Shambles Bar Bistro — Restaurant in North Norfolk

Went on recommendation and as a birthday treat.The place looked nice, we had a table on the top floor.The young girl that served us was friendly although didnt tell us about the specials which were on the bottom floor do I had to go down as she didnt suggest letting me know, there were only 4 items on there so wouldnt have taken a lot to let us know.She then told us they had run out of certain food but didnt know what food so had to go back down to find out.Starters were good and nicely presented. The crab linguine was very dry, it needed more sauce & actually some crab in it so expensive for what it was.We didn't get the condiments we asked for or extra cutlery & was left for 45 mins as no one came up to find out whether we wanted deserts or the bill & booking said we had to be gone by 9.15.Found it strange as they had been attentive to the other table of 8 beforehand.I had to go down & ask for the desert menu. When I mentioned about being left the chap didnt seem bothered & didnt apologise. I decided against the desert owing to the attitude & the time we had to be gone by.The bill was then brought up. When I went to pay I was just ignored even though there were staff behind the bar. I mentioned to a lady about my disappointment at being left and only then did the chap serving me apologise but half heartedly. I understand when a place is busy but it's the response that makes a difference. What a shame. I have more vouchers but not sure if I would want to go back after...

Shambles by name, Shambles by nature

From the outside Shambles looks tatty and it makes you think, should I risk going in? Well, most other places in North Walsham look tatty, so its no different. We ventured in! - and guess what, its just as tatty inside too!

Well, don't judge a place by its looks, so we ordered the special which was mentioned on the website "Roast Guinea Fowl" - we thought, this would make the trip worthwhile, but our answer came back swiftly "Sorry, No Guinea Fowl, the order was messed up" - Sounds like the whole place is messed up. We were extremely disappointed at not getting the only decent meal on the menu and the reason why we chose the Shambles.

Meals are not cheap and neither are the drinks, so why are so many people singing the praises of this place?

Well, it has to be the staff, the young woman and also the young man waiter, both extremely good, positive, fast and very friendly. So, although the place is cold and draughty, sparsely furnished, expensive with dogs too, the staff do shine a light at the end of the tunnel. If the staff stay, this place can possibly turn its-self around, but it needs to be more comfortable, warmer, with a better selection of food and more deals on food and drinks for it to continue to retain its place in a competitive market.

We will not...

Sadly can't recommend! Had a meal here on Wednesday night. After seeing excellent reveiws myself and my husband decided to dine here. We booked for 7:15p.m, we sat down straight away and ordered our food and drink. The drinks turned up promptly. We both ordered the Lamb and apricot tagine, both of us excited as it's our favourite. The resturant was busy and staff were all running around serving. We sat waiting for our food to arrive, we waited and waited and waited. No apology or explanation where our food was then It finally turned up at 8. 20p.m one hour and five mins after we arrived. The people next to us had experienced the same wait, I heard them complaining. Excited at finally having our food we began to eat. The food was tasty BUT, the portion was so small, we are not big eaters. Thank goodness we were not! A small tagine half filled with food was inside. It should have been called apricot, chick pea with the a hint of lamb tagine, where was the lamb????? It came with a small bowl of rice and the oddest thing an ice cold rice (HOUSE SALAD) salad and pitta bread on the side which was bearly cooked! We had no dessert as we decided we didn't want to wait ages again for food. Sadly we couldn't wait to get out of this restaurant. Such a disappointment and as my husband described...