The Head of Steam Quayside — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

Bored, lazy bar staff. Went in last night, Tuesday so not surprised it was a bit quiet. The blonde twenty-something girl behind the bar served me, no attempt at a smile or greeting, just looked like she didn't want to be there. I got a drink for me and my friend (£9.95 for a large glass of wine!) and sat down to order some food, we ordered and I had the Katsu chicken burger which was edible but certainly didn't taste like it had been cooked recently, not sure if they use those warming cabinets for fried food, fries were listless and limp. As the food came over I asked the same girl if she could get me a pint so I didn't have to let my food get cold and she said "it's table service only, you have to come to the bar" which I get is probably company policy but the place was really quiet and there was no-one at the bar so I thought it wasn't a big ask considering I was paying by card anyway. I then went to the bar a few minutes later but neither of the bar staff were anywhere to be seen, I waited a minute then sat down and ate my food with no drink. After we finished I got another drink and we stayed about another 40 minutes, no-one bothered to clear the table then as we left she came over and cleared it. I like the beers they have on offer so would probably go back for a pint but will definitely skip the...

So to start on a positive note first, the food selection, quality and value was pretty good.

What let this visit down was the clear lack of coping by the staff at a time when the place just wasn't that busy.

No-one greeted customers when they arrived, so it wasn't clear how to confirm you had a reservation and were looking for your table.

Finally found a member of staff, who was very pleasant and helpful and we were in.

Trying to order our food and first drinks took about 15 minutes. Had to chase several times for our drinks, which finally arrived with our food. Great selection of beers and good food.

No-one came back to ask us if our food was okay or if we wanted to order more drinks.

After the meal, we decided to pay and leave. Spent about 10 to 15 minutes trying to find someone to take our money. One of the bar staff actually said he was too busy to take the payment and seemed stressed out... God help him when Newcastle revelers hit the bar again in numbers.

Probably...

Leaving this review for the Head of Steam is something I'm doing with mixed feelings. It's been a couple months since I last went, however, I left it this long because I didn't have a very positive experience with it. The food I personally had was not a very good choice I feel, it was a butternut squash and chilli soup. Something I felt would either be really nice or not at all; unfortunately it was the latter. However, while my choice was not very nice it was only the special of the day. The food my friends chose was a lot nicer when I tried it, the fish and chips was especially nice. Now the drinks at the Head of Steam were quite nice, there were quite a few different beers and ales along with a good selection of wines and spirits, however, I feel like the prices seem quite high in relation to the rest of Newcastle. Would I recommend going there? Not necessarily. However, I do plan on going back to see if I'll have a better...