Bistro 8 — Restaurant in Wales

My mum treated me to afternoon tea yesterday for my birthday, and sadly, we didn't enjoy our experience. While I understand that they're in a "trial phase", they've been offering this since March so I'd expect them to get things right by now. The food itself was fine but the "rustic" approach just wasn't for us. What surprised me most was Ryan’s response to our feedback. Rather than handling it constructively, he was defensive and dismissive towards my mum, who has been a loyal customer. He even ended his response with, “We appreciate your past custom, but it’s clear Bistro 8 is no longer the right fit for you — and that’s okay.”  That kind of tone feels condescending and shows little interest in genuine customer care. He also claimed they’ve had no negative reviews of their afternoon tea, yet I couldn’t find any positive ones either, which I found a bit telling. We understand Bistro 8 aims to be modern, but basic customer service should never be optional. If I could offer my advice, it would be to stop using chatgpt to respond to customers. We won't be returning.

Edit: in response of the owner's comment: Thanks for your reply, though it’s disappointing to see the same defensive tone. I do appreciate you responding as it highlights exactly what I was talking about regarding how feedback is handled. Just to set the record straight - we didn’t "demand" a refund, we gave honest feedback, which any paying customer is entitled to do. Advertising it as a "traditional afternoon tea" when it clearly isn’t is misleading. If it’s just sandwiches and cakes on a board, then call it that, there's nothing "rustic" about it, you don't offer teas so no need to pretend it’s something it’s not. It’s also not about "liking the facts", it’s about how you handle criticism. Negative feedback is just as important, if not more so, than positive feedback. Dismissing it like this will only hurt your business in the long run. Good luck with everything, and I hope you rethink how you engage with feedback...

📌 Wayne's Eats - Local Food Blogger for South Wales (Instagram/Facebook Review)

Are you ready for this hidden gem in Blackwood, Caerphilly? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

📍@bistro8blackwood

I say hidden gem lightly as the people of Philly know this place all too well and it's a trusted favourite with the locals and it's easy to see why!

Now I don't tend to find myself in Caerphilly very often but I think that might be about to change 😏

➡️ Today's Menu:

🍗 Korean Sticky Chicken

With Sesame Seeds, Spring Onions, Chilli & Pink Onions.

🦆 Oriental Duck Croquettes

With Hoisin Mayo, Spring Onion, Coriander & Cucumber.

🥖 Famous Garlic & Cheese Loaf

🥧 Chicken & Leek Pie

Served With Buttery Mashed Potato, Seasonal Vegetables & Rich Homemade Gravy.

🍔 Korean Chicken Burger

Panko Chicken Fillets, Monterey Jack, Tangy Korean Barbeque Sauce, Chilli, Spring Onions & Pink Onions In A Seeded Brioche Bun With Triple Cooked Chips & House Slaw.

🍮 Lotus Biscoff Cheesecake

🍫 Chocolate Fudge Cake

🍽️ Review:

This is now my official go to place when I'm in the area, seriously impressed with the quality of food and the level of service 👏

Everything we ordered, I mean everything was bloody incredible!

The Duck Croquettes were lovely, The garlic loaf was just insane (huge portions) and very cheesy and garlicy. The Korean Sticky Chicken though was the favourite, it was so good it convinced me to go for the Korean Chicken Burger. Very spicy and just quite simply delicious.

In terms of our mains as I said the Korean Chicken Burger was unreal and even spicier than the starter. My eyes were watering a little 😅

It was just so flavorsome though, the chicken and leek pie was lovely too. Very rich luscious gravy and the mash was very tasty too, nicely seasoned.

Dessert wise, the chocolate fudge cake was great but it was all about the biscoff cheesecake. This was amazing!

Needless to say I highly recommend you pay this place a...

A disappointing visit. The positives - the food was lovely and portion size generous. The negatives - We had booked a table with room for a pram 3 weeks in advance and upon arrival were told we were seated upstairs and would have to carry the pram up which is far from ideal. I questioned whether they could see the request on the booking to which the waitress said yes but if I had turned up to my booking on time then I might have had a table downstairs. Please note, I was 8 minutes late due to there being a rugby event on and the car park completely full so we had to park quite far away and walk down. I informed the waitress that I had indeed tried to call as well to notify them we were a few minutes behind but there was no answer to which she ignored. Worth noting, my other family members had already been seated before us on time and therefore us being late was irrelevant. Apparently a male staff member offered to carry the pram up for them even though they did not have one. We were not offered the same. When food arrived, there was a large female hair on the food covered in gravy. I had already plated other times on at this point and sent the plate back which the waitress happily changed but did not replace the vegetables until I asked. We ordered dessert which one item came with plastic wrapping still on the plate (the carrot cake). It took around 45 minutes after we finished our mains to be offered a dessert menu and upon ordering our desserts we were informed we had to return the table in ten minutes which made us feel rushed when the service was a little slow. There was no discount offered , no apologies, no resolutions with the pram and seating issue. The staff were all very young and did not offer great customer service so this does taint the experience. A shame as the food was enjoyable but I would not visit again due to the few issues...