Wyvestow's Bar & Bistro — Restaurant in South Tyneside

We've now been to this place multiple times and very much enjoyed every visit. This time, unfortunately, it wasn't great. My wife and I were out for a date night and started with cocktails - a great looking 'French Kiss' (French Martini) and a 'Flaming Zombie'. This latter looked great too, crowned with real flames. My wife tried this for second drink and I tried one called 'Lady of the Island'. They tasted sweet and fruity , but I couldn't taste any actual spirits in either. The Zombie has three different types of rum in it and the other had three or four spirits like Vodka and Tequila and I couldn't taste anything alcoholic. To me, blending these ingredients but still tasting them in the drink, is the whole point. The starters were nicely presented and tasted delicious. I can recommend the lamb meatballs and the prawn and chorizo combo, which has a nice kick to it. I ended up eating most of my wife's starter too. It was like they had changed the chef when our mains arrived, though. My wife's steak looked unappealing and my 'Stone Bass' was a bowl of potatoes in a brown mush with a small, depressed looking fish balanced on top. The steak had been coated in salt and was a bit tough too, resisting my wife's efforts with the steak knife and the salt overpowering any pieces she could cut off. My fish mush was also overly salted , though the thick spicy tomato sauce didn't need it. The over cooked Sea Bass was gone in about three bites. The whole dish looked like something I would throw into a bowl and microwave for lunch, using last night's leftovers. Sorry, but it just did. I can't remember the last time I ever left a meal , usually finishing my wife's meal too, but this time we both did. Given all that, the service and staff were as great as usual and when we were asked if we enjoyed the meal, we reluctantly said we hadn't and, to their credit, they waived the cost of the steak from the bill. Fair enough as it's not a cheap venue and neither of us had eaten much of our mains. There was initially a nice atmosphere. A nice buzz of people talking and low mellow music on in the background so we could comfortably chat but it did empty out later and a lady with a backing tape started singing loudly at the other end of the room. They didn't ask her to leave, so we assumed she was a live act. We'll probably go back as the good experiences far outweigh this one poor one but maybe give it a while and wait for a...

The review isn't about the restaurant or food as that was good it is about how we were treated by the waiter/manager. We live just around the corner and managed to book a table for 20th November as it was my wife's birthday. We finished our meal and desert and we were on our third bottle of wine and the waiter asked us if we could vacate the table and go to the bar as he needs the table back. We had a teenager with us and the bar was busy with no room with groups being loud so it was inappropriate for children being at the bar so I said nothing. He came back after 5 mins and said sorry we need the table back again and although I said we were not finished and there was no room at the bar he said we still needed to vacate the table. I basically told him that we were not happy and never been asked to leave a table before we were finished and no time limit was mentioned both when booking and when we sat at the table and again he said sorry but we are busy. We paid and I know its not about the money but the bill was £104 basically for 2 adults as our teenager didn't have much and left feeling cheated and rushed. I would have thought we are the local customers that this place needs but I was wrong as can't and won't ever return. They probably don't care as proven as they never even bothered replying to my Facebook message I sent them. At the moment they are popular but this changes after time especially when people talk and have been treated like we were. Tip for customers take your alarm clock along set it for 90mins and when Micky Mouse rings its...

My first visit with a friend for Sunday dinner.

Parking was a bit of a mare, but this isn't particular to this establishment in this area - just leave a little extra time if you drive.

The restaurant was very contemporary inside, clean and well presented. I found the chair I was seated in, which was kind of round with high wings, a little restrictive - it kind of enveloped me and restricted my arm movement.

The music being played was quite upbeat and at times we found it intrusive to the overall ambience. We felt it needed to be a little softer on occasion.

Initial service was quick and we soon had our food - a lamb and a beef - which was hot, well presented and delicious. Definitely good value for money and we both enjoyed our meals.

Staff were a little slow to clear our table once we'd finished our meal, nobody seemed to be keeping an eye out on our side of the restaurant.

I had a dessert which was quickly served once ordered, a bread and butter pudding, which was again top notch.

We asked for extra gravy with one of our meals, this was provided in a bowl. As was the custard for the dessert. We found this a little odd, we would have expected something with a spout for pouring.

Overall this was a pleasant first experience, the food was excellent and, for the most part, staff were attentive. We would both...