Rib and Oyster — Restaurant in Wales

We ate out several times in the local area in December and I am genuinely sad to say that this was the priciest and also the most disappointing meal for us.

We ordered two scallop starters with black pudding and a cauliflower puree, as well as a gravadlax starter with a beetroot/clementine puree. The two scallop starters arrived together, and they were OK, but sadly nothing special for the price.The cauliflower puree was barely warm, the scallops were just warm but certainly not pan fried to a lovely golden colour as they should be. The black pudding did not have a lot of flavour and again, was just warm. It was ok, not amazing. One of our party waited quite a while for the gravadlax starter and found it to be excessively acidic, to the point of being almost unpleasant to eat.

We ordered two steak mains and a fried monkfish main. The steaks were £29 each and the pepper sauce was an additional £4 for each steak. We really don't object to paying a higher price for good quality food, but the pepper sauce was so poor in quality that we half suspected that the chef had simply added peppercorns to milk or perhaps single cream at best. It was so thin, porcelain-white and watery that it didn't cling to anything at all, not even a chip. It tasted of nothing but a hint of pepper, there were no other flavours, it wasn't a "sauce" at all.

Then there was the luke-warm mushroom and caramelised onion "compote" served on the side of the steak. This could be a matter of personal opinion but I'm sorry to say, but this was rather unpleasant indeed, for all of us, and we all tried it. It tasted of mushrooms simply boiled/heated with a caramelised onion chutney and the mouth-feel, the slimy texture and taste of it were not very nice at all. It was just...wrong...You can't go wrong with a few simple pan fried mushrooms in delicious garlic...

On top of the steak, there were some very overdone onion rings and in contrast, a side of chips which were rather pale -they could have done with slightly longer in the fryer- but at least they were cooked and they were hot. The steak itself was ok, it didn't seem to have a lot of seasoning or additional flavour, so the decent components of the meal were basically steak, chips and a tomato for us.

Despite this negative review, there were some positives to our dining experience. Despite arriving a while after the steak mains, the monkfish main was tasty and the fish was nicely cooked. The wine was very nice and reasonably priced. The service was kind and friendly throughout.

However, many aspects of the food were simply not good/hot or flavoursome enough to justify the high prices. Some of the flavour combinations were really wrong, and some of the food lacked flavour. The meals did not arrive at the table at the same time. When you pay these prices you do expect to be impressed.

Perhaps this was an off-day for the chef, but we were disappointed...

*I DO NOT RECOMMEND. THE PAGE WILL ONLY ALLOW POSTS THAT RECOMMEND THIS VENUE 🤔🤔 We ate on 10th January 2024. We ordered the platter. It took quite a while to arrive which I didn't mind as I knew there a lot of elements within the dish. The chips arrived which were lovely & hot/fresh. The main arrived & a short while later a bowl with a liquid with which Initially I thought was the Blue Cheese sauce to accompany the steak.

I started with the mussels which were nice. Warm but not hot. I then moved onto the Lobster which was cold. The Steak was medium rare which I appreciate will not be hot but this was also cold. I was determined to enjoy the meal as my daughter booked & was paying however the Cod was also cold & the skin very unpleasant. I looked at the sauce as I thought if it was hot I could pour it into the dish however on looking it was a Yellow clear mixture with slices of Lemon which I believe was to pour over the Cod. This was not pleasant & again was cold. I finished my drink before starting the meal & put my glass to the end of the table & despite the staff going passed & talking with othet diners one of whom also had a birthday we were not asked if we wanted another drink for the whole time we were there. The was another lady who also had a birthday was chatted to & she also had a little surprise with a candle in it brought out to her. I didn't expect any of this but to be asked if I wanted another drink would have been nice. We never received the Blue Cheese Sauce even though we were charged for it. I was so upset I just wanted to leave & to try & make the best of what was left of the day . I am bitterly disappointed in my dining experience as well as the service. The restaurant wasn't full & some had already dined prior to our arrival so I do not think this would have impacted on the chef. I cannot recommend the restaurant & will never return which is a real shame. The meal cost in excess of £130. I did message the owner prior to the review to advise him. I was told he would get back in contact which...

FIRSTLY THIS IS A* 0 STAR REVIEW BUT HAD TO PRESS 1STAR OTHERWISE UNABLE TO POST! *BE AWARE Avoid at all costs. Ordered fish and meat for delivery. Upon opening the bag it reeked of fish very unfresh. The offending items were meant to be fishcakes. I have never smelt anything so offensive on opening the bag they were nothing but grey mush. Rancid. I was shocked these had been placed in the same bag as my meat order. Firstly over £99 of meat was missing and what we did receive was not edible. I reported this immediately to Gavin who did not care less. We ordered a chicken crown which looked like giblets and smelt worse hideous. Nothing like it looks like in the shop. I have never dealt with such people they will not accept my order was disgusting they are especially the wife very defensive. Quick enough to complain when people are not happy. Having got nowhere I contacted the bank as I had not received what I expected after initially refunding myself they said Visa Dispute do not deal with dangerous food quality and said trading standards will need to get involved. Having been told 3 weeks ago he'd sort it out I'm still being ignored. His reply was he's a small business. There will be no business if you steal money for non existent items. This has left a nasty taste in my mouth pardon the pun £190 for nothing totally feel robbed . Do not be fooled by the hype I'm fussy yes but honestly missing items aside nothing was edible. My husband has cancer no way should food like this be for sale. I'm now taking the rip off oyster to court because people need to realise you can not treat paying customers like this. Watch...