The Garden Southsea — Restaurant in Portsmouth

We turned up at the garden and had a booking for 5 for my birthday. Not once was there acknowledgement of the sash and celebration. First they put us in the cabin and the two mismatched tables had a obvious gap in the middle. We asked to move inside where our drink order was taken. There was a mix up with the gins, it it happens. We were told that our server was new. Yet when checked we were still charged for the replacement drink. The gin with the unique sodas sounds good on paper but came out tasting like lemonade and plain. We had to ask again for water. I had to physically get up to get cutlery from the other table as we were missing a set. Drinks were placed at the end of the table as we were to dish them out to eachother ourselves. The starters came out after the mains after reminding our server of them in the first place. The poor girl looked like she was running around while what looks like the manager and another colleague was giggling behind the bar. All of the above mentioned is tolerable, what is not is the lack of support we witnessed given to new staff and instead when seen we are not happy, we can hear the new server being told to check on us, near being berated. Then the bald headed man who we assume is a manager talks openly to the same colleague with glasses and dark hair (Harriet he shouted) about a rude guest and how he "handled it". Tense atmosphere to work in, I hope all works out for her, but we may hesitate to come here again even though the restaurant...

Booked here for Mother’s Day, having never visited before. I would highly recommend from the point of view of the food being delicious but unfortunately the service let it down and the lack of attention to detail with a relative (a child) who was Coeliac.

The service was incredibly slow (albeit appreciate it was Mother’s Day) to the extent we had to follow up for our dessert as family members had to leave by the time the desserts finally came. My Mum’s dessert was also forgotten and we also had to follow up on this (granted they did take money off of the bill, as I requested, to account for this). The waitresses also changed throughout, meaning that there was a breakdown in communication as to who the Coeliac customer was when the waitresses were serving the table.

This caused my family unnecessary stress on what was supposed to be a nice family meal out. We had pre-warned the restaurant of the only child in our booking being Coeliac and submitted pre-orders, as requested, but there was some confusion with one of the waitresses on the day itself. I would come here again for food (perhaps on a quieter day) but would not come again with the relative who was Coeliac as it unfortunately put doubts in our minds as to attention to detail. Given we paid nearly £200, we just expected a...

First visit to 'The Garden' which I found online looking for Italian restaurants in Southsea. .Might otherwise be easily missed even if driving down Florence Rd itself. But quaint little spot which will gain admirers, some no doubt to return. Decor is sweet and geared - as the name suggests - to outdoor eating.(dogs popular here) with a nice little courtyard feel. Prices are a bit steep but arent they all for something half decent. Menu is small but there is a homemade pizza facility which will always be a draw ( about £15e ) My partner felt a little short changed with two prawns perched on her 'surf and turf' steak dish and my Eton Mess could have been better presented, rather than in a 'cereal bowl' Nevertheless, this is being picky. Service was with a smile, interior clean and tidy and we both had a pleasant experience Worth a visit. X Ps Parking in Southsea can be annoying and expensive but managed to find a 3hr slot without too much trouble in Florence rd itself. I believe there is minimal parking before the courtyard itself too. So not just...