COSMO — Restaurant in Southampton

Absolutely awful welcome in by the lady on reception. Mask on (I understand this) but no hello or any pleasantries at all like have you been here before, or used a Cosmo before, as the process was very confusing to understand for a newcomer. She was hard to hear what she was saying due to the very loud background noise and her mask. Had to ask her to repeat herself. We were given a buzzer due to being advised it was a half hour wait. She then barley gestured towards the bar area. We had to figure this out as she didn't seem at all bothered. We ordered a few drinks while we waited, was charged a discretionary gratuity without being asked if this was OK, or even mentioned anywhere. Then was not advised if the drinks would be brought by a waitress or wait for them, then ushered over to the bar pointing at a tray. Poor service here! While waiting, my wife visited the toilets and found 1 cubical had no toilet paper and the floor was filthy throughout. She mentioned it to the waiting staff about the toilet paper and they went straight to it. When our buzzer went off, Which was not more than 10 minutes the matre 'd came to seat us. We were still not advised as to the process of what needed to happen.

The food was mainly covered and set back from the walkway, so was not breathed over and individual tongs and spoons per dish. Everything was hot and fresh tasting.

However, the freshly cooked items for fish and steak was appalling due to the grill being so very dirty, it all tasted like dirty grill and oil. Watching him cook it, he didn't clean the grill and was very unbothered by what he was doing. The flavouring (salt and Pepper) was missing due to the overwhelming taste of grill. My wife had pudding, which had a good selection and a heavenly chocolate fountain. This looked amazing.

The waiter that was tasked with bring drinks to the table was clueless, he walked around with peoples drinks lost. He then found the tables and put the drinks right where a plate would go. This happened on multiple tables.

The empty plates were cleared quick and the staff themselves were working hard and didn't really stop. We were asked how the meal was, which is lovely in any setting.

The same receptionist form the way in, got our attention as we left to check our receipt. The half hearted sign said they check to make sure we had been billed the correct amount, however they had nothing to do with our meal so would know. This was purely a way to check we had paid. This was not a nice way to finish our evening. Again no goodbye/hope you had a lovely evening, Nothing.

Overall it was a lovely experience, but not sure i would come back to this restaurant in this franchise due to the front of...

I don't like to leave negative reviews as you can see by my many reviews posted over the years.

However due to the shoddy and poor customer service last time and PATHETIC attempt to resolve here it is.

So MOST IMPORTANTLY DO NOT GO IF ITS A HOT DAY....

Oh my goodness!! It is like a sauna!!

Honestly I came out soaked and almost passed out twice, more so because they assume we are all criminals, so you can't get past "pretty much" security!!!!

As in you have to have your release "paid receipt" even though it was just me, the father, while wife and 3 kids still inside..

It would seem staff struggle too, we were seated fine, 5 of, daughters 13th birthday, in her party dress and huge balloons, a child's birthday they eat FREE.

Now although she was told "Happy Birthday" three times that I heard, we were questioned and made uncomfortable at the till, server had to come over, the woman on the till was rude and miserable, we were all feeling ill due to the heat (this was evening time too) we just wanted to get out....

Staff look flustered and struggling, our table and many others stacked with empty plates, glasses, etc

Luckily the food was OK and a good choice.

Although you do help yourself and some people make a right mess and load plates to a foot tall and will trample a child to death for the last din-sum, keep kids close!!!

We have, well my family minus me have been going for a few years, in fact my other daughter is 10 in 2 days, guess where she wants to go 🥵🥵😭😭. NOT IF I CAN AVOID IT...

Anyway wife recieved a survey online, she said in less words the above, got a sorry and offer of a pathetic 15% off next visit, but hey better than nothing... yeah??? Well actually NO!!!!!

In the vast terms and conditions of mainly when you CAN'T use said voucher, which is time limited, Big one is CAN NOT BE USED IN PEAKTIMES AND NOT WHEN SCHOOLS ARE ON HOLIDAY.... Yep 6 week holiday time, by the time that passes the voucher is out of date...... you couldn't make this up....

At which point we questioned this but they have totally ignored us, GO COSMO!!!

So all in all not worth the paper it's written on, clearly not sorry and feel they can survive just fine without us.

Let me remind you, without customers you are nothing, maybe don't take us for granted, there ARE other places that see customers as people not walking cash bags...

Not sure if the Heat thing is a ploy? To get you out ASAP surely they have AC but guess its on minimum at best.

Personally I don't see the attraction here, if this is the norm.

Best advice address the temp issues and DONT PUT A BITTER MISERABLE PERSON OUT as the customer point of contact especially when treating people...

I’ve read a few other reviews and looks like I’m not alone in my experience. It does look like Cosmo reply’s to all negative reviews the same and doesn’t act on them. I hope my review gives an honest reflection of what to expect coming to this restaurant.

I went with two friends and we were made to pay first (I thought maybe everyone did. NOPE just us ) I can’t help but think this was because we were three young friends. The lady at the till has awful customer skills ! We felt rushed and pressured to pay FOR A MEAL WE HADNT EVEN EATEN YET. We didn’t realise that there was a service added. I’m not sure what service I was paying for as 1) I hadn’t even sat down yet and 2) it’s a self service buffet ? Had it had been pointed out or I wasn’t being rushed into paying I would have removed the service. This isn’t ok and as we were leaving another table also mentioned the same thing. Not cool. Because of being rushed and also paying before we were even seated and eaten we didn’t get drinks. Had we been sat first we would have got a Bottle of wine or 2 but we went with water because there was pressure and no time to look.

I asked about allergies and the guy said they were all listed. The top 14 are but nothing else but everything is cross contaminated so if you have anaphylaxis or severe allergies I wouldn’t risk it. It’s not something they take too seriously. Nothing was labeled if it was vegetarian/vegan and had to ask for most dishes.

I do think your staff need to be trained on allergies and dietary requirements as this isn’t something to take lightly and your standards aren’t up to par. I went to the hot plate to get some squid (I’m pesciterian but it’s easier to explain as vegetarian ) the guy didn’t understand what I was saying as he started cooking the squid and offered me steak. I told him I don’t eat meat. Another guy ordered the steak … as he’s cooking my squid he uses the same spatulas without cleaning them.

I’ll give the staff credit for their quick clearing of plates but I’m still not sure what I paid service for as I don’t think we spoke to any staff.

The dessert was the only good part of the experience. There was a lot of choice and it was pretty clean.

I do think you get what you pay for it was mid at best but please sort out your allergy and dietary training for staff ! Also please tell the lady at the desk to let people know about service. Unless these things changed I wouldn’t return but I’m sure it’s great for children...