Bob & Berts Wakefield — Restaurant in Wakefield

Have been excited for Bob and Berts to open in Wakefield. A few years ago I took friends over to Northern Ireland and we every day we visited the Portrush branch at least once.

Not been back to Norn Iron for a few years, so it's great to be able to get a wee taste of home in my adopted home 😃.

Came in on Saturday 30th September 2023, which I believe was the third day of opening.

Staff were friendly and were being overseen by staff from Northern Ireland, although there were a few teething issues with the local staff being unfamiliar with both the menu and till, and seemed a little out of their comfort zone. I'm confident these issues will be ironed out quickly and appreciate that it takes time to get staff up to speed.

I met a friend for breakfast, who had already wolfed down his Bob's Famous Fry by the time I arrived. However, he was waxing lyrical over the sausage and black pudding, so clearly enjoyed his meal.

I had a Bob's Filled Soda (they make their own Soda Bread on site), which was excellent. The egg was perfectly runny, with tasty sausage and bacon. Although I'd normally eat the sandwich in my hands, I used cutlery, as it was generously filled and too big for even me to get in my mouth!

I washed it down with two large flat whites and had a Raspberry Ruffle for pudding.

I've seen some of the reviews describing this as Costa on steroids.

In a way, I suppose it is, but to me it's more like Costa meets TGI Friday's. Why? It's a great coffee shop to rival the big chains, yet it also does a great selection of cooked breakfasts and main meals all day. So it's also a contender for chain restaurants (fast food or otherwise).

Is it as cheap as Costa.? No, but I don't think it should be. Bob and Berts is about great, friendly service, with a familiar yet subtly different selection of cakes and buns and sandwiches from many of the larger coffee chains. By comparison it is still a relatively small independent chain. With the wider range of food options, it makes a great venue for couples, family, friends or even solo eating.

So while it may be pricier than Costa etc, it's certainly value for money, wider choice of food and drinks, so can't be compared like for like.

I'll certainly be coming back as often as I'm able. All the best to Bob and Berts - I wish you all the success at your Wakefield store. It's...

First up and clear, staff were fine and friendly, no shots fired there. The venue itself is as generic and soulless as a chain can be, which again, is what you expect I guess?

The food.

Dear God, the food. I ordered a flat white coffee and an Eggs Benedict which came to 11.25 total (I think?) A tenner for breakfast is a lot when you think of the location and quality, emphasis on quality. I've had a lot of Eggs Benedict over this year, if you check my other reviews you'll see all the awesome places I've come across, Bob & Bert's though? Hands down the worst experience I've had food wise.

Eggs Benedict rocked in at £8.25. With this, my hopes were set on a golden yolked poached egg atop soft bread with creamy Hollandaise sauce. What I got were two eggs the size of roughly A £2 coin in diameter each, one which was over cooked and rock solid (basically hard boiled) and the other which was on the side of more cooked than you'd want, but still had a liquid yolk. The bread was what looked like one half of a muffin, cut in half, with an egg on each side (so a quarter of a muffin..?). Then the bacon, some over cooked and rock solid, some soft and spongy. There wasn't a single redeeming factor about the meal and I left as hungry as I came. You'd have been more full if you'd run to your local maccies and got a Mcmuffin, at least you get what you pay for there.

The coffee? Mid as can be. An overly milky, Luke warm flat white which was about as generic as it could come. It had very little coffee flavour and genuinely felt like a mini latte.

Would I return? Hell no, no value, no quality, no anything. I usually take photos of all my food to back up my reviews but I was so flabbergasted by the state that of everything that I spent more time talking to my friend about what we were experiencing than anything else.

She had chips and halloumi fries with a latte, something similar to £15-17? Just no.

Avoid. With places such as Throwback Coffee House on Northgate and Mocca Mooca offering finely made alternatives with fresh ingredients, it's hard to justify any reason you'd walk into Bob & Bert's except to avoid the weather or...

NOT EVEN ONE STAR. My fiancée and I decided to try Bob & Berts a couple of weeks ago, as it's new to Wakefield and we like to try different eateries. We both ordered food and a coffee. At the till, I asked if they accepted a blue light card, of which I was informed they offer a 20% discount on production of the card. The bill came to approximately £17 and I noticed only 25 pence had been taken from the total amount. I questioned it and I was informed sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It was obvious they hadn't applied the discount at the final stage, but I couldn't be bothered to argue, as it was obvious they didn't know what to do. Both meals were delivered approximately 10 minutes apart, meaning my fiancée had finished hers before mine. A third salad was then brought over, of which I said I hadn't ordered. I was informed I may have paid for it and the waitress took it away, but never returned to see if I had paid or not. (Extremely poor customer service) Whilst we were both sat, we watched the cook continually eat X2 breakfast sandwiches of type and then kept picking and eating chips from those being cooked for others. He dropped a food item on the side and then picked it up and placed it back onto somebody's plate. He never washed his hands once and considering the amount of times he had hand to mouth, it's only a matter of time before somebody becomes ill with food poisoning. I'm guessing there is no strong management in place to oversee all of this, as we only spent about 30 minutes in there in total and all we can say is, what a disgrace of an establishment. Our advice is...