BWYD Da Bangor Limited — Restaurant in Wales

I wanted to like this cafe; I like the idea of the box scheme, the deli, the music space. Just went for lunch with my partner, I asked for the cheese and onion chutney panini. They brought what looked like a different panini, I asked "is the cheese and onion one" and was told yes. I started eating it: it wasn't. Meanwhile my partner's burger was burnt. No one came to ask if our food was ok, I think the guy who served us had gone for his break. Another waitress came to clear tables after a little while, we got her attention and told her the problems with the food. She said she'd get the manager. After another little while, the manager came and was very nice and said she'd bring the sandwich I actually ordered and would get my partner something else.

I ate mine, partner was still disappointed with his and didn't eat any of it. We thought someone might come to check on us, they didn't. Eventually we got up, and were hastily grabbed by a staff member and told we had to pay (he'd just been hanging around by the till for a while by then and could have come over to take payment/ask us if the food was ok, which you think he'd do if it's meant to be table service, especially as there was one other customer sitting at the time 🤷).

We were told we had to pay for the quarter-eaten burger, which was considerably more expensive than the completely-uneaten panini my partner got as a replacement. We were told the burger was "meant to be like that", that the replacement panini was "absolutely fine", nothing wrong with it, and that they "couldn't just give away free food", although my partner basically still hasn't eaten lunch.

Again, I wanted to like this place. If you're going to to table service you have to actually DO table service though, and you can't try to charge someone for an expensive item that you then substituted a cheaper...

I genuinely can't understand why this place has good reviews. This was one of the single worst restaurant experiences of my life.

I ordered a burger, my wife ordered a sandwich. They brought her the wrong sandwich and my burger was disgusting and burnt and dry. I had two bites and couldn't eat any more, so we asked for something different. When I explained that the burger was dry and burned and gross, I was told it was supposed to be like that. If that's true, that's worse, as it was absolutely awful. It seemed to me that they'd been aiming for a little char and ended up making straight charcoal instead.

The manager then brought my wife the correct sandwich and for me, an Italian panini that wasn't burned but was also gross to the point that I could not eat it.

We were told it was table service, so we waited 20 minutes for anyone to come over so I could explain that I wasn't able to eat the sandwich either. Nobody ever came.

When we finally went to pay, they told me that I had to pay for the burned burger because they'd given me a free sandwich and they "can't just go around giving out loads of free food."

I explained to the manager that I hadn't been able to eat either item, and that I'd happily pay for my wife's sandwich and our drinks, but that it made no sense for me to pay for food that was inedible.

The manager said I still had to pay for the burger, as I'd eaten half of it and then they provided a replacement.

I've never had an experience like this in a restaurant in my life.

Maybe they treat regulars different from new people, but we were eager to come back here and try the food. This was very disappointing.

Do yourself a favor. If you're in Bangor and you want a sandwich, go literally anywhere else. Go to Subway. You'll have...

An update on my last review below: 12DEC... Dropped in for a Sunday lunch at Bwyd Da after a cold and wet Remembrance Service. Needed a warm welcome and good food. We got both, in spades today. A limited menu but better that and get piping hot, excellent food. The Boss had tomato soup with cheese on toast with lamb for main. I chose spicy squid followed by sirloin beef (choice of rare or well done). All courses gave quality, quantity and taste. So much soup and chicken that we asked for it to be boxed up for later, which was willingly provided.

Attentive and friendly service (thanks Brad 😁) and a nice vibe. Chefs working hard and a steady flow of customers.

The cost for all food and couple drinks was a reasonable at under 50 quid. 5 Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Last review about 4 months ago: This is on our regular list. Decent food at decent prices. Nice, efficient staff. Clean premises, good location in Bangor town centre. You can go to the rear for a sit down meal or front of house for a...