Blacksticks — Restaurant in Salford

UPDATE: Based on the company response, as already stated, the manager came over with an argumentative attitude and tone when stating they'd reluctantly deducted the £20 so when they say 'behaviour' I think they really mean their own. We had to be the ones to shut the conversation down by saying it was a miscommunication on their part. It wasn't handled well by them and the table that was next to us were not privy to the issue but were blatantly entertained by it, I'm sure if the manager was the same with them they'd have felt the same way.

Original:

Delicious food but disappointing experience with the manager and booking policy.

Importantly, it was our second visit for a sunday roast, and it was just as delicious as the first time.

However, due to the manager, we are put off returning.

We called and booked a table the night before for a Sunday roast and said it'd be for 3 OR 4 people. I was told to pay a deposit of £20/£5 per person. Nothing was said of the terms of the deposit, and as is often the experience with any restaurant, I assumed the deposit amount would be taken off the bill at the end so I didn't enforce that I only pay for 3 people.

On paying, because there were only 3 of us instead of 4, they tried to charge us the £5 for the 'missing' person.

We refused to accept this as the table we booked was only a 4 seater (not as if we were taking multiple tables), I had said on the phone that there may only be 3 of us in attendance, and I wasn't told if there weren't 4 that I would lose that £5.

The manager came over to speak with us. Despite taking off the £5, they came over to be argumentative and defensive asking with tone 'what would you suggest we do? Charge £50 a table, that wouldn't be fair. It's the policy to charge per head'. It was bad customer relations and very abrasive.

It's not our job to come up with better table deposit systems and it felt like whatever we'd have said would have been shut down aggressively by the manager.

Fair enough if we were a large group that needed a lot of tables in the restaurant but we were one 4 seater table.

Could a single spare seat have been used by someone else? Does it also mean if a 4th person had joined they'd have turned them away if we hadn't paid the £5?

I've never known a restaurant to penalise for one person like that.

It disrupted what had been a good experience, and has really put us off returning.

I felt bad for the staff as they had been kind throughout the meal and even after the confrontation regarding the bill. We didn't have an issue with them, we were frustrated by the policy that hadn't been explained and by the managers response.

The roast was delicious and something worth visiting for.

Just make sure that on booking you ask the staff what the deposit consequences are if they don't give out that information beforehand and expect the manager to be fairly confrontational if you...

Amazing food, can't rate the kitchen highly enough but the service is laughable. When I asked if someone could take our order: W: I can't take your order we are currently taking a large order upstairs. Me: I'm sorry, you 'can't' take our order? W: yes, there is a large table upstairs and we are currently taking their order.

OK this is not my problem, this is your problem and there are definitely better ways of dealing with it other than stating you can't take our order!

Me: that's OK, just take our order and we'll wait for our starters, that's not a problem. W: I'm sorry I can't do that. Me: OK give me a pen and paper and I'll write it down for u? W: sorry ill come back when I can.

At this point we think we'll just pay for our drinks and leave but whilst discussing what we've just witnessed she comes back.

A member of our party (there are only 3 of us) : how long will our starters take? W: why, do you have somewhere you have to be?

Wow, just wow! We asked a reasonable question in response to you telling us that you've just taken a larger order and that's your answer!

Thank god the...

Definitely worth a visit. The manager & staff were very good & lovely in all the right ways. I ordered the Feathered Steak, with Mash, carrots & bourguignon sauce. It was delicious, so much so I forgot to take a picture 😄 I enjoyed it so much & I wanted to try something else, so I ordered the Calamari. It was also very tasty. Some nice beers on Tap & the Oreo cheesecake I ordered to finish the meal off was equally delicious as its predecessors. A side of ice cream was a nice accompaniment. My only disappointment was that the cheesecake came in a glass jar & the spoon was big, so it wasn’t easy to get the pudding out. Especially as it was so yummy, I couldn’t help but want to try an get those last bits, but too noisy. I’d have preferred it on a plate or in a ramekin. I feel bad, because I hadn’t bought cash and forgot to tip when I payed on card - I do however hope this review encourages newbies like me to pay a visit. It was a lovely meal & service. Prices were good & the decor was comfortable, interesting & in excellent order. Thank you for a lovely meal &...