Marina Vista — Restaurant in Sunderland

From the moment I asked the girl that worked that for a allergy menu/list and she gave me the look of ‘I have no idea what you’re on about’ I knew we were in for a ride .. when ordering we spoke to the man taking our orders about allergies and as we rang up the day before about it, he remembers my partner and ensures he will do everything he can to make sure there are no problems and her meal is free of her allergies. He even came back to the table to double check as “he didn’t want anyone going into Anaphylaxis”! Sooooo food comes out and the pasta dish my partner ordered was literally covered in cream, not good for some with a dairy, egg and soy allergy and my daughter also suffers from these allergies and breast feeds, so that would be the 2 of them seriously I’ll if this was eaten! The utter look of confusion on the man’s face when the dish was returned and the rudeness that came from him was disgusting! I could go into more detail but I think this is enough to make a case to avoid this place. From the 11 of us that went to the restaurant that night, 8 of us have been unwell with horrible stomach cramps and pains 2 being children. We all had different dishes so no idea what those “chefs” are preparing in the kitchen.

Oh and as I have found out this evening, the man with the disgusting attitude, zero listening skills and zero allergy menu/information was...

I'd previously left a great review for this restaurant, but after my last experience I'll never go back. I made a booking for my husband's birthday, and I booked online. A message popped up once it was booked to say there wouldn't be an email confirmation. It didn't even say the date and time, but I took a screenshot anyway, just in case.

When we arrived, they told us that they didn't have our booking. I showed him the screenshot but he said there was no room for us. This was 5.30 and the restaurant was empty except for one table. He showed me a note to say they could take no more bookings until after 8pm. I reminded him that I'd booked. I was told that the member of staff who dealt with online booking wouldn't be in until 6pm, so we had no choice but to leave.

About 15 minutes later, I received a call on my mobile to apologise, that they did have my booking after all and the man had made a mistake. Would we like to go back? Definitely not, as they had ruined our family celebration.

A message to Marina Vista - you need to sort out your online booking system, or don't offer it at all. We were left embarrassed and angry, and no customer should be...

I reviewed this restaurant in 2020 when I last came, and I loved the food, but the peak times meant that we had a long wait...

We came back today (Feb 2022), on a Saturday evening which I was expecting to be peak time crowds, but it wasn't overly packed or too loud. The staff were lovely as always. The food came super fast; I loved my Marina Vista Penne so much, my mother loved her pasta dish (the name escapes me), my daughter enjoyed her kids meal, and the biscoff cheesecake was to die for. The prices were very fair, especially for the quality of the food!

I'm so happy we came back here and will definitely be coming back again!

My review in 2020: I really enjoyed the food, however every course was upto 1 hour apart. I understand that it was peak times, so we waited patiently. Food was very tasty and nice, but my steak was a tad overdone. The gamberoni (pictured) was a little overdone as well, but still delicious! I'd return here for sure, I'd just try to avoid...