Cinnabar — Restaurant in Stevenage

They have updated their menu and now have a pretty varied vegan selection. The food (both vegan and non-vegan was okay, but overpriced).

The staff member we had was knowledgeable about the food and let me know that the hash brown is not vegan (was a little disappointing, but very welcome information to receive during ordering). As stated, the food was only okay. The best bit about it however, was how many vegan options there were. I would be interested in trying them if they were cheaper, however I dont think the price adequately reflects the quantity and quality of the food supplied.

The meat eater of the party had a similar opinion of their wrap - okay, but overpriced. However they did have some (valid) concerns over social distancing. While there is plastic separating some tables, it did feel crowded and there was no possible way of getting to tables without breaking social distancing. While stuck in the midst of a pandemic, this is especially concerning.

Additionally, while admittedly, the restaurant was busy, we asked for an additional drink which never arrived. If we had seen the waiter again before paying, this would have been queried, but we didn't want to walk past the tables more than necessary due to the distancing concerns. We weren't charged for the drink, and it was obviously an accident, but if a waiter had come over to any of the nearby tables, this could have been rectified and as a result, this experience wouldn't have been quite so tarnished.

A service charge was also included in the bill. I was frankly displeased with that, but my partner wanted to leave sooner rather than wait for me...

I booked this for myself and 2 friends based on reviews, I quickly became embarrassed by bringing my friends here. When I turned up the manager couldn't be bothered to speak to us, to say welcome or anything, he just pointed at me with 3 fingers to ask how many of us were there (he ignored me when I said I had booked). He then pointed at a table we could sit at which was covered in crumbs including the chairs. I was standing next to it, waiting for someone to clean it, instead he suggested another table, mildly better (with his hands not verbally). I then asked for the lunch menu only to be told we couldn't order lunch until 13.00 (it was 12.30) and we could only order from the breakfast and brunch menu. Ridiculous. So we waited. One friend did finally decide to order from the breakfast menu at approx 12.40 and was told he had 2 minutes to make his order before that menu was no longer taking orders. So in theory that means you can't order anything between 12.45 and 13.00?? It was a joke.

Thankfully the food saved it from being a complete disaster as my friends said the food was good (mine was OK), however one friend did say they would never come back again based on the service and I agreed. It was also very noisy in the restaurant, which was a distraction. The price for the food was OK.

All in all I won't be coming back, or recommending this...

The most horrible experience i’ve ever had. Came down from Wembley today for a night out with my friends who live here and one of them ended up having an anxiety attack in the smoking area. She went out to the front because she needed to be alone and then was refused entry because she hadn’t told the security in the front? Someone who is having an anxiety attack does not communicate with others and everyone knows that. Not only that but a girl and her boyfriend had walked out and one of the security told the other to let the girl back in but not her boyfriend? My friend was not dressed in ‘feminine’ clothing but rather male clothes therefore was discriminated against and this is not acceptable from the security. His name is Jerome (he refused to give us his name btw, another security told us) and Mark (the other security) handled the situation so well. Travelled all the way from Wembley for a...