Pleased To Meet You — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

Nice place, nice food (when they have it), below par service.

We booked this restaurant for a 7.30pm booking on a Friday for a family birthday and took both my parents who are in their mid 70s. We booked approx 7 days in advance. On arrival, the problems with service started. The host could not find our booking and resorted to 'when did you make the booking? Who did you speak to?' after 10 seconds more looking, he found the booking.

The waitress who took our drinks order managed to get confused between New Zealand Marlborough and Sauvignon Blanc, and we had to explain that they were the same thing. Our request for a glass of ice was never delivered the entire night.

We then made our food order, which was duly taken without issue. However, after 5 minutes the waitress returned to tell us that several dishes on the menu ( including some of the meals we had ordered) were not available. This seemed completely new information to her. It was also surprising given it was fairly early on, during a Friday night service. She explained that there was no Chateau Brianne, No fillet steak, no lobster, no crab, no winkles. If you study the menu this is a big percentage of their meals.

After a further awkward period of reordering food, we were provided with specialist cutlery ( none of which was given to the right people, so we swapped after the server departed). We waited 30 minutes for the starters. All the starters were excellent. We then waited a further 25 minutes for the main courses. These all looked lovely, apart from one dish which was the scallops and halibut dish. The portion was so poor that, at first glance, you couldn't see the halibut portion on the plate. The halibut portion was a fillet, not a steak, and was left skin-on, which meant that a significant amount of the portion was inedible fish skin. Unbeknownst to the restaurant, my father is a former fish merchant, so knows his stuff. This was my mother's dish, and she duly tried to deal with it by skinning the fillet. The scallops tasted nice, but the fish was tasteless and lacked substance due to its size.

We complained to the waitress about the portion size of the halibut. She went to the kitchen to investigate and so began an elaborate tale of how the restaurant buys halibut in portions and each portion is a certain weight.... We explained that was all very interesting, but didn't explain why the portion size was so poor and not reflective of the menu description. We then had a manager who arrived and the same tale of was repeated. After we explained that my mum was not happy with the dish, it was eventually taken away and my mum was offered a replacement. As others had nearly finished their main courses by now, my mum declined a replacement meal.

After the rest of the mains were finished, we were ready to leave and asked for the bill. We were presented with a bill that still had the £26 halibut dish listed. We explained to the waitress that we had sent this dish back, and she went to investigate. We then received news that she had spoken to both the 'executive' chef and the duty manager, and both had stated that, as the dish had not been refused on arrival, they would not refund the meal.

At this point, I took my parents out of the restaurant and my partner stayed and ended up speaking to the general manager about the issue. Eventually, by providing pictures we had taken of all of our food (which we had intended to put on social media), we demonstrated that the halibut dish was not to the same standard as all the other meals, and the cost of the dish was removed from the bill.

This was by far the most onerous, ridiculous approach to a food complaint that I have ever seen in a restaurant. To end up having a proxy argument with the kitchen staff via the waiting staff is completely absurd and those charged with delivering good service should have stepped in much sooner.

What has really added insult to injury is that the final bill (even without the halibut) included a £15...

I would like to begin this review by expressing my positive experiences at PTMY Newcastle over the years. However, my recent visit on 23/12 turned out to be one of the most disappointing dining experiences I have ever had.

My housemates and I had a table booked for 7:15pm, and despite arriving early, the staff managed to accommodate us, which was great. Initially, things seemed promising as a friendly Irish or Scottish girl took our drinks and food orders without any issues. Although the starter took a while to arrive, it was within a reasonable timeframe. Unfortunately, the situation deteriorated rapidly from there. For over 40 minutes, none of the waiting staff approached our table. They didn't check on our food, take additional drink orders (despite us finishing our drinks), or clean the dirty table next to us. Eventually, someone cleared the neighboring table, but my housemate had to ask the girl if we could order more drinks. After that, we didn't see her for quite some time. We were left feeling confused and frustrated. There was no sign of our main courses, no explanation for the delay, and no one attending to the cleanliness of the area. It became increasingly disappointing. Finally, after about an hour and a bit (including the initial 40 minutes), our food arrived. I ordered the Christmas dinner, which was incredibly underwhelming. It lacked flavor and was disappointingly small, with no pigs in blankets (this was never included, just can't believe you would have one without pigs in blankets). Although my housemates enjoyed their meals, they weren't anything extraordinary. At that point, we decided to salvage the experience by ordering desserts.

All of us opted for the sticky toffee puddings. However, I strongly advise against choosing this dish. It was clearly microwaved, as the cake arrived mushy and lacked the fluffy texture a proper cake should have. The sauce resembled water and was utterly pathetic. If I may offer some advice to the chefs, I would suggest leaving the cake as is and heating the sauce on a stove before pouring it over the cake. Alternatively, the cake could be kept under a hot lamp. Microwaving it only turns it into a mushy mess, indicating a lack of care in its preparation. One of my housemates couldn't even finish hers because it was just awful—I wish I had her willpower.

I would like to mention that there were only a few other tables occupied, making it a quiet evening. Unfortunately, the waiting staff performed poorly that night. Having worked in the hospitality industry for over 5 years myself, I would be appalled if any of my staff behaved in the manner they did. There was no friendly banter or conversation, no interest in our experience, and no explanations provided. It truly felt like it was everyone's first night on the job. While I typically refrain from singling out specific workers, I genuinely believe that those who were on the restaurant floor that evening should consider pursuing a different career path.

I won't be returning to...

Going from Hero to Zero!

I have booked this place as I was in their restaurant once in the past and everything was excellent! Sadly this wasn't the case this time…

As we arrived in Pleased To Meet You, I have noticed that person greeting us, was looking around the Bar area for a table for us... and sat us down in the dark corner behind the pillar next to walkthrough to the outside sitting space and gave us menus, which were so dirty, they literally got stuck to my hand… Tables were dirty with drinks spilled on them… After asking politely for new or rather clean menu, I have also asked, why we are not being sat in the restaurant, as expected - I have been told the place doesn’t really use it right now - yet, this was not mentioned when I made reservation. So we were basically eating dinner in the BAR with RESTAURANT prices, average £25-£30 per main course, before adding side dishes…

Our nightmare continued with food arriving at the table. Steak tartar starter (£13), was more of a flattened meatball on the plate and when I asked if I could possibly have slice of toast or bread to go with it, I’ve been offered option of bread basket for additional £5…

Main courses did not deliver either… My friend’s rack of lamb, which was meant to be pink, arrived well done. My halibut looked more like an off-cut piece an it was burnt on both sides, overcooked and mushy, and with no taste, but the sauce underneath was so salty I couldn’t even eat it… We haven’t complained about the food, however seeing full plates, when we said we are done, should give the staff an idea, that clearly something was not right…

Overall, our first evening out on Bank Holiday, ended with bill for £140 and us being hungry and disappointed. What was meant to be a celebration in the nice restaurant with white clothes on the tables was in fact a nightmare of dinner!

It is extremely sad, that after all months being closed due to lockdown, this place couldn’t even step up the game and make sure to provide best of the best, rather than worst! Staff looked confused and had no waiting skills - even with waiters carrying drinks in their hands, instead of using trays! Service was probably the worst I have ever experienced!

Main disappointment here is of course the fact, that if you do not use restaurant part anymore for eating guests - YOU SHOULD NOT CHARGE RESTAURANT PRICES!

One thing is for sure, I will not be visiting this place ever again, not only for the reasons detailed above, but also place which always seemed to have great character and felt rather luxurious, now looks sad and rather dirty…

So as I said… From...