The Cove — Restaurant in South Hams

I’m still in shock 12 hours later after visiting this place, I will seek for legal advice on this situation, there is no way I will accept another family with kids to be treated the same way me and my kids we have been treated today.

EXTREMELY POOR and DISAPPOINTING attitude offered, the MANAGER/OWNER in charge, probably the owner, that’s what I understand from one of the stuff young lady, she’s offered us one of the most low customer service we have seen ever in our life.

After enjoying our stay in Hope Cove, It is such a shame to close my holiday having lunch at this place. The front entrance shows 2 menus for pizza and other bar food, please see photos attached to avoid ambiguity around my review. We have asked if we can sit on the upper terrace and they said that is only for pizza. Our group formed by 5 adults and 4 kids decided to sit downstairs on the street level terrace on some pub benches, then instantly one of the stuff members has asked to leave a Bank Card at the till before we order the food really that’s necessary in 2023 in such lovely little village? That was happen all the time we eat in there, we eat twice in the past 3 days. Then we have ordered the food and drinks, then I have said that my son, 5 years old kid, would like to have a pizza, then I have been told that I will need to go upstairs on the upper terrace for a pizza, because we are not allowed pizza on the lower terrace, I did asked nicely and polite to have an exception, he’s a 5 years old boy and is very hard to explain to a hungry kid that the food chosen is not available and he will need to be away from his friends to eat separate, then I did ordered one pizza for take away ignoring such absurdity imposed. The bar manager/owner said that I need to leave the table with my son if my son will eat pizza on that table, I did explained nicely and polite that is not fair for my son to see the other eating in front of him and him to be left with no food, or second option, me with him will need to leave the table to eat on a street bench on the other side of the road. Also I have explained to this lady that we don’t do this on purpose or to upset anyone, all of us we have ordered the food from the specified menu and is only one pizza for a 5 years old kid, also I have asked her how she will feel if she will be in my position with a group of friends and her son hungry, I did explained that in the past 2 days we have been in the same place twice, my son did eat once the burger from kids menu, he eat once the fish from kids menu, now he opted for a pizza just to have diversity in his alimentation. The stubborn lady asked to decide what I want to do in front of my group of people and in front of my kids if I want to order for my son what’s in the menu because the pizza will not be allowed on the table, and the pizza ordered by me upstairs for take away will be cancelled or delayed to be kept warmed and handled to me for only when we will leave the table. There is no way in 2023 for a parent and his kids to receive such treatment and attitude on such low communication level, I did read the other negative reviews on Google and Tripadvisor and...

Appalling service - we couldn't believe it.

I dont often go out of my way to leave negative reviews unless its blown my mind, which in this case our experience has.

We turned up (a family of 7 adults and 1 baby) looking forward to some pizza and asked for a table for 7. We were told to wait upstairs at the bar. After waiting for 15 mins and being taken downstairs to a table that barely fit us all in the corner where your head knocks the picture frames and you can barely move, we asked for the Pizza menu before being told they only serve Pizza upstairs. We wish we were informed of this 15 minutes ago when we arrived. One of our family is gluten intolerant so ideally 6 of us wanted pizza and one wanted food from the "downstairs" menu. We were told this isnt possible. We asked if we can carry the pizza/other food up/downstairs ourselves after ordering and again told no we cannot (out of principal more than anything else). If we wanted to have pizza, we would have to wait upstairs for 2 tables to become free, and split the family up to eat in 2 groups.

Firstly, we thought the fact upstairs food cant go down and downstairs food cant go up is ridiculous, even if we offered to carry it ourselves.

Secondly, more annoyingly is no one informed us of this upon our arrival.

After we bit the bullet and decided to eat downstairs to accommodate the gluten-free member of our family, we were told we must pay up-front before all the food arrives ?! I asked if this is normal process for everyone to which we were told yes (we did not believe this). We bit the bullet again and paid upfront. When ordering, we asked if we can swap the salad in one of the mains with a few chips, we were told yes. When the bill came for us to pay up-front, theyd added an extra £4.99 charge for these additional chips which they said we could swap for salad instead. This then took another 5-10mins trying to resolve before someone who thinks they're a competent manager came over and said the waitress was wrong for saying we could swap, but agreed to "throw in a few chips" anyway. We were also told we have 2 options, "pay upfront or leave". This was also quite shocking and strange as we'd already agreed (begrudgingly) to pay upfront 10 mins ago, so clearly there is very poor communication going on behind the scenes amongst staff. When the food all finally arrived, it was ok. Not great, not bad, ok. As we were finishing our meals, i spotted the table infront of us paying for their bill as they were finishing up and leaving, so clearly this isnt normal process to pay upfront, and they clearly didnt trust us and thought 7 adults would do a runner with a baby and a pram or something....

Worst customer service, attitude and communication I've experienced in a restaurant in years, maybe ever. Never going there again. Going by other reviews, it seems ownership has changed and people seem to have similar complaints:

Stupid upstairs pizza policy Poor...

We arrived at this pleasant looking bar at around 8pm on a sunny evening, we were told it would be a 40 minute wait for a table, looking around and seeing the sun setting over the cove we thought it best to wait. We ordered drinks and nachos and sat outside with blankets kindly provided for warmth. Pathetic fallacy seemed to follow. As the sun set and the evening clouded over, our evening at the cove went downhill. 45 minutes after our arrival, a waitress came to inform us that we wouldn't be able to get a table before last orders and suggested we transferred to the (far superior) Hope and Anchor Inn next door. This was an offer we should, in hindsight have taken, however as our nachos still hadn't arrived (we were informed that they were most definitely on their way) and our drinks were half finished, we decided to order food and move inside as soon as a table became available, assuming that this may have meant moving our food as well. The nachos arrived 30 minutes after our decision to stay, and at half 9 we were seated in an almost empty bistro. At 10:05 our food eventually arrived and did not compensate for the wait. The staff, unfortunately, did not offer an apology (meaningful or not) and didn't even check back on our table once the food had arrived. We did raise our concerns, as is the right of a customer, but every question had a sarcastic and self-righteous response. The experience certainly ruined our day and potentially our holiday. We came for good food and a nice atmosphere, and barely received the first let alone the second. I am sure the owners will have a response, and business will continue to boom, but the cove must be mindful not to forget what made it popular in the first place: good food with a personable atmosphere. Unfortunately we did not receive this, and in our opinion business in Hope Cove is better diverted to the Hope and Anchor next door.

N.B. Slow cooked nachos a speciality,...