Sankey's Seafood Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells

The service received from our waitress left very little to be desired. This was a great shame as we’d been looking forward to try this place and our food, on the whole, was nice.

Despite us being one of four small tables in the restaurant we had to wait up to 15 minutes before offered any drinks (after flagging her down), these later arrived after we’d finished our starters, were presented with our mains and I had gone up to the bar to ask where our drinks were…for context we ordered soft drinks and water - not sure what the hold up was there.

I’d ordered fish and chips (6/10) but as soon as the plates were put down, she walked off and didn’t stop to ask if we needed any condiments? I had to flag her down to ask for salt/ pepper for the table and vinegar for myself.

Again waiting for the bill was a lengthy wait and wore my patience thin. Now down to three table in the quiet restaurant, no one was behind the bar and no one was on the restaurant floor. In total we had counted 4 FOH staff. After 15 minutes of waiting we had to head to the kitchen to ask if someone could help us, to find all the staff chatting. Appreciate it’s a slow shift but we’d be out of your hair sooner if you paid us some attention and at least brought us the bill!

We and another table began discussing the poor service all evening, with the other table assuring us “it’s not usually like this but today is p* poor” - I’ll perhaps try again in the future.

It seems some general service training is...

So I’m updating my previous review. Original review was posted a couple of days ago after a lovely Sunday roast on 6th March where I gave it 4 stars. I have now taken a star away after an early evening drink at the bar on Friday 11th March. We really like this place but we feel that we were a little ripped off by a staff member. We arrived impromptu around 4:30pm so it was very quiet. We went to the bar and ordered a bottle of “La Copa” house red which we’ve ordered numerous times before, usually we pay £20 but we were charged £22 by the manager. I believe this was because she directed us to a table so that a service charge of 10% could be added to the bill. We’ve just checked the website to see if the wine had gone up but it actually listed at £19 per bottle. So we feel a little disappointed as this was starting to become our go to retreat. As you can see from my original review at the bottom, we really like this place. Just a shame they feel the need to over charge their returning customers. 😕

Original review…. Had a lovely Sunday roast here late Sunday afternoon. Sankey’s is a great place for food and drinks, or just drinks. Friendly attentive bar staff and nice surroundings. Good Choice of wine and beers and reasonable prices. Great to see people...

First and last time I go here. I ordered king prawns and nachos- clearly spoken to the waitress, yet was given battered king prawns with a sauce. I thought the nachos were on their way or were forgotten. Asking if it came with nachos, the lady admitted she got it wrong, no sorry....so am I getting the nachos? Do you want the nachos she asks... I say yes of course.... because of this odd exchange I realise it was not a missing part- it was a different meal. Unbeknownst to me, she was asking if I wanted the original order after I'd eaten the wrong one!

We wait for the bill too long and then they can't find the card reader. I pay for mine separately and have to pay £17 for two tiny meals, one of which I didn't order. What should have been £7.50 turned into £17 for a small lunch, all because I was given the wrong meal. My friend paid for hers separately but then realised she was also paying for the tip for both of us included. Tip? For you picking up food from the kitchen and putting it at my table, and getting my order wrong? It was so expensive and atmosphere was dire because of the service. Never again. Their communication was bad and I shouldn't have had to pay for...