Starling Cloud — Restaurant in Wales

A Night to Remember at The Starling Cloud

Last night, I had the pleasure of dining at The Starling Cloud, and I must say, it was an experience worth raving about. From the moment we walked in, we were greeted with a warm smile and exceptional service courtesy of David, our server. The ambiance was top-notch, with dimly lit chandeliers casting a warm glow over the entire restaurant, and the décor was sleek and modern, with a touch of elegance.

As we were led to our table, I couldn't help but notice the attention to detail in the surroundings. The walls were adorned with beautiful artwork, and the comfortable seating areas were tastefully arranged to create cozy nooks for relaxation. The overall atmosphere was calm and serene, making it the perfect spot for a night out with friends or a romantic evening.

But what truly made our experience stand out was David's service. He was attentive, knowledgeable, and friendly, taking the time to explain the menu and make recommendations. We ordered a few drinks to start, and David ensured that they were delivered promptly, along with a selection of delicious appetizers.

The drinks were expertly crafted, with unique flavor combinations that complemented the menu perfectly. I opted for the signature Starling Cloud cocktail, which was a delightful blend of sweet and tangy notes. The food was equally impressive, with each dish expertly prepared and presented. We shared a few plates, including the signature starling sliders and a delectable seafood platter, both of which were devoured in record time.

However, what truly impressed me was David's professionalism in the face of adversity. During our meal, a rather... let's say, "assertive" customer was seated nearby, and their behavior was, to put it mildly, appalling. They were loud, rude, and dismissive of the staff, and it was clear that David was doing his best to remain calm and composed.

Despite the challenging situation, David maintained his poise and continued to deliver exceptional service, never once letting the difficult customer's behavior affect his demeanor. He politely and professionally addressed their concerns, never rising to the bait or engaging in an argument. It was truly impressive to watch, and a testament to David's exceptional training and dedication to his craft.

When the customer began to berate David, questioning his competence and expertise, David remained unfazed, calmly and professionally addressing each concern and offering solutions. He never lost his cool, never raised his voice, and never once made the customer feel like they were anything other than valued patrons. It was a masterclass in customer service, and one that I won't soon forget.

In fact, David's handling of the situation was so impressive that it earned him a round of applause from several nearby tables, including ours. We were all in awe of his professionalism and dedication to providing exceptional service, even in the face of extreme rudeness.

As we finished our meal and prepared to leave, David checked in one last time to ensure that everything had met our expectations. We were more than satisfied, and I made sure to let David know just how impressed I was with his service. He smiled graciously and thanked us for our kind words, and we departed The Starling Cloud feeling like we'd experienced something truly special.

In short, David's service at The Starling Cloud was exceptional, and a shining example of what it means to provide top-notch customer care. Even in the face of adversity, he remained calm, professional, and dedicated to delivering an outstanding experience. If you're looking for a restaurant that truly understands the value of exceptional service, look no further than The Starling Cloud, and be sure to request David as your server. You won't be disappointed! 😊

Rating: 5/5 stars

Recommendation: Don't miss the signature Starling Cloud cocktail and the starling sliders – they're absolute must-try's! Also, be sure to request David as your server, and you'll be in...

I don't understand how this place has such great reviews. We stopped by today with 4 and the dogs on a late Sunday lunch unplanned visit where we had tried a few places and been turned away due to them being busy, this was our last option before heading home and cooking something up for ourselves- I wish we had just opted for this instead. We stood by the doorway waiting to be sat for much too long, to the point where we decided to sit ourselves. Only then did someone take note of us and direct us towards the area where dogs were allowed. I'm all for dog areas in restaurants but we were sat about as far away from anyone in the corner by the toilets on a wonky, decrepit table. The restaurant was freezing and we kept our coats on. We were given menus and were all starving so started making our decision as to what to eat. One of our party was Gluten Free, and we weren't asked about this or given any guidance to this at all at the start, on initial glance, it appeared that the menu had very limited options in this area. I tried to order online but it was very confusing as to what was available. Sunday roasts had stopped serving at 1430 hours which wasn't advertised earlier. We went to the bar to order instead and were very disappointed to be told now that half the menu wasn't actually available, there was no grilled options, no speciality pie options and several other dishes unavailable. At this point, we all had to make a new decision as to what we would like as everything we had chosen was not available. We wished that someone had told us this before we sat down, although we likely would have just left if that was the case. We made our orders and sat back down. It was at least 30 mins until our food arrived. When it did, the quality of the food was absolutely shocking. The hunters chicken was almost inedible, it was so thin even with the breadcrumbs, it was burnt around the edges, so dry, the very limited amount of BBQ sauce had clearly been microwaved onto the awful breaded thin chicken. The lettuce was brown and wilting. The chips on all our plates were cold, and the skin on fries had black off potato bits in them. The mash that came with the pie was not even a full potato portion and was awful quality, likely also microwaved. The whole experience was not pleasant at all and extremely overpriced for what it was. Not once did anyone come and ask us how our food was and we had waited so long and paid so much, that we decided to eat what we could of it. The lady at the till was sweet and regrettable about the limited menu on ordering. And we did not wish to complain to her, as we had already seen another customer kicking off just prior to ordering and making quite a scene with her. So we decided to just leave without saying goodbye. Honestly would warn anyone about going here, it was one of the worst "restaurant" experiences I...

Whilst the food was excellent, the service was horrendous. It's worth noting that the FOH staff were very polite and apologetic throughout, I suspect the majority of issues come from the kitchen. For context we booked a Friday evening at 7:30pm. It started by the maitre dee being unable to find the online reservation despite us having email confirmation, fortunately it was quiet and there were plenty of available tables (bare this is mind). We sat down as a table of seven to be told there was "at least a 45 minute wait" on food because they were "absolutely slammed" despite the absence of clientele? Not a problem, we had no other plans for the evening and weren't pushed for time so we thought we'd have a few drinks before food. When ordering drinks they had run out of most of their beers and ciders on tap and didn't have all the ingredients for half the cocktails, it then took 20 minutes to pour 3 pints, make 2 mojitos, a rum and coke and a J2O.... Again not a massive issue as we were happy to chat amongst ourselves. Then came the debacle of the food: they had run out of 3 of the 7 starter options, and somehow still managed to bring us 5 out of 7 correctly, the 6th starter was something we didn't even order and the 7th was forgotten about entirely! A similar story with the mains: ordered 1 chicken and 1 beef burger but got 2 x beef burgers instead, they were out of a number of people's 1st choice item and it was well over 1hr30mins between when we ordered and when the final plate of food arrived. That being said the food itself was truly excellent, well cooked, well seasoned and well presented, if a bit on the small side in terms of portion sizes (considering the cost), but definitely not worth waiting over an hour for in a basically empty pub. In the spirit of fair play I should also mention that they did discount 30% off the total bill (including drinks) by way of apology.

This is not the first poor experience we've had individually either, almost every member of our party has had similar or worse experiences in the past and I have given this place the benefit of the doubt many times (having worked in the industry myself for several years) but this particular evening was bad enough that's it's caused me to leave only my 3rd ever...