62 The Bank & Bar 62 — Restaurant in North Devon

Very disappointed with the service, food and how we were treated last night. We had a table booked and 3 course dinner payed for in advance. Table booked for 28 people for an NHS Christmas Meal. Table wasn’t ready on arrival, no available seating to have a drink while we waited so got asked to go into the Fortescue Hotel to buy a drink at their bar while we stood around waiting. When we finally got to our table we were crammed into a small room where fortunately only 15 people could make the meal due to COVID and Flu on our ward. One of us rang in advance to prewarn them that unfortunately only 15 people could make it. We were told on the phone that the money was non refundable so it could go as money behind the bar for drinks. But when we were seated, we were informed that this wasn’t the case and they were keeping our £400+ as the food was already prepared which we understood but still didn’t think was fair as we called in the morning to inform them and our meal was at 20:15pm. Some of the people that couldn’t make it phoned and asked for the money to be put towards our drinks for the night. But this wasn’t the case either as they told us that wasn’t possible. So we asked for the food to still come out as we wanted to give it to the homeless but they didn’t bring the extra food out as a waitress informed us that the food wasn’t prepared which meant we got lied to at the start evening by a manager. When we did get our food it wasn’t up to the standard that we thought it would be. Baring in mind we paid £37.50 per person, the meals were very small and the food was very dry. When we asked for extra gravy and cranberry sauce they only gave us some amounts to go around 15 people. They continuously ignored our requests for the food to be brought out. Our bill at the end was £80 which we refused to pay as 3 individuals and maybe a few more called and asked for their money to be put behind the bar for drinks which was agreed by a day time manager. Very disappointed and we won’t be returning for our Christmas Meal next year...

The decor and ambiance are lovely. The service from the staff was excellent.Our waitress took great care to ensure she recorded my allergy to raw egg and shell fish which was commendable. I ordered a starter of calamari which took a while to arrive. The waitress apologised for the delay which was fine and this was one of the best calamari dishes I've had. Delicious. For mains my partner ordered the rainbow pho and garlic bread. I had the spicy cajun chicken burger. The food arrived promptly. The garlic bread was really just buttered toast and didn't taste of garlic. Our waiter apologised and replaced it with some real garlic bread.

My burger meal looked rather dry and I added mayonnaise to help. When I cut into it, the burger was very tough and dry. It was resting on a brioche bun thinly smeared with a chutney. The brioche like the chicken was so tough I had to saw through them with my knife. The burger was edible, but not enjoyable. It came with chips in a metal basket. They were the thickness of dauphinouse potato slices and had their skin on. They tasted a little stale and frankly I'm not sure what they were trying to be .

My partner was having a much better dining experience and her rainbow pho was fresh and delicious. I wondered if my meal had been kept somewhere hot while hers was prepared.

To be fair our waiter did come and ask if everything was OK and I could have complained about my meal, but we had already sent something back and for me replacing a dish isn't really an answer. It causes tension (real or imagined) and spoils the whole experience.

62 The Bank has much to recommend it, but if you can't get a chicken burger and garlic bread right first time, there's something clearly not right with quality control in the kitchen. Would I return to this restaurant? Honestly I'm not sure. Would I recommend it to friends and family? Probably not. This is a shame because the staff are great, the decor and ambiance really nice, but the food...

We had a table booked for a family of five. when we arrived, it was quiet and the waiting staff were attentive. We all decided to go for the carvery as it was Sunday and it smelt good. After telling the waitress that we wanted carvery, she told us to go over and help ourselves. When we got to the Open buffet, there was very little meat and food left. When we asked the man serving if there was any more meat coming out, he said that was all that’s left? Now I understand if it had been unexpectedly busy and it was coming to the end of the carvery time, but they knew that they had a table of five coming, booked for a certain time, that could possibly want to eat carvery. They could have warned us on the phone of times of the carvery, they could have told us at the table about the lack of food left when we ordered, or they could of even quickly got more food in knowing we were coming. I just think that was a big miscommunication that had become a let down for them and us. To be told that there wasn’t any left wasn’t good enough.

Two of our party proceeded to help themselves to the buffet whilst the rest of us were left hungry and disappointed, looking at the menus of what we’de fancy instead. Luckily, somebody came over and told us there was lamb available. That was a close save considering we were about to leave and find somewhere else. The food was good, But with lack of food… The roast potatoes were replaced with baby potatoes and there were hardly any Yorkshire puddings left, it just wasn’t the experience we were expecting.

The restaurant itself was nice. I thought it looked well decorated, and the toilets were nice, very clean and smelt good. Tables were set beautifully. although the desert sounded amazing, well you are stuffed and...