The Rattler — Restaurant in South Tyneside

This is also called The Rattler on maps but is called Platrorm33 with its previous name. We were visiting the area and needed to find somewhere to eat. We had not eaten there before, so we thought it looked interesting, so we gave it a try. We will not be returning.

We ordered for three people, 2 adults and one child. This cost almost £45. Myself and grandson only had soft drinks.

I will try to give structured feedback, but I feel I should point out some issues that could be rectified to help make it a better place to visit.

The first booth we tried was opposite the bar. It was covered in spilt drink stains, which could be cleaned with a steamer or even a samp cloth and soap. It looked awful, so we moved to another that was clean.

My daughter (adult) ordered at the bar, and the staff were lovely with her. They had a laugh and a joke and made her feel welcome. We had our drinks and waited for our food. It wasn't too busy, and some people who came in 20 mins after us got their food before us. After this, my daughter asked about our order. They said we were next on the grill, but other orders still came out before ours. In total, we waited about an hour for our food. We ordered a double bacon cheeseburger, pulled pork wrap and chicken strips with dips.

My grandson liked his chicken strips. He chose this as he didn't like the children's options. My daughter gave him some of her chips to share as this doesn't come with it.

I had the wrap, which came with chips. The chips were OK, just a bit cold. The wrap, I could not finish. It was mostly sauce with a mushy texture. It would have been nicer if it had more of a pulled pork texture as it felt like eating baby food. You barely had to chew.

My daughter could not eat her burger at all. The bacon was with very thick, uncooked fat, which was chewy. The bottom of the bun was soggy and dropped to bits. She took two bites and just couldn't eat it. She said it was of such poor quality meat with an unusual taste and texture. She fe

lt it was lesser quality than a roadside burger van. With this being £11.95 you'd expect much better quality, this is a price you'd pay in an inner city bar and is far lesser the quality. I've added pictures of this to show how awful it was.

Before leaving, I popped to the bathroom, There were no working locks on the two toilets that were available and no toilet

paper. Luckily, I always carry tissues in my bag. The doors to enter the toilet you have to stand in the middle and hold both doors at the same time. Otherwise, you'll get trapped in between the doors. It could also benefit from a deep clean.

I will say again, the staff were nice and the best bit about visiting but the place needs some cleaning and repairs and the...

My first visit after moving to SS last summer. I had friends visiting three hrs drive from here so wanted to ensure I treat them somewhere where we would sit down, no queuing. Booking easy. Staff on entering efficient and friendly. Explanation given well. Drinks brought very quickly. Must be overwhelming times for now so it was organised well. Cons: website menu not available. Booked based on Google menu which showed fish and chips. On the day the scanned menu showed only burgers, no heads up on limited menu. The scanned menu was glitchy and was showing just food, no drinks. Had to install the app. It didn't have the consent to saving card details so I'm not sure if they were saved without my consent or not. I had no say in that, which would be no each time when I shop. The tent was cold because the the heater lamps are spaced a lot, tables distanced, and on a sunny warm day there was no daytime warmth coming in. We were freezing with warm weather outside. Defeated the point. Maybe works for late night drinks but not daytime, which is long in spring/summer anyway. So for three beers, mine zero alcohol served in oversized cup that gives impression of being half empty or drunk, I wouldn't say it's experience worth over £14.Two bottles of good quality wine that could have been drunk at home in warmth. I don't think I'll be rushing back but it might be very subjective experience. We only had courtesy drinks to fulfill the booking even with one round of drinks and we left to collect our Colemans I ordered whilst getting colder and colder...

It has been some time since we visited, butvwe went this weekend, whilst waiting for the parade to get there, and the interior has massively improved, its so light and airy, meaning you feel less enclosed and the place even looks bigger. With the new face-lift I was hoping a nice clean experience, as it was previously a little grubby, this wasn't the case, the table and the condiments were all a bit sticky and dirty.

The staff were lovely, really friendly, but ordering was a little tough repeating and as a customer following uonthat the order was correct. Minor but it adds to the experience.

Food.....we had a mixed platter for 2 and a portion of calamari between 2 adults and 1 child. The potion sizes were ample, but having paid over £30 for the small order of food and 3 drinks (only 1 alcoholic) i expected better from the quality. The calamari was so heavy, and it wasn't the meat, itvwas the batter. The wings had freezer burn on them and were so tough, the chips were pleasant, but just frozen chips and the tacos were a but soft and chewy, but the filling was nice, everything else was very meh.

It is a huge world away from the menu offering previously. I recognise that tgey have tried something new, but the chips were proper chips previously, and the roast meat sandwiches were always delicious and a hit.

I can't give more than 2* even with the positives due the price we paid for something so mediocre and poor. I would return if the menu was revamped to more home...