Tibu Bar and Eatery — Restaurant in Sefton

Unfortunately somewhat of a negative experience. I am never one to write reviews really but after yesterday I really felt that I had to. The first time I went to Tibu I thought wow, amazing food, great addition to Formby. Wine menu was OK, service was friendly and food tasted great. The portion sizes of the Sashmi however were borderline robbery compared to what you get in a real Japanese restaurant. Furthermore we ordered a bottle of still water and the water was just plonked down on the table, bottle still screwed, no ice in the glasses and no offer to pour it, just there you go do it yourself.

We booked a 2nd time, food was good, tried a few new items which we really enjoyed. This time however a waitress spilled soy sauce all down my wife's t-shirt. The waitress carried on walking. I brought it to the attention of the waiter who was serving us, he apologised but it was more like a "whooops, sorry, shrug your shoulders". No offer to have it cleaned, no offer to have anything comped (which if offered I would have refused) no offer of a drink or anything. I had also ordered one of the "fine" bottles of wine which are available in waitrose for £33. They are charging £105 here for the same bottle of supermarket wine. Now when you are paying £105 for a bottle of wine you expect it to be poured for you and topped up otherwise why am I paying 3 x the price? The service was terrible!

Lastly we gave it another chance yesterday and this is the experience that led me to posting a review.

Welcomed by the waiter with a fist pump as he recognised us (or our past tips) and we were sat down at our table. Took quite a while before our drinks order was taken and drinks arrived. Order was taken and the starters arrived shortly after. The food we had ordered previously and enjoyed we ordered again, this time the quality was way off and no where near as good tasting as before. Again it seems you are paying a premium for food yet the 4 paper thin slices of tuna were a total rip off for the price you are paying. The waitress cleared the table whilst my wife was still eating so she was the only one with a plate on the table, any decent restaurant knows you wait for all diners to finish before removing their plates. This is meant to be a high end restaurant with high end prices after all.

Main courses came, again my wifes paper thin sashimi felt like a total rip off. I have eaten in so many Japanese restaurants around the world and never have I seen sashimi cut so thin. My 9 year olds sons burger was dripping with blood, it was so undercooked that half of his burger that I had cut up was soaking wet and the bread had gone sloppy and inedible. After he was halfway through it they asked if that burger was OK for him. Knowing I was never coming back I just said yes thats the way he likes it with a thumbs up from the chef. Did no one care to check the burger before it went out? Is it not left to rest so its not swimming in juices and blood? We had to wait for ages to have any service come over to us so we could order another drink, my drink had been empty for so long and no matter how many times you caught the guy at the front of the house attention he just ignored you.

We ordered more drinks, my wife ordered vodka cranberry and it came out as vodka lemonade. I ordered desert, it wasn't too bad. We had finished and I was just wanting to leave except there was no one to give us our bill. The guy at the front of the house did not care at all, another waitress was eating at the back of the restaurant and no one else was to be seen. I waited 20 minutes then gave up. I walked around and outside to see if I could find anyone. I then ended up having to ask one of the young guys in the kitchen if they could please find someone to get us our bill. The polite young chef found someone for us thankfully and then we were told we had to pay cash as the card machine wasn't working. Luckily I had some on me and I paid in cash.

The fact that this place is charging premium prices with a sub standard service. It wont be around for long. Such a...

I visited here on Sunday in June. I had just said to someone the day before that I had not had a decent meal anywhere in years and then I visited Tibu.

The staff were so attentive and friendly and we ordered our drinks and then we all ordered Sunday roasts either chicken or beef.

The food came out super quick and again the staff were super obliging. I asked for extra gravy and they brought out two jugs incase anyone else wanted some. Not only were the staff helping but they were constantly smiling making us all feel so welcome and no trouble. Even the barstaff checked frequently if we needed anymore drinks. When the food arrived it looked amazing but looked a little small except it turned out to being just the right amount. The food was incredible all the veg was so fresh and absolutely full of flavour. I didn't know how they cook the veg but I suspect it was steamed as to have such strong flavours it surely couldn't be boiled. I got cauliflower cheese green beans carrot and swede and garlic cabbage. The roast potatoes tasted great with a slight crisp and my beef just melted in my mouth. The gravy was gorgeous too. The only slight criticism was all our Yorkshire puddings were a little over done and very dry but I just poured gravy over them.

I really am not exaggerating that this Sunday roast was the best I have had eating out anywhere and the food quality was the best meal I have had in a restaurant in years. I cant wait to try other food here in the near future. A little bit pricier than other local restaurants in say Ainsdale Birkdale or southport but I would pay even more if this is the quality of their meals and service. Absolutely excellent...

Although the food might not look super attractive, it is super delicious! I had hoisin duck spring rolls, feather blade of beef and Christmas pudding which brought me lots of positive emotions about themselves. The meat is perfectly soft and juicy. The outer shell of the duck rolls is pleasingly crispy, and the rolls are served with little sour sauce that ideally suits to the dish. Especially I want to recommend having Christmas pudding with brandy sauce and rum butter. That alcoholic aftertaste is unbelievably good with the pudding itself. It made me want to try making something similar at home. Pleasant service. However, it is not cheap, be ready to pay...