The Terrace Tapas and Wine Bar — Restaurant in North Devon

After reading so many positive reviews, my party of 6 was very excited to attend our booking on our first evening in Ilfracombe last Saturday. Sadly things things began badly the moment we arrived and only continued to worsen as our visit went on. As we entered, the member of staff behind the bar looked surprised to see a group of 6 and told us she had no booking for us. I explained that we had booked via email over 2 weeks ago and had received confirmation of our booking (which I showed) After a few minutes of waiting in the bar area we were told that “luckily for us” they could honour our booking and had “managed” to find us a table! No apology of any description for their mistake! Despite how we were treated, our group decided to stay. Before ordering we were told by our waiter that only the lamb lollipops were not available. We ordered our drinks (from a very lovely and friendly waitress) and our waiter returned to take our food order. As we began ordering, he launched a piece of paper into the middle of our table and said “that’s what you can’t have”...no apology or explanation and then vanished! Already shocked by how we’d treated up until this point, we couldn’t quite believe it! When our food arrived we all agreed that the options we had been left with from an already small menu made for quite the bland mixture and decided to get our bill and leave. It was such an incredibly disappointing experience, we all felt quite deflated on what should have been a lovely start to our break in Ilfracombe. We all agreed that the customer service we received was shocking! The only good thing we experienced was the waitress who served us our drinks. Sadly we would not recommend The Terrace Tapas & Wine Bar but had a lovely experience at many other nearby restaurants where a warm welcome and great service awaited us.

Edit 15/09/20 The aggressive response to our review from the owner came as a surprise...we had been expecting that an apology would finally be made. It seems that rather than acknowledge our bad experience and focus on improving their customer service, they chose to make homophobic slurs. I can reaffirm that all 6 of our group were appalled at the service...

I dislike leaving bad reviews, however the way the staff treated us at this ‘authentic’ Spanish tapas restaurant was a disgusting.

We booked a table of 2 and were sat at a table for 4, so asked if we could invite our parents down to fill the table and were told they were able to join us. Ordered a jug of sangria, parents were just outside and were then told they were unable to come as it would be a strain on the bar and kitchen and ruin our experience apparently.

Firstly we had already ordered a jug of sangria and had this on the table (so all they’d need to do was get two extra glasses out the cupboard). Secondly with tapas you can order as much or as little as you want which they just can’t predict.. just two people could order enough for 4 people - again wouldn’t be a strain on the kitchen at all.

They also mentioned something about social distancing which clearly was an excuse and not a priority of the restaurant since the chair on the table behind me was touching my chair. (I’m sure they’ll use this as an excuse in their reply).

When speaking to the staff they were rude, answered me back, didn’t apologise. The chef even muttered comments under her breath as she walked past us. Not the service you’d expect.

We only had a couple of dishes of food before leaving whilst we drank the sangria. Prawns were over cooked and bland, patatas bravas nothing special and the plate of salami was no better than something from Tesco.

They asked if we knew was tapas was.. after living in Spain yes I do know. And I know good service too, which you get in Spain!

We were prepared to spend money and have a lovely evening here, alas we decided to go the wonderful Italian down the road who couldn’t do enough for...

Trying to "big up" what is essentially Spanish Bar Food as Haute Cusine. Overpriced and underwhelming in terms of selection and presentation. Did not meet expectations after reading good reviews. As one other review said - the staff were friendly but almost bit "over attentive" and seemed to be sticking to a "script". It all felt a bit intense. We explained to the waitress that we were familiar with Tapas but she still insisted on giving us the whole rehearsed speech about how/what we should order - a very uncomfortable experience. I just ordered a glass of "house wine" and the owner told me what a good choice I had made, which I found slightly patrionising. The restaurant itself is a pleasant environment but there are no views as all the blinds are lowered. £9 a dish is more expensive than we pay in London. Also items like "boquerones" which you can just buy in supermarket were listed as "Specials" and not available on the day we went. It doesn't really have a true Spanish feel in terms of the decor or service. If they dropped the prices slightly, upped the selection and relaxed the service style, the restaurant would probably be...