Turtle Bay Southampton — Restaurant in Southampton

Went yesterday for a birthday dinner and had high hopes for Turtle Bay as it was my first time visiting. Ordered Blue Raspberry Mocktail (£5), Jerk Wings (6.80) and Seafood Soup Bowl (£16). Order came to £27.80 but with service charge came to £30.60

Blue Raspberry Mocktail: has an instant hit of raspberry, nice colour to it- had a blue ombré effect and had a cute little finish with a pineapple leaf. However became watery after some time. Okay drink and had a good serving as well but could do with a lot more flavour throughout and not just initial sip or two

Jerk Wings: came with a coleslaw side. Was originally going to get the new Pepper Roti however was told that it was sold out, which was disappointing.

The wings were nice but would have liked a bit more kick to it however due to catering to the British palette it’s understandable why it’s not. Also didn’t really get that classic ‘Jerk’ seasoning and spices.

Seafood Soup Bowl: part of the soul food section of the menu and was the best dish for me as part of my meal. Great flavours, really loved the whole shrimp, prawns and squid. The rice and peas were also a nice touch as well and it was beautifully presented. The portion size was good as well. Goes really nicely with the festivals (which my friend got) which I thoroughly enjoyed- great flavour and big as well. Familiarity with the flavours (due to being Ghanaian) helped with the experience as well, making it a tad more enjoyable.

Downsides: the wait time for food. It took an hour to get the first dishes out for our table. Yes it was a large group of 13 people however on a Tuesday night where majority of people ordered 1 dish felt like eternity and even after the hour not everyone received their meal, some coming perhaps 15 mins later. Also a similar group to ours in terms of numbers got their foods a good while before ours.

the service. Important for me to mention that the waitress who served our table did her best but it seemed like she was waiting other tables and welcoming others in, should have had more staff to either take those other tables or split service to ours.

the atmosphere: member of staff who attended our table was really nice and did her very best attending us and people walking through the door and other tables. However she should have been supported and this affected the service to our own table. Would have loved a more island feel to the restaurant, nice interior but it didn’t have that fully immersive experience that I would have liked personally. Especially for a rainy Tuesday evening, the evening felt some what anti climatic

Overall:

Very disappointing, it just seemed a bit unorganised and understaffed, even in the kitchen could only see 2 guys working there.

If Turtle Bay wants customer retention improve your service by a mile! On a Tuesday evening, where it was raining you shouldn’t be taking so long to send out orders. Being with friends and celebrating a birthday definitely made the experience better however if the group was much smaller would have probably left.

Cannot judge by one time visit, some decent food however due to the service and the lack of atmosphere in the establishment, for the time being I can say I won’t be returning to Turtle Bay Southampton. Perhaps in the future but not as of now. Disappointing.

Turtle Bay Southampton...

Wouldn’t bother going here, much better places in Southampton for pre-show food, especially for wheelchair users.

I’d booked a week ago and advised on the booking we had a wheelchair, when we turned up they didn’t seem to know where to put us to start off with but we were then shown to our table which was right by the bins, the entrance to the central bar and kitchen, if they were busy fair enough but there were plenty of tables round the front. We were also then told that the cooker had broke so a lot of the menu wasn’t available, again fair enough but as we had booked and received lots of messages to confirm the booking, a heads up would have been nice.

The food arrived and the broccoli on the rice bowl hadn’t been cooked as was still cold. We did tell the server about it but just got a sorry. Whilst we were eating I also saw the manager pick up a menu from next to the bin and put it back with the others, touch round the bin and then touch the coffee machine without washing hands so not ideal hygiene wise at all. We then also had to use the disabled toilet, which wasn’t really labelled and was difficult to get to from the table. There was a wait to use it because the toilet is also the staff changing room so not great for disabled people who can need the loo at the drop of the hat and not too hygienic for the staff either.

We asked to speak to a manager at the end of the meal and put server just pointed at them and then went back to serving so we had to get their attention to come over. We were just told sorry and that the landlord hasn’t given them enough space for changing rooms. We were offered a free drink but we had to get to the show.

Won’t be returning or recommending, normally we love Turtle Bay but Southampton was very...

Honestly one of the worst restaurant experiences I've ever had. Almost every single staff member was rude and unwelcome apart from one waiter who came to us after our original waitress didn't bother. We waited over 50 minutes for a basic brunch dish (clearly forgotten by the waitress to even put the order through which happens but she didn't bother to check once throughout on us). Finally we called a second waiter who went and clearly the kitchen didn't know about the order (open kitchen so we were able to see) and then when it came half the dish was missing. It was supposed to come with roti, chickpeas, roast mushroom, roast tomatoes, plantain and smashed avocado. No avocado, no plantain and a slice of plain tomato. Apparently this is the 'Big vegan grill down'. When I asked where half the dish was I eventually was told they had run out of plantain and avocado. A 'carribean' restaurant who had no plantain?? And the sheer audacity to not even bother to tell us until we noticed or offer to replace the missing items with an alternative.

When finally I spoke to the manager she agreed to remove the dish from the bill. I decided to try the roti because my toddler was very hungry and it was totally raw inside. To wait fifty minutes for half a dish with raw bread is really poor. All we got was sorry we won't charge you for it but they charged us for the drinks and sides. I never would refuse to pay if I had eaten the dish but to not even take the drinks off the bill shows how little they care about customers.

To be honest I regret even setting foot in this chain with no real respect for Carribbean food and next time will visit a local west indies or Jamaican establishment and I would urge anyone else to do the same and not give their money...