Blanchflower — Restaurant in Trafford

We love blanchflower, the food is amazing however the service is enough for me to never want to go back.

We decided to visit to celebrate my mum’s 60th birthday on Christmas Eve, we’d called the day prior to ask if there was any chance of reserving a table (as we were a party of 7) and were told no, however if we arrive at 1400, we’d have no issues getting a table (we were also advised the restaurant closed at 1500 given it was Xmas Eve).

We arrived at 1320 and told there was no chance of a table, the (I assume manager) was extremely rude and completely lacking in understanding, we decided to wait and place an order whilst waiting to be seated. We also noticed there were 2 empty booths next to each other, so we asked if we could sit there until another big table became available, we were told if we take that table we would be unable to move again (?!). We then placed the order at 1355 and the manager told us the kitchen wait time is 45 mins, and we have to be out of the restaurant at 1500 dead, meaning we’d have 20 mins to eat our food…

When we eventually were seated at 1420, the whole experience just felt so horribly rushed, the food was as good as ever however my salad was missing a dressing, when I told the manager, her response was ‘the kitchen is closed, do you want me to go to M&S to get you dressing?’(?!)

We got no apology, nothing special to celebrate my mum’s 60th, not even some bubbles on the house for my mum, absolutely dreadful service. I appreciate it was Christmas Eve but I just don’t think that’s an excuse for treating customers so poorly. I will not be returning to this...

I have now visited this place with my partner three times as it’s in his neighbourhood. The food is always great, the coffee is also ok and made with care and the service is casual and the team informed. It’s obvious to see this venue is run as a ‘tight ship’ by a formidable manageress. However, every time we have visited our experience always starts with negatives -“ We don’t have a table” “we don’t have the special” “ We are closing in an hour” Are amongst some of the ‘welcome’ greetings before you even manage to bag a seat!

In all three visits items have been missed or had to be requested a few times only to be met with puzzled expressions or wonderment that such things can happen here.

We get it that it’s a busy/ popular place and the team work hard but not great that as a guest you almost feel honoured to have ‘made the cut’ and occupied a table for rapid 45 minutes!!!

The service is speedy - as soon as the order has been taken food and drinks arrive ( or not) quickly with the bill being dropped hot on the heels of your last mouthful!!! Obvs’ with optional service charge- with your server or manageress asking two or three times if you’re ready to pay!!!

In my eyes the ‘guest experience’ is as important as how fresh the eggs are… No matter how busy a restaurant is it’s good to remember the guests are there to make it all work and not an assault course to be navigated as quickly and soullessly as possible.

It’s a good place but with a little more old fashioned ‘hospitality’ and care could be a...

Headlines - Noisy atmosphere, slow service, average food.

We arrived at 11.45am and were told we’d have to wait for half an hour to order food as the chefs were ‘changing over from the breakfast to lunch menu’- slightly confusing as it’s a brunch venue, but oh well. We were told that we could order drinks and then wait 15 minutes and order our food then, so we went inside.

The table we were shown to was a bit dirty and we had to ask for it to be cleaned before we sat down. The staff were very friendly but they took our drinks order and then lost it so after 30 minutes we hadn’t received our drinks at all and had to remind them.

The decor is lots of hard surfaces and the ceiling low, so any conversation bounces off the hard surfaces and makes a cacophonous din, making relaxed conversation difficult.

The food arrived and was of mixed quality. The kids chicken and beans was nice quality. I had the chicken schnitzel and although it was a large portion it was disappointing. It was a bit pink inside and somehow simultaneously quite hard. The chips were a bit wizened and not very warm.

We had to ask for the bill twice, which again took a long time to arrive.

I wouldn't be in a rush to go back as it wasn’t a particularly...