The Garden Bar & Restaurant, Monton — Restaurant in Salford

This pace has so much potential to be a huge success, not just for Monton, but for Salford and Greater Manchester. I share this constructive feedback as we all want independent businesses in Monton to be successful. I also couldn’t find an email address to share the feedback discretely.

The decor is incredible. The Terrace, bar and restaurant areas all look inviting and the “garden” theme has been tastefully delivered without feeling tacky.

The staff were friendly, helpful and there were plenty of them, which is great.

Three minor areas for improvement, which could grow to be problems if not addressed now.

Table or bar service: when we arrived for a drink, we asked whether we should order drinks at bar and were told “find a table and someone will take your order.” We found a seat in one of the two booths adjacent to the wine cellar under the stairs.

Fifteen minutes went by and no one came. Plenty of staff members near the end of the bar caught my eye but no luck. I approached the bar and was told I could go back to my table and the waiter would take my order. We both walked back to the table for the order to be taken.

Once we’d finished our first round, I ended up going to the bar having waited with empty glasses for some time and no one came to offer more drinks.

I don’t mind ordering drinks at the bar, but if you are pushing table service it’s important for staff to be regularly walking the floor, clearing empty glasses and offering to take orders when drinks are low. There was another tablet adjacent to us who experienced the same and were equally dismayed.

If people want to spend money, make sure you have staff ready and willing to take it!

Staff drinking at the bar when still dressed in uniform: there was someone dressed in the same clothes as the rest of the staff (who I assume was a staff member) drinking pints and chatting to staff. Personally, I would avoid allowing this as it distracts staff and promotes an image that staff are allowed to drink whilst working.

In the short time we were there there were regularly 3-4 staff stood idly at the end of the bar near the cake fridge chatting.

Pets on the furniture: there was a large dog sitting on the sofa/benching in the front terrace. The Garden is an upmarket place and I like to wear nicer clothes to attend. It would be disappointing if they were dirtied by paw prints. Pets should be welcome but not on the furniture.

We will continue to visit and support this new...

Dear Maisie, I am just emailing to express my disappointment in the organisation of the meal for my daughter's, Lilly, 18th birthday!

Firstly, I booked way in advance for her birthday and was told days before that you had double booked the room, I want to know how this could happen when it should be clear that it had already been booked? Also I would like to know if the other party had booked before or after myself, or was it because they were a bigger party that you accommodated for them and shoved my party in the bar? Secondly when we arrived you said you would be down to speak to me and this did not happen. My party was left waiting and it was around an hour in before you made yourself known to myself. I feel as a party organiser this is poor service! Using the excuse of being very busy between two other party's is a poor excuse, if it was too much you should not have taken on more bookings than you can accommodate!

I also want to point out that it took around 20 minutes before we were even asked for our drinks. When our drinks did arrive one of the party members, who had ordered 2 Appletisers was served Aperol spritz instead, she had ordered an Appetiser because she was driving, the other Aperol spritz was given to someone underage!

Another point I would like to make is that our food order was given way in advance of tonight's event and there were two items unavailable. I want to know how this could happen when you knew/chef knew what had been ordered in advance of tonight's party? Surely there was plenty of time to have this in ready, as it was on your menu! Also I had to wait for my food as it had been missed, along with some sides, meaning I wasn't eating with the rest of the party!

I wish to express that it was not a very well organised event, we were shoved in a small area of the bar, spread onto different tables, with lots of people passing through, which was loud and quite frankly chaotic!! This is not what I wanted to make my daughter's 18th special, it was a shambles! Your service was appalling and when some of the party members wanted to pay and leave, we were told we had to wait for you, which in all honesty could have been another hour or more before you even...

STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE

This is a fantastic looking bar & restaurant however this is where is ends unfortunately. It appears all their time, effort and money have been invested into how the venue looks and nothing else. I get the impression, and correct me if I'm wrong, that whoever is running/managing this place has very limited experience in how to run a restaurant especially when it comes to service. If it carries on like it is, and issues surrounding service (as you will see from previous reviews) aren't addressed then unfortunately this place won't stand the test of time ESPECIALLY when they are competing against established and excellent eateries on the same street such as vintage ambiance, blacksticks, playfoots, la turka, eden and waterside!! We attended last week for food and these are the pros and cons we found:

Pros: Decor and setting are incredible Cleanliness appeared good Bar appeared well stocked and looked great

Cons: Had to ask for a menu and drinks after being there for at least 15 minutes. The kitchen kept shouting for service when the food was ready and staff were ignoring it even though they were stood around on their phones. The waitress cleared plates even though one of the party was still eating (basics). The table next to us smashed a glass on the table and the waitress brushed the glass splinters off the table and chair and onto the floor. After ordering coffee we had to ask for sugar to be brought twice. Even though it looks stylish, one of the waitresses was wearing crocs on her feet which really doesn't look great.

Don't get me wrong I have been here before just for drinks in the bar area and it was great but the owners really need to sort out the restaurant side of things and get someone in that knows how to run a restaurant before this place folds. All you need to do is read the other reviews and you will see where the...