Ryhope Harvester — Restaurant in Sunderland

Very average food at significantly higher prices than their competitors.

Before I even ordered I noticed the cutlery and table were dirty. Then the serving staff, while very nice, informed us that the "unlimited salad bar" was no longer self-service for covid safety reasons. I found this odd as you could still get yourself refills, which means standing next to others and touching the machine after others. If I were cynical I would say this change was more to do with cost saving than covid safety.

The atmosphere was nice until one member of staff began throwing cutlery into a container, which created enough noise that I could not hear the person next to me speak.

I ordered the mixed grill which supposedly comes with a 4oz steak, mine appeared to be a 1oz piece that was well done despite asking for medium rare.

The chips were the standard frozen type you get from supermarkets. Bland, pale, and undercooked.

The rotisserie chicken, described by harvester as 'famous', was dry and stringy. If I had to guess I would say it was reheated in a microwave.

The peas came in a thimble sized container, which was unfortunate as they were the tastiest item I received. The egg was like rubber with a dry yolk and the onion rings were chewy to the extent they were inedible.

Also on the plate was a single button mushroom which was 90% water and a slice of black pudding which didn't really taste of anything.

The gammon and sausage were fine but nothing to get excited about.

My experience was very disappointing. I fail to see how Harvester can justify those prices for the quality of food they offer. I will never go back, there are other chains offering better food at...

We went to the sandcastle on saturday 8-2-2014 pm. I can say that the experience was the worst i have ever had at a pub.We had just visited a friend in hospital and decided to stop on our way home for something to eat. When we went in there was not many people there. We went to the bar to order drinks the barmaid didn't even smile. We sat and looked at the menu then went to order.Yet again no smiles.The food came out still no smiles.The food had no taste i ordered a rump stake the wife ordered scampi. The scampi was ok. The staff were walking around like they didn't want to be there. It was a very depressing place and i now no why. There was not many people there. My wife went to the bar again for another drink whilst having her meal and the barmaid was on the telephone answering a internal call she saw my wife at the bar turned away and carried on what she was doing and the waitress who was waiting on customers saw my wife and proceeded on out the back with nothing in her hands and then about 30 seconds later came back out and then proceeded to the bar to ask what my wife wanted but never apologising for the wait.We can say we will never go there again.Thought it would cheer us up...

I ordered the chargrilled chicken skewers and was really disappointed when it arrived and looked like it had been boiled as the chicken skin was pale and wet and the meat was very moist and had a funny taste to it. I would expect chargrilled chicken to be slightly crispy and brown. I asked the lady who served me whether they had been chargrilled at all and she said they had been and the chef would be happy to take them back and grill them again. Not only do you not send anything back to the kitchen to be redone as you don't know what happens to the re-served food the customer has complained about but these chicken thighs had peri peri sauce all over them so wouldn't it have come back as a burnt mess?! I asked for a discount on one of the skewers (as had ordered 2 because i was so hungry) but was met with silence. I should have refused to pay!!! Was surprised they didn't even offer me a free drink! So paid £18 for something i didn't eat. Was still hungry afterwards. They need to work on their customer care. Food is mediocre at best. MacDonalds across the road would have been a...