Cassia Sambuca — Restaurant in North Tyneside

I have had Crohn's Disease for 24 years and I have never ever been insulted the way I was this afternoon.

I asked a lovely waiter called Pete about the sauces as I can't have onion or garlic in any form, as well as dairy and beef. Pete found out for me. Unfortunately the waiter who came to take our order obviously thought he was a comedian and proceeded to confuse me about the sauces. I explained I had a very serious allergy to onions and garlic... at which moment he thought he'd make a crack about them chopping up both onions & garlic and put them in my sauce. I then said to him that if he did that, I would be in hospital. He then tjought it would be funny if he shouted to his friend to call 999 and shouted 'Ambulance!'

At this point I exploded with anger and I said "if you think its so funny, you have it".

I complained to the manager, who said his waiter didnt mean anything, my meal would be free & a free dessert for my child. Too late, the damage was done. He smiled when I told him what his underling had said.

Its hard enough to eat out when you have allergies....ok so mine arent life threatening....but to hear someone joke about it is totally unacceptable and I will not be venturing...

I visit this particular restaurant an awful lot, probably at least 2 times a week and usually always sit in. However tonight, my garlic bread was so thin and burnt the whole thing had to go in the bin and my pasta was stone cold, and I mean stone cold as though it had been sitting there for around an hour! I had this to take away so I’m guessing they use the rubbish they can’t serve in store for takeaways. I’m so disappointed tonight after how much I love this restaurant, however tonight has been the worst experience I have ever had for having food from somewhere! Absolutely appalled I’ve wasted money tonight! What a disgrace. Don’t think I’ll be going back in a hurry after the shambles of my food before nightshift tonight.

Update; after visiting again- and talking to other people who have had takeaway orders- it seems as though if you sit it- it’s probably one of the best meals you can have, however take away orders are just the left overs. So all in all, don’t takeout, make sure you sit in and everything will be fine as the staff...

This place claims to serve Italian food and to be an Italian style restaurant. But it leaves a lot to be desired. Ambience is nothing like Italian; more like what someone who's never been to Italy imagines italian looks like. Also, the music was way too loud - we were at a restaurant not a club. We had an autistic person in our party, and it felt like the restaurant was not catering to his needs. And honestly, the food was not that good either. Squid that looks as though it came out a can - not something you expect at a at a restaurant on Fish Quay. Garlic bread that was bland and flavourless. Spaghetti oli'aglio that had mysterious red globs in the sauce. And a fish platter that was not satisfactory. The hand-cut chips were pretty decent however. The dessert menu was also very restricted and in fact, we left without getting dessert - unheard of for us, particularly as someone in our party was celebrating their birthday. All in all, very disappointing and won't be going...