COSMO — Restaurant in Sheffield

This wasn't my first time in Cosmos Sheffield. I've been there about five or six times before, however, yesterday evening was entirely different and I will not be returning. Even as I type this I'm offended. When we arrived it was just about to open and I headed straight to the rest room. By the time I got back my party was taken to a table.

I proceeded to the table where I saw the waiter waiting to take drinks orders. At that time everyone was all over the buffet I was the only one unloading my personal items to get off to grab some food.

She politely asked what I'd like to drink. My ten years old daughter was there and requested her drink but darted off before our interaction continued. I placed my order for one refillable (I've just realised I was overcharged for two) Anyways, as I was about to head off the waiter said "Also, we have to charge full price for her." I said for who? She said my daughter.

I said to her my daughter is ten years old and there's no way I can reasonably pay full price for a child. There was no seen, although an irritating revelation, I remained calm. No one around us was privy to the fact that there was any dissatisfaction.

Anyways, I said to her I cannot justify paying that amount for a ten years old and in my view it's discrimination. I said I'd rather leave. She looked flabbergasted when I said that. My statement was not directed at her.. My sentiment and feeling toward that policy is that it is discrimination against a child already insecure being singled out. Granted my daughter while being the tallest was the youngest of her peers at the table. She only turned ten in August!

She then proceeded to radio her manager which was fine. When he came over, his name is Andrew. I explained and repeated the exchange to him. He then said this one time I should pay half price. We were already there and decided to stay, but knew now based on this height restriction of 155cm I'll never go back because my feeling is, a child is a child no matter the height!

I could tell she was not happy with the fact that the manager gave the ok, which was puzzling. I knew my daughter was hardly going to eat anything. She was more interested in the dessert, because at the end of the day she's a child and that's how they are when it comes to eating, so no you're not gonna lose, because even that £12 I paid for her she didn't even eat!

When my friends came back from getting their food I told them what transpired. Only one of the girls knew what the waiter looked like as she had walked down during the conversation.

Fast forward to us eating and now just talking and having a good time amongst ourselves. My friend who did not know who I had the conversation with had gone to get something else. On her way back, the waiter (girl) was stood having a conversation with another blonde haired girl on how "That's the reason she doesn't like them and how Black people are annoying and she doesn't like them anyway."

She rushed back to the table in pure shock on the exchange she overheard and related it back to us. Now, she didn't know who I had the encounter with. I then asked her to point out who the waiter was that made the remake and unsurprisingly it was the one that I had the exchange with.

Now, let's get this clear. It could not have been about me (I'm proudly black btw) but for her to feel it's ok to speak openly like that in a establishment that we're supporting speaks volumes. My friend while mixed looks white, hence her possibly feeling safe saying what she said or she just thought it would not have been overheard. Also, It could have been another table. It doesn't matter. I'm offended regardless as I know it wasn't a made up story. We then called for the manager who wasn't happy about what he was being told (credit to him).

I'm the last person to cry racism. Generally I don't care. I don't look for it. I don't cry about it, I literally just get on with my life. My whole family is a mixture of both black and white. My husband is white. My daughter is mixed.. So while racism exist, in my...

Last visited slightly over a year ago, thought to give it a try especially after the refurbishment which took longer than expected. (It didn't help that the Google Maps continued to show it was open for quite a while, which might have misled those who didn't check the website itself.)

Planned to have lunch but I arrived fairly late and was advised that no new food was being brought out, so I was offered to take a look before deciding if I wanted to go ahead with dining-in. I felt this was very thoughtful of staff. When I said I would come back for the evening, they made a reservation for me.

The reservation came in handy as the restaurant was fully booked by then. Plenty of people were filling in trying to get a table and staff had to handle them and those with reservations. I was pleased to be offered the table shortly after my reservation timing with minimal wait time.

I was ushered to my table and left there. I get that staff were busy, but it would have been helpful to at least check if guests are familiar with the procedure. Prior to taking my first dishes, I confirmed with a server that payment would be at the end of the meal.

There was a decent spread of food across different cuisines. Most were okay however some stood out for the wrong reasons. The squid ring tasted and looked like it was almost all batter. Egg fried rice was extremely bland. Sushi selection was relatively tasty. Quite liked the desserts section.

As I was nearly finished eating, someone came up to me to ask if I wanted anything to drink. (No one asked prior to that.) I politely declined, but he asked again, so I said could I get a glass of tap water please. He asked if I would like some bottomless soft drinks, which I said 'no thank you'. (I saw no point in ordering that just as I was finishing up, but didn't elaborate.)

He hesitated for a while, then asked if I had paid for my meal. I was taken aback by this and said I had clarified earlier that payment was after eating. He reassured me that it's fine and left, but this made me very uneasy and confused; it was as if I was being suspected of having a free meal, or if I was going to dine and dash?

I don't know if staff get extra commission on drinks served, or if this particular individual was extra keen in earning a few more £ from me (on behalf of the company). Either way that left a bad taste in my mouth. (As it so happens, if he approached me right at the start, I would probably have agreed to the soft drinks anyway.)

I was tempted to decline the discretionary 3% service charge due to this, however in view of the good service of other staff I decided not to. I hope this doesn't end up going solely to that gentleman, whom I felt was undeserving of it.

Toilets were very clean and luxurious. However I wonder if there are separate accessible toilets, as this involved climbing a flight of stairs, and there was no obvious lift...

Booked two months in advance to ensure a table for my sons birthday on a Saturday Lunch sitting, it was busy but they were seating walk ins but it's better to book. I was contacted the week before to check that everything was as booked and I confirmed by clicking a link in the email which was a nice addition.

We were checked in on arrival and shown to our table, the host on the counter by the door had seen that I had requested a booth as the seats are higher and being disabled it is easier to slide in and out and she was more than happy to accommodate us.

A young waitress took our drinks order, we go for the bottomless soft drink option at 3.75 each, the glass isn't large but holds about a can of pop and a bit. We are asked if we know how cosmo works and having been to the Nottingham one we assume it's the same which she confirms.

Off we trot to the warm plates sanitising our hands with the provided gel on the way.

Our booking was for opening time and all food receptacles were full and all areas were very clean.

The food selection was fantastic and they had more options than our last visit to Nottingham, one of our party started with the roast pork carvery which they said was fantastic, I went for a mix of Chinese with some sweet potato fries it was very nice, my only gripe was that the curry sauce was very watery and there was an oily layer on the top so I siphoned what I could and didn't have it again. I opted for the tikka masala curry on my second time around which was full of flavour and the naan was a welcome addition.

Although there was a large selection of food on offer we were aware that at lunch times they tend to offer a reduced menu but the only items I didn't see were Crispy Duck and Burgers which we weren't fussed about at all as there was definitely more choice than we've had at Nottingham.

Some 5 servings later and we were ready for dessert and again there was a large assortment of dishes available from slices of gateaux, jelly cubes, profiteroles, popcorn and fresh fruit, even the chocolate fountain was running which my son loved dipping marshmallows into, the only thing I didn't see in the dessert section was the ice cream machine but they did have small pots of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry if that is your sweet of choice.

Paying was straightforward including half price for under 1.5m kids and we even managed to get a discount on the car park next door as an added bonus.

One notable thing to mention was how clean and spacious the toilets were, they are located up a flight of stairs but there is a disabled toilet on the restaurant level if you can't manage the steps.

We had a very enjoyable experience and even though the curry sauce was watery and nobody said bye as we left (my pet hate, I'm being picky) I give them a full 5 stars and we'll definitely be back when in...