Smugglers Retreat Table Table — Restaurant in Thanet

Warning:Long review ahead,but I feel it's warrented...My hubby and I really enjoyed our supper here this evening. Service was top notch. James greeted us with a smile as we walked in and even asked if we had any food allergies before seating is at a table. Coming from the hospitality industry myself as somebody who trained staff in a 5 star delux hotel abroad, this stood out to me greatly. I have never been asked about my food allergies at a restaurant before, and I'm talking 4 and 5 star hotel restaurants as well. I am always the one that has to ask staff members about certain foods containing nuts. My husband has a citrus allergy and James went out of his way to bring us the allergy menu so that we could have a look at every meal and see which ones contained any of our allergens. This was absolutely freaking fantastic!

After ordering our meals the chef sent James to our table to let us know that our burger patties are grilled on the same grill as the pineapple & the chef was worried about my husband's citrus allergy.I mean WOW! 5 star service and attention to detail is not something we were expecting and yet that's what I believe we received. It is attention to these small details which really elevates a customers experience.

The restaurant was very busy & it seemed a bit short staffed, however even while waiting a bit after mains to order dessert, we could see that the all staff on the floor were being friendly and courteous to all their customers, which was great to observe. When someone asked for something it was done as fast as the staff could possibly get around to doing in, in between cleaning all the tables and greeting/seating new customers. We didn't mind waiting because the staffs efficiency & friendliness created a lovely atmosphere.

Chloe also served us and she was lovely. She was professional, polite and accommodating to our requests which I have to commend, because it could have been so easy for her to lose her cool under the pressure of her crazy busy shift but she didn't. She remained composed and served us with a smile.

The food was great and the pudding was delicious. We forgot to take pics, sorry guys! Definitely give their baked banofee cheesecake a try, you won't regret it. Overall we had a great evening. Thank you James, Chloe and to the chef(sorry we don't know your name), for an excellent service experience. I also want to thank the other kitchen and bar staff because running a restaurant takes a full team approach and without the one part of the team the other cannot function. You all did and do an amazing job under so much pressure! You can all be proud...

Went for boxing day meal with family. In all 12 of us. Before hand we confirmed what food we wanted and that one child was dairy intolerant and we was told they would cater for this and provide a couple of dairy free puddings so there would be a choice. We also requested the starter not to have horseradish sauce added. We arrived and to start with, all the starters that was asked for without horseradish sauce came with sauce. But we decided to eat around it. We then asked to confirm they sorted the dairy free pudding which we was told they had coconut sorbet. Next came the main which some had steak some having carvery. Despite being asked how we wanted steaks cooked. Pretty much all of them were cooked the same, which was well done. I ordered an non alcoholic cider and luckily I checked as was given an alcoholic version so that then had to be changed. The carvery was poor, potatoes were pale and not fully cooked. No wanted to attempt the veg as it looked awful. Then puddings were served before table was cleared. And again some puddings were awful. Christmas pudding was like a cheap microwave one, and sundaes contained a tiny amount of ice cream and mainly just squirty cream. Then we again asked where the dairy free pudding was to be told there wasnt any sorbet. The poor waitress kept apologising as it left a 9 year old watching while everyone else eats. Then to add insult to that. My mother in law checked the bill this morning to confirm not only was she charged the full amount of £20 for his meal of which all he had was a main but they added an extra £5 for supplying a dairy free pudding. Disgusting service especially when so many places locally are able to provide alternatives. Never stepping foot in...

Well that wasnt a good experience this evening. Booked a table for 3 myself my partner and my dad .we've always had a good experience at the smugglers retreat and always have rated it highly but this evening was an exception . Arrived shown to our table explained what wasnt on the menu only 1 item that didnt bother us , waitress came over took our drinks order ,so far so good ,then it went down hill waited for our drinks which didnt come then the waitress took our mains order and went to chase up our drinks which finally arrived a bit later ,then waited and waited for our food it finally arrived after 45 minutes + . Everything was just warm enough had obviously been sitting around a while my dads mixed grill meat was burnt to a cinder almost and stone cold my steak was supposed to be medium rare but was well done chips /peas were luke warm all our onion rings were overcooked and hard .my partners smothered platter was luke warm .we debated sending it back but thought about waiting another 45 minutes to get served again . I finnished mine but it wasnt up to there usual standards my partner left her chips/ onion rings and some bits my dad only picked at his as it was cold and the mixed grill meat was burnt to a cinder . We did mention it to the waitress when she cleared the table asking if it was alright , she did say she would have changed it for us if we had asked and if she had come over and asked soon after we were served I'm sure my dad would have said change it , but to be honest we didnt want to wait ages to get our food again . I can only assume they were really...