The Garrison — Restaurant in Rotherham

I really had to think before writing this review as I want to be fair & I'm conscious that The Garrison is a new business startup, opening less than a year ago during lockdown. That in itself is a huge challenge especially because the hospitality industry has probably suffered more than most but hopefully any feedback will be used to improve. In summary I believe the chef is trying too hard to be different. My advice is to simplify some of the dishes & not overcomplicate things, sometimes less is more 😁 also be careful not to misell your product as I'm not sure how you find locally sourced smoked salmon, mussells (season?) or risotto in South Yorkshire? Maybe the root vegetables & beef are local? You could include the local sources/ provenance on your menu or on your specials board if it changes frequently - that also promotes local suppliers & I'm sure they may recommend you in return? I visited on Tues 16 Nov at 7.30pm with my sister & 2 adults for my birthday. The restaurant is very small (but they have maximised the space) with a lovely booth in the bay window seating upto 7 adults along with 2 tables for 4 & the remaining tables seating 2. If every table was occupied I imagine it's a bit tight but fortunately we were the only customers dining that night so we were seated in the booth with plenty of space 😁 My first impression was very clean, looks comfortable with fresh new decor (although personally I can't see a 1920s theme?) Now to the food & drinks... We had 1 starter, 4 mains + drinks. We arrived at 7:20 and left at 9.40 The bill was £200 for 4 adults! Considering a main course costs average £16 pp + 1 starter at a fiver that's approx £70 for food, meaning the remaining £130 was for drinks? I won't lie, we ordered about 7 or 8 shots of tequila + 5 shots of sambuca as well as 4 or 5 double vodkas n lemonade, several glasses of white wine & 2 cocktails but £130 still seems a lot of money to me? Usually I'm a cocktail drinker but on reading the menu I did not recognise any. All appeared bespoke & quite pricey at £7.50 each but myself and my bestie ordered a 'figure of peach' as we thought we'd try something new (peach schnapps, vodka, raspberry puree, lime & apple juice with 2 jelly sweets as garnish on the straw 😁) In reality it was a modified version of a 'sex on the beach' & we both felt it was overpriced so we went onto grey goose vodka (£4 single measure) & lemonade. My sister and friend shared a Yorkshire pudding starter costing £5 which was disappointing apparently. For my main course I ordered a fisherman's board at £18.95 as I love seafood. In hindsight this could easily be shared between 2 as the portion is very generous for one which resulted in food being wasted ☹️ if it was shared then the cost of only £9 each would be outstanding value for money! My only criticism was I'm not sure all the elements go together on the board but it's presentation was first class! The chips & garlic & cream mussells (although few) were my favourite followed by homemade tartar sauce, aioli & smoked salmon. There were 2 homemade bread rolls 1 seeded & 1 white but sadly I didn't touch any bread just because there was already plenty to get through. Unfortunately the calamari & mini fish in batter weren't great. Calamari wasn't rubbery but it lacked flavour & deffo needed more seasoning. Mini fish although it looked good, was greasy & tasteless. If it was me I'd get rid of mini fish, replace with a few king prawns either garlic, chilli or both plus reduce amount of smoked salmon to increase number of mussells 👍 My sister ordered one of the specials, Skippers catch - this was supposed to be a chowder which I always understood was a soup. However when it arrived it was more like a thick set mousse without fluidity. I'm not sure about the combination of several types of smoked fish including trout? with root vegetables & potatoes?! No wonder the chowder was so thick & set. It's supposed to be light, smooth and delicate? You couldn't even call it a fish stew - like I said before it's over...

Small but cosy, soon got full up. Music was nice but the food was amazing. Portion size is sensible and makes a three course meal all the more enjoyable. The first two courses were so good it makes you want to find room for their sweeter offerings . Compliments to the talented chef and team (I watched them work as from where I was sat the door was open to see into the kitchen...always comforting to see and having worked in kitchens in the past I can say they are very clean, efficient and professional). My choices for starter and desert where the best I've ever eaten, my main course was as good as anything I've ever eaten anywhere else. They even had a special on that I have never tried and unique touches can make a big difference. In all I managed to sample several dishes over the course of the night and every single one was top notch. The service is friendly and helpful and went beyond the call of duty as it was someone's birthday, thank you for remembering👍 In short, the food was reasonably priced and well worth every penny. Will definetly be coming again as this is now currently my favourite restaurant in the area. As for negatives, I didn't like the colour of the very classy decor but that's just my personal taste. The truth is I'd happily sit in a cardboard box to eat this food over any pub, bar or restaurant with a lesser Chef and service. Highly recommended.

(P.s please help support the homeless...

What a terrible experience! Don't care about what the reviews saying it's a homely & friendly atmosphere. Its has been the worst experience of a restaurant in my life. I went here for my mums 83rd Birthday. Jack or Josh (whatever his name was-waiter) was so rude to our party, I asked him to explain something on the bill which I didn't think was correct and he blue up! Said that we were rude, talking to his staff about lap dancing which was obviously nonsense with an 83 women with us, the food is well overrated, the meal l had the lamb was really poor, my sisters meal was terrible, the crème brûlée was the worst l'd ever had in a restaurant it was like slop! And then to top it off for the waiter to be so rude to us, especially on a special occasion was devastating. Just about a question about the bill!! Was hoping this was going to be a special occasion for my mum but it turned out to be the opposite. Terrible service, terrible food ,well overrated! Trying to get people on every visit to put a good review on Ttip Advisor when ever they come to the restaurant so they can be No 1 well if your a foody it's definitely not the place for you there's plenty of other nice restaurants in the neighbourhood which are far better, better food and much...