Sand Dancer — Restaurant in South Tyneside

Very poor experience this afternoon, we were a group from 2 households and had to sit outside, which I understand and respect. However after being shown to tables where the heat lamps were not working we moved to different tables in a more sheltered position and had heat lamps that worked OK. We did advise the bar staff that we had moved so they could serve our food to the correct tables. A few minutes later we were told by one of the management team in an extremely confrontational way that we should not have moved and that if we moved tables again he would throw us out. He actually used the words "I will throw you out" To resort to the threat of throwing us out as the default reaction was a little alarming, bearing in mind we were a party ranging in ages from 61 to 10 years old, so not your average bunch of rowdies. I would have thought that a more friendly and conciliatory approach was warranted rather than the heavy handed and confrontational approach that was adopted. At this point there was another 2 tables occupied in an area that had at least 20 tables, so we were not taking up spaces that could have been used by other diners. Not exactly the busiest pub in the area. The food arrived promptly so a plus point for the kitchen, reflecting the fact they weren't that busy, however, the standards of customer service were again very poor, we had to wait for food to be served and then had to ask for cutlery, which arrived a few minutes later. On departure we highlighted the issue we had experienced to the front of house team member who said she would pass our comments to the management team. In a constructive way I would recommend that some training or retraining in the basics of people management and customer service would not go amiss, there is a lot of establishments in the area that offer exactly the same menu as the Sand Dancer in similar or better surroundings, I would say you need to get your act together very quickly as the area comes out of lockdown into the...

We decided to try here for the 1st time tonight because we tried before but we arrived after the kitchen closed so we have been looking forward to coming back, NEVER AGAIN will we come here.

We ordered the Teriyaki Salmon ans the Sticky Belly Pork with Broccoli, they were both ridiculous salty and at the point of ordering we were not told that the pork would come without broccoli as they didnt have any.

When the food arrived we tried to eat it but it was so salt it felt like your throat was burning and i like salty food.

We spoke to the server and she took our food away and said the salmon is salty because its soy and sesame, yet the menu said Teriyaki, she came back and said they have had multiple complaints about the salmon.

Who i believe was the manager then came over after she had spoken to the owner (who was in the kitchen) and said they would only refund the salmon because its a known issue.

The pork wouldn't be refunded because i ordered a salty dish...i ordered Sticky Asian Belly Pork, i also mentioned there was no broccoli but that also didn't warrant a refund as they hadnt received their delivery, but failed to tell me this when we ordered.

I asked to speak to the owner and he refused to speak to me.

They offered my plate of food back to me, i asked if the owner had tried my food and i was told he had, yet the food was still brought back to me.

Clearly covid rules have gone out the window and any form of hygiene or customer service as it is now acceptable for the owner to try my food.

I love Asian food but this is just an insult.

I will never come back to this establishment and will put off anyone else who thinks about going.

I have taken pictures of everything and i will be taking this future.

Avoid this place at all costs.

If i could...

Ordered a burger and fries. £12.55 over priced and no drink to go with. Seems very expensive. Then extra £1.50 for bigger chips. I don't agree unfortunately. The burger was hot. It was a bit char grilled on top as if it was BBQ grill style but to much carbon for me. The burger was juicy but the carbon on top not so good. Good quality beef from the taste of it. Just how it was cooked. The bun of the burger was lovely. Good choice. Chips arrived cold and they were not like fries. They didn't have no crunch. Just soft and limp maybe slightly undercooked. I complained and they replaced but still looked like the same fries but warmer. Not sure if they just microwaved and reserved. The burger wasn't replaced so that had cooled while waiting to sort out the chips. If you gonna replace the food atleast send the whole thing again as the temperatures won't of changed much. You spend alot of money to purchase the food but not worth it. If the quality isn't there. No order from table If your on your own and you go to the bar to order. You will lose your table. Maybe a waiter could be a option or you could put something on the table to let bar staff know you need a table service so you don't lose your seat. Needs to be better signs as there was confusion of which part of the bar to order food. I waited in the wrong side of the bar to be told to que on the opposite side. Time can be wasted here Drinks are expensive. Atmosphere is great Staff was lovely and polite Great scenery of the beach and love the fish tank. Animal friendly too Good pub quiz Would love to return as I still enjoy the atmosphere but might skip...