Cattle Steakhouse — Restaurant in Southampton

If I could give 0 stars I would, yesterday was my third time visiting this place after giving them the benefit of the doubt on 2 occasions previously. Would I go again? NEVER!!!

The first time I went with a friend, the till was not working and food took the best part of 2 hours arrive, when it did. It was actually not half bad, steak was cooked the way we asked was still piping hot on the sizzler and sauces were on point, the staff gave us free drinks due to the food taking a lifetime to come out. I thought okay not bad, but I think it was more due to the fact that I had finished eating and was content that I had been fed so it put me in a better mood.

Based on the fact that the first time there was an issue with the till, I thought food's not bad so let's go again and hopefully it won't take so long for food to hit our table. A simple order of nachos was somehow misheard as waffles for some reason and starters came out cold (prawns & mix grill). We were waiting an hour and a half before our mains came out was ridiculous. Steak was decent but not as great as my previous visit.

The nachos came AFTER the mains and were literally just plain cheap doritos with a few bits of chicken, NO sauces, NO other toppings, even NO cheese!! It was literally just doritos and chicken! Anyhow the manager advised the reason food took so long is because they have two new chefs who are still getting used to the menu and waiting staff as well.

Now... On to yesterdays visit which was by far the worst experience I have had in any restaurant in my life, we arrived at 6pm and the place was empty. We were only a group of 5 and again it may have been my mistake as my nature is to give a place a fair chance before writing them off completely. It had been 3 weeks since I was last here so chefs should be up to scratch etc.

Within a minute and a half of sitting down we were being asked for drink orders, now I don't mind an quick and efficient service but at least give us a chance to have a look at what is on the menu, no? Moving on, we ordered drinks and food about 5 mins later so the whole order was placed at 6.10pm at the latest. Drinks came quickly and then everything went downhill! An order of garlic bread for starters took 35 minutes to come out and when it did, it was literally a ciabatta bread sliced in half, lightly toasted and drenched in garlic butter.

So on to the mains, at 7PM I called over the waitress to advise that it had almost been an hour since we ordered and I asked her to speak to the manager, once the owner of the place went in to the kitchen to get things moving I could hear food orders actually being served up to the pass.

Chicken steak was dry and rubbery with absolutely NO seasoning, my friend had to ask for it to be taken back to get it re-fired with seasoning, they brought it back with sauce just poured over it (1). Fajitas served with no wrap (2). Hot dog bread just fell apart (3). Steak didn't arrive until after the others had finished eating (4). Chips were burnt (5). Onions under cooked (6). It took all of 10 minutes to get all orders rectified before we had our complete meals (apart from the steak that was ordered). In the end the owner wrote off our bill and to his credit said he did not expect us to pay after such an abysmal service.

In conclusion, waste of time, food has gone down hill very quickly in the space of 9 weeks, service is atrocious as the waiting staff seem to either not understand what's being asked or said or they actually don't care. The only decent thing about this place is the owner who was quite understanding so credit where it's due. Never going back again and would strongly advise anyone who's thinking of going, don't! Drinks were good but then again you can't really get a bottled...

We booked a table for a birthday meal for myself and my son. Any review I ever write is about constructive feedback not about slating an experience but giving a balanced review. I have been lucky to eat in restaurants in London and part of my previous employment attend soft openings of new venues to provide feedback etc.These include Michelin starred to high end hotel restaurants with resident chefs. I also have eaten in various locations around the world. I wont take photos of meals as the proof is in the eating sometimes and you can have style over substance.

Overall impressions of the layout and cleanliness was good. The menu is simple but provides a good selection of items that are in keeping with the branding. Please repair your carpet by the entrance it is a trip hazard and needs glueing down or replaced. Put some decent lights in the toilets.

Starters - we ordered a selection of items that included halloumi fries, onion rings. The portions were good however my starter was dressed with raw white onion and raw sliced chilli. They served no purpose and brought nothing to plate so my advice is lose this garnish.

Mains - we ordered a selection of steaks from Ribeye, Fillet, and Sirloin all were cooked to medium rare. I noticed one steak was a little under but otherwise the meat was very tender. However the sides and sauces need tweaking. The peppercorn sauce was way to spicy as it was a base sauce with powered pepper not peppercorns. The BBQ sauce was again way to spicy as was the side dish of spicy rice. We can tolerate some spice or heat but these were almost inedible. Equally my wife noted the garlic mash had to much garlic. The side dish of corn on the cob was clearly frozen and reheated. If you are going to use corn on the cob it has to be fresh I have never used frozen corn of the cob its too tough and again inedible. This item was removed from our bill. The burger was ok but I have had better. The burger was a little lost and overwhelmed by the additional items. The burger should be the star of the show?

Desserts - we ordered a selection of cheesecakes and ice cream based dishes. Please change your supplier of cheesecakes! They are more cake based than a true reflection of a cheesecake. The staff wouldn't have known but the majority of our party were born in the USA and we know a cheesecake when we see or taste it. They had too much setting agent in them and base was not thick or contained that nice buttery base.

Staff - good but maybe not all gather at the bar area and have a chin wag float around a bit and check on the guests? We had to chase up one starter and one dessert. The front of house chap in the suit seemed a little more switched on casting a watchful eye over the restaurant.

Kitchen - I had a good view through to the kitchen area. Maybe get your cooking staff some uniform? If I am honest they looked like a couple of blokes in a burger van and none wearing headgear, whites or similar. Maybe use some fresh salad leaves that are not from a bag from the local supermarket? Dress the salad rather than chuck some leaves on a plate and some halved cherry toms. We can see what you are using in the kitchen. The kitchen did look clean. I note from another review the smell of cooking seeping into the eating area. I would agree a few of our party commented their clothing smelt of cooked meat.

The bill in my opinion did reflect the overall experience but there is alot competition with this type of cuisine and if they could tweak a few things then it could really hit the mark. Its almost there but not quite. Would I go back? Most probably not I think Miller and Carter provide a better standard for comparable price or for burgers and...

Very disappointed to have to give this score, but in the current pandemic this place was not up to scratch!! No NHS track and trace poster, over a week after its been rolled out. New covid rules from the government state all bars/resturant should be table service...and yet there was at least 10 people paying or ordering at the bar, and this is just what we witnessed within our short time there.

Not one person was asked to wear a mask when moving around the resturant, we understand not everyone will wear a mask however I would expect the staff to ask at least once.

There is a connected shisha bar to the resturant, so there was a constant flow of people in and out walking around the resturant, numerous people going from one table to see others at another.

We asked to move tables as we were placed so close to others and we felt uncomfortable, the staff did move us to a table another couple had jist left, without cleaning it! They also left a open sauce pot on the table that the previous couple had used! Another table asked to move shortly after us and yet again menus were just put on their table they had left, without being cleaned ready for someone else to come in and sit at. Not great at avoiding the spread of Coronavirus.

The food was really nice, a bit slow to come out but was of good quality, so its a shame the evening was ruined by the constant worry or being unsafe and annoyance at how Blahzey the staff were about a global crisis!

We spoke to the manager about it and he seemed to acknowledge what we said, asking for how they could improve...but then continued to let flurries of people go to the bar, just very disappointed.

People are dying, and places like this are letting the spread happen more than it needs to!! Its a shame there is no where to be able to report places breaching the covid guidelines as I feel this place will just continue with their negligence and ultimately end up being the cause of more...