide us), only to find the restaurant in a complete state—leftover mess from a wedding the night before. A few minutes later Darren came up and told us we’d be eating in “the snug” because they were short staffed.

The “snug” was a soulless little corner with five tables shoved together, zero atmosphere, and our table was only set for four (we were five). We had to ask for another setting, a kids’ menu, a wine list—each request seemed like a big inconvenience. The table was also wobbly, just to top things off.

We ordered: • 2 focaccias and kids’ roasts • 1 veggie roast • 1 trio roast • 1 burger

45 minutes later, the starters arrived. Only one other table was seated, so we couldn’t understand the delay—especially with a hungry 4-year-old in tow. Meanwhile, two Diet Cokes had to be sent back because they were flat.

When mains eventually came: • My mum got a full-sized adult meal instead of a kid’s roast (not a huge issue, but still). • I was asked mid-service if I wanted a Yorkshire with my veggie roast… not the ideal time. • Our son’s meal came out last—by which time he was starving. • The shared vegetable side was a tiny bowl with two broccoli florets, a few green beans, and some limp cabbage—between five people. • We ordered chimichurri roast potatoes, got plain ones instead. When we asked for the right ones, they arrived after we’d finished eating, so we sent them back.

Food was a mess: • Burger was soggy and sloppy • Chicken was dry • Pork was fatty • Beef was chewy and underdone • Vegetarian roast was small, dry, and bland—no seeds, no texture • Veg was overcooked • Roasties were dry

By 2:15, we were still sitting there debating dessert—but seeing the table next to us STILL waiting for theirs (after 40 mins) sealed the deal. We skipped it.

Shout out to the young waitstaff—they were friendly, apologetic, and clearly doing their best. But management? Darren literally hid upstairs to avoid speaking to us. A manager who ducks responsibility when things go wrong? Unbelievable.

They did knock a bit off the bill, but honestly, the whole thing was a waste of time and money. What used to be a lively, reliable, feel-good venue is now a complete shadow of its former self.

We’ve celebrated so many occasions at AYLI over the years—even my wife’s hen party—but after today? We won’t be back.

A birthday meal ruined, 5 hungry customers, and one completely dead venue. No wonder it was so quiet.

Oh and to top it off we were given an email address to lodge a complaint to, multiple emails sent and not a...

We arrived here at 18:50 for our 19:00 booking on Saturday 29th February 2020. After aimlessly following the front of house around the maze of tables we were eventually sat down once he asked a colleague where table 53 was. We were without a drinks menu so when the tall waiter wearing a waistcoat asked what drinks we would like I asked for a drinks menu. We then weren't seen to until 19:35 despite there being approximately 6 tables in view that were empty, so they were not at full capacity. During the 35 minute wait I couldn't help but notice how much the staff in there gather together and speak to each other they would have little group meetings every 3-5 minutes which was bizarre and contradicts the point of them wearing headsets.The same waiter who seemed to be in charge walked past our table at least 10 times during the 35 minute wait glancing at our table but still failing to take our drinks order. When that waiter eventually came back to us he said ''Right guys thought I'd give you some time to think, what would you like to drink?'' it was at this moment I paused and looked at my partner in shock as I tried to work out in my head whether this was sarcasm or not. We placed an order of 2 drinks with with the addition of a bottle of water for the table, 19:45 almost one hour since our arrival we have our first sip of a drink but of course the additional request of water didn't arrive despite the waiter making the note on his piece of paper. We placed an order for the cocktail which in the description stated £1 of every cocktail goes to a charity however when we received the bill they just added on an additional £1 charge to your bill for that drink so they retain the same profit (see evidence attached). When we asked a different member of staff for the missing water it was provided without lemon despite other tables having it including the one next to us. When the food arrived we were not offered any condiments and nor did anybody check if everything was alright with the food. After the way things had gone we decided to avoid staying any longer so we then asked the waistcoat wearing waiter for the bill, we were waiting for 15 minutes, we were then approached by a waitress who was basically asking if we needed anything else because we were just sat there with nothing on our table, coats on ready to leave, to which I replied that we had requested the bill but to no avail so she took this duty upon herself and provided it for us. Our departure was as acknowledged as our arrival because as we left no member of staff said thank you nor goodbye which is a gesture you'd receive at most other places, unsurprisingly as we walked past the main desk, two members of staff were gathered, having a good old chinwag and again no acknowledgement. The morale is if you enjoy bad customer service but nice food As You Don't Like it is the...

Had a table for 20 booked Saturday 23/2/19 for 6-30 arrived just before to be told table would be 5 minutes please wait in bar 15 minutes later table was ready so we went upstairs only to be told we were on 2 tables so sorry can you please go back down stairs to the bar until we can sort a table out yet again 15 minutes later said table was ready so finally sit down for the meal greeted by a waiter saying can I have your drinks order ( no drinks menu's) by the time he had brought the ( drinks menu's) I decided just to go down to the bar for the 6 of us that were at the bottom of the table so kept on doing that for the rest of the meal came back with drinks sat down sitting waiting for food menu's which in the end had to ask for then a waiter dropped garlic mussels on floor and myself ( ok accidents happen no problem) finally menu's came waiter took everyone's starter and main meal great food wouldn't be long ( nope ) had to ask how much longer for food only to come back and say sorry we've lost your order can we take you food orders again please ok orders taking again poured a glass of wine for my wife only to discover a dead fly dried on to the inside of the glass showed waiter ( nothing done ) then my pregnant daughter's water glass had a crack from top to bottom ( still nothing done) enough a manager please explained all ( apologies said and as gesture put 3 bottles of prosecco and 2 moctails for the pregnant ladies ) and sending out a few appetisers finally getting starters all nearly finished when I had to ask for my daughter's starter again which was brought out when we were all finished so she left most of it feeling embarrassed to eat on her own same manager came round saying I will get your mains out be about 5 minutes ok mains come out by then some people had lost their appetites or didn't like the food my wife had already been put off by the dead fly dried on her wine glass mains nearly finished and guess what I had to ask for my daughter's mains again for her to leave most of it again as everyone was nearly finished by this time our 6 people from the party had had enough and left only to find out the next day that they had waved the drinks bill ( so double whammy for us as we had bought all of our drinks from the bar downstairs all night so no compensation for what was to be such a...