Horticulture - Cafe Bar Restaurant — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

Today I attended Horticulture for drinks and brunch. I have been several times since it opened in the city and have enjoyed it each time, unfortunately today was not one of those occasions. 2 friends and I had a table booked at 14:00 on the terrace. I had deliberately booked horticulture for the afternoon as my friend was visiting from London and I had previously told them how wonderful it was. We were seated at a nice table and the server was initially very attentive. At 14:12 myself and my boyfriend ordered a ginger beer and a pint of lager from the app. Our friend ordered an iced latte and some avo on toast separately from the server. After 10-15 minutes the server came over and said that unfortunately they had ran out of ginger beer and asked if there was anything else I would like. This was totally fine and completely understandable so I asked for a coke instead. I therefore know there was no problem with the app as they had clearly seen the order and amended it. Another 10 minutes later we still hadn’t got our drinks so we chased up the server when they passed by the table and also asked for some water. 5 minutes later the water appeared with nothing else. An additional 5-10 minutes after that the Avo on toast arrives followed shortly by the iced latte. This was now over half an hour in and there was still no sign of our drinks. I would be more understanding of this if it was busy in the venue, but at this point many tables had left and there weren’t many seated inside either. Additionally, on several occasions various members of staff even came over and asked if we needed anything and each time we told them we were still waiting on our two drinks. The first time the server was somewhat apologetic and said ‘oh yeah I’ll sort them right now’. That didn’t happen and each time after there was just a response of ‘oh yeah’ or ‘ok’. After this happened with a few different servers, my friend ordered another drink with them to be brought with the drinks we were still waiting on. After another 20 minutes of waiting my boyfriend eventually went to the bar to complain and chase up the drinks. He showed them the app which indicated we had ordered our drinks 1 hour and 10 minutes earlier and we still didn’t have them. The server on the bar was apologetic and said they wouldn’t be on the bill but we needed to request a refund through the app after our visit. After 5 minutes our original 2 drinks arrived along with the other ordered by my friend. After we had now waited an hour and half out of our 2 hour booking for 2 drinks I expected them to at least be right and delivered to the correct table, but one of the drinks was not what I ordered and they were sent to the table next to us who were also waiting on drinks. When this mistake was pointed out I said to the waiter that at this point I would just drink it after waiting so long, to which they said “well I’ll change it because it’s not like you are paying for it”. I found this remark irritating as firstly, we had actually paid and have to wait for a decision to be made regarding a refund on the app and secondly, even if we were paying it was their mistake. It was at this point that the table next to us over heard and voiced that they had also been waiting on drinks for a very long time and were equally annoyed. At this point there was 1 table inside and 3 outside. We drank our drinks and left. We didn’t get any apology on the way out and to be honest it completely ruined the afternoon and I probably won’t be back...

Me and a couple friends visited last Saturday and the experience left us not wanting to return again.

We arrived and stood at the top of the stairs waiting for a table which was fine as it was obviously busy. When we were seen to we were told that the only table was outside. We said absolutely no problem! The lady cleared the table and pointed as to where it was. We weren’t given any food menus or told whether to order at the bar or someone will come. After 20 minutes of being sat and ignored I went to ask where we could find some food menus, and asked if we should order at the bar. The girl gave us some menus and told us someone would be over to the table for us. Another 10 minutes passed and no one came to us, so I went up to the bar again and asked should I just order here? To which the bartender shrugged and said “I don’t know, maybe”… there was another girl on the bar who said she would be out shortly for us. When she eventually came to the table we placed our order. 2 cokes, an orange juice, 2 lattes a jug of water and a tea and our food. 30 minutes passed without us receiving our drinks. No one apologised for any delays. Eventually we were given our softs, and told the hot drinks would be on the way. We eventually got the 2 lattes after waiting another 15 minutes but no tea and no water. The food arrived before the rest of the drinks did. I had to get up for a third time and ask if it was okay to have them, to which I was met with disgruntled looks. In total I had waited 50 minutes for a cup of tea so didn’t appreciate the looks. Now the food was absolutely delicious, but got a little cold as o wanted to take a picture of our meal in its entirety but was still waiting for the tea. Initially some of the food was missing - the hash browns - so we also had to ask if they were coming. The server apologised and took them off the bill as she had forgotten to put them through. We never got a check back and never received the water. We then had to get up to go back to the bar to ask if we could pay.

We were completely ignored the entire time, things missing, things extremely late. It was in its entirety a terrible experience. If it was too busy, we would have be absolutely fine with that being explained to us, or any updates during our time. But we were completely ignored - we wanted to complain to a manager but as we never saw one/ we’re ignored the entire time anyway we thought it pointless. Our plan before this was to return later for cocktails, but we all laughed at the idea after the meal saying we would probably have to stay an extra night in Newcastle as it would take that long to receive the drinks.

The food was nice, but the entire experience absolutely ridiculous. Was a real shame.

Avoid on busier days as they only seem to care about their...

I’ve been to Horticulture for drinks and some bar snacks before and the atmosphere and cocktails are fantastic. But this time coming for a date night with my man. Seated quickly and a drinks order taken - neither of us drinking alcohol so a 0% lager for me and as they don’t have a mocktail menu, they asked the kind of flavours we liked and then recommend an alcohol free Zombie. It was delicious! The staff took us through the ordering process and to be aware that ‘everything comes out as and when it is ready.’ We ordered hummus and flatbread, Artichokes, Mozzarella, Vegetable Tempura, Halloumi Fries, charred corn, Monkfish and Horti Fries. This was more than enough for the two of us! There wasn’t a single thing I could fault about any dish! One of the best bits about the experience is that as each dish comes out when it’s fresh and ready, you experience it in its entirety. You’re invited to focus purely on the flavours, textures and ingredients of the plate. It meant that each plate was a conversation and an experience shared. Personal highlights were the charred corn, artichokes and Vegetable Tempura. Going in hard for the full experience we even treated ourselves to the desert menu! Poached pears and a chocolate cake with cherry brandy and white chocolate. Rich and indulgent but not stodgy or overwhelming. Beautiful. The atmosphere in the restaurant is lively and vibrant. The open kitchen a treat as you can see the speed and diligence of the kitchen staff as the dance around each other. All in all a fantastic night of incredible flavours, the freshest ingredients and a genuine dining experience…and all for under £100! Would 100% recommend.

A small note - if you’re not a food sharer then make sure you’re prepared to wait and watch your date eat without you as the dishes literally come when they are ready. So I’d recommend being prepared to give sharing a chance for the full shared experience!

We will be back for the new...