N°4 Mediterranean Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Stratford-on-Avon

We came hear for lunch on a Saturday, five of us in total. Positives first: good location and the restaurant is nice. Food was tasty (although tiny portions, more on that later) and the staff were reasonably attentive; however, that’s where the positives end. We had to wait 55 mins for said food to arrive; there was no mention of a delay and the restaurant wasn’t especially busy, I’d say around 65-70% capacity. I asked a member of staff for an update and she said she’d ask but never came back to me and just started doing other things, so I asked someone else who did eventually get back to me and said we’re next. When the food did arrive, the portions were tiny. I had some lamb koftas and they couldn’t have been more than 5cm long and there were only two. I couldn’t quite believe it, I’m glad I’d ordered a few other things but even those were lacking. Across our meals, we had five portions of chips. These were brought out in dribs and drabs, one portion then a long wait, another two and so on; by the time the last portion had come, I’d already eaten my food. I can’t see how a restaurant can struggle to make five (small) portions of chips. After all this, I asked the server before we’d even had the bill to remove the service charge (10%). I’m probably in a minority here, but I hate service charges; they are just a way of fleecing the customer for more money on top of already expensive food. In this case, expensive and tiny portions. Yes, they are removable, yet you’re always made to feel uncomfortable doing so, but after this experience, it was definitely justified. I shouldn’t have to pay someone to bring my food (I’ll collect it myself from the kitchen if it’s easier) Unfortunately, the bill arrived and, of course, the service charge had not been removed as requested, meaning I had to ask again. In the staff’s and restaurant’s defence, they offered us some free coffee or soft drinks, but this did little to undo the poor experience overall (none of us like coffee anyway). In these times, eating out is becoming a luxury, and in that case, you start to expect a certain level of experience for the cost; unfortunately, I left put of pocket and hungry, which isn’t a good...

We chose this restaurant on 23 July based on location and reviews, but the food and service were disappointing. The service was very slow, our drinks order was lost altogether and so we were still without drinks after 45 minutes and eventually our food arrived before our drinks. We were sat outside but after such a long wait we got a bit cold and asked to move inside - we were told that wasn't possible due to lots more bookings coming but then watched as table after table was cleared and no more diners arrived - eventually when the restaurant was half empty we were allowed to move inside. It seemed like none of the staff had had any sort of customer service training. The food was delicious but the portions of the skewer mains were very small - one small skewer of fish for £22 and one small skewer of halloumi etc for £17.50 - the bulk was made up with pita bread. Burger portions were better. I only leave a negative review if I have raised the issues with the venue. Accordingly, we commented on the portion sizes in response to being asked if everything was ok with our meal, but the staff member just looked awkward and didn't offer any sort of solution. Later we were asked again by a different staff member if everything had been okay; they had no idea about our previous comments so clearly our feedback hadn't been taken seriously. We paid full price including service charge. Overall, a very...

Saturday, the 5th of April, was our first visit to this restaurant. It was very busy with a wonderful lively, even holiday vibe, atmosphere, but the delightful staff appeared to take it all in their stride. When the food arrived, it was delicious and we will definitely come back again. However, what made this restaurant stand out for me, apart from the lovely waterside setting it has was how attentive the staff were. I rather stupidly knocked over my glass of wine, which didn’t have much left in it to be honest, but I broke the lovely thin rimmed glass (my favourite kind of glass). Mortified, I took it up to the bar myself because I didn’t want anybody to cut themselves on it, and the lady bartender appeared to know precisely the wine I’d had and insisted, despite my protests, by replacing the wine with a full glass completely free of charge. I absolutely did not expect this, but this is testament to how expertly this new restaurant is managed. As locals, this will be a favourite haunt for us from now on....