I want to start this by saying that this is not the first time I have eaten here and that I have had MANY lovely meals here in the past. It seems though, judging by last nights experience, that may well be where those nice meals remain, In the past. It has to be said that last nights meal (Sunday 11th) was quite the farce. We booked a table for 11 people, it was originally 12 and they were told on the phone that it was now 11 but they seemed confused and had laid the table for 12 when we got there. They had requested a pre-order due to it being a large group, completely fair, I work in hospitality and pre-orders absolutely help the kitchen and FOH staff be more organised…or at least, they are meant to.

In this case, it didn’t seem to make a blind bit of difference. Firstly they came to our table with a different tables pre-order, then they came back to say they had no more Stilton sauce which two people had ordered THEN they came back to say they had no lemon sole. My question is this, if you’re going to ask for a pre-order then why would you A) not tell people when relaying the order over the phone what you have run out of or B) set aside exactly what you need for those orders so not to over sell. My guesses are they did the latter and thought, oh well it’s a later table in the evening.

The starters came out, they were nice. No real complaints other than my partner and I requesting the seafood platter for 2 and getting individual ones at no doubt the individual cost. Furthermore my platter literally had one single scampi on it, what was the point. The calamari was also from frozen as it was all stuck together, nothing wrong with that but it was over cooked slightly. I can live with that though, it’s not really a big deal as the starter was still enjoyable especially the taramasalata. However, the main course, yeah that was a mess.

The mains arrived quite slowly afterwards and in stages to the point that it was encouraged that people start eating rather than waiting for fear of food getting cold. Not that that mattered as the steaks were cold, like warm at best. Mine being blue was somewhat understandable but my boyfriends medium rare, not so much. Not to mention everyone who ordered steak ordered a fillet steak and for some bizarre reason my boyfriend was given a sirloin. He didn’t want to make a fuss or have to wait ages to end up eating alone so he ate it but it wasn’t good apparently. How does this happen when you have a pre order? The replacement sauce ordered was described as “disgusting” by several people at our table, not worth paying the extra. The stroganoff and the seafood curry got great reviews as did the moussaka so maybe just steer clear of the steaks.

The puddings were nice but cold and the coffee I ordered at the same time had clearly been forgotten about and the bar lady had started cleaning up, the staff were clearly desperate to get home and you could feel that. Especially when the restaurant music turned off and there was silence before playing non restaurant music. The staff were not the usual staff I’ve seen when I’ve dined in. Typically the staff are wonderful, last night, not so much. The one girl who served us (lady with plaits and red/black hair) was friendly and certainly attentive and really tried her best to compensate for the other staff. There was some confusion about what drinks had and had not been paid for which could have been avoided if you just told large tables to either only have it on their bill or go up and pay as you go rather than offer the choice. Had no problem with only having one bill however it would be nicer if all the dishes were itemised on the menu for clarity.

Overall I won’t be rushing back. I may go again at some point in the future, maybe. It used to be so much better and I really hope this is a blip. They could do with some staff training, better restaurant management and maybe take steaks off the menu. The meal wasn’t expensive £35 a head with tip and the wine was nice as were some of the dishes. There’s better places in Plymouth though.