Confit Duck Leg
The Crab at Bournemouth

The Crab at Bournemouth

Exeter RoadDorset BH2 5AJ, Bournemouth, United Kingdom

Kebab • Steak • Resort • Seafood


"This was part of our bed and breakfast of the Park Central hotel, to which I 've written a separate review. But I have to start by saying, I have no idea why it is attached to that hotel. I 4 star rated that hotel, and 2 star this, and even that I was being generous! the dinner on our first night started off very nice. We were seated quickly, drinks came relatively fast. As with all offers there is a separate set menu, we optioned to pay extra for the main menu as I wanted some good sea food! We started with oysters which where lovely, this and one factor at breakfast, gave it that second star, other wise it would have been a one star! Ordering off the main menu my husbands sea bass was quite nice as I had a little taste, my hake on a bed of risotto was awful!!! And I say awful because it was, the hake tasted like hake, no flavour or anything to recommend it by, the risotto was just terrible! I 'm not sure if the chef had just discovered saffron, but it was overpowering and just the worse!!! I filled up on the maybe 3 x 3 inch piece of Fish and veg and my husbands side salad! I could not bring myself to eat it, I 'm not a lets be polite and suck it up kind of diner I 'm a, I want good food, this is what I paid for kind of diner!! to add insult to injury, the waitress asks how our meal was, my husband raved about his sea bass, I went on to say my meal was not adequate, she went on to LOOK at me like I smeared it on my face, no apology, no replacement, not even an acknowledgement of the fact the meal was awful!! Wanna hear the SECOND insult to double injury?? I went to use their ladies facilities and saw a board with their specials! I would have easily opted for one of those, but was not given the opportunity or told about it! Unfortunate the picture I took of the specials board was burry due to maybe anger or frustration, or after a bottle of Prosecco just couldn 't hold the camera straight!! It took a while for our bill to come, and by this time I am already fuming at my first night here ruined by a horrid meal!! I kept getting louder to get a server to bring up our bill, and again I mentioned I was not happy with the meal, again to be TOTALLY ignored! If I was paying for the whole meal I would have complained to the manager, but as we only paid for the alcohol, oysters and balance of the meal, I let sleeping dogs lie as everyone else seemed to be having a good time in the restaurant! I did not want to be that guy . Now....breakfast!! I thought, surely they cannot screw this up!! Time for them to redeem themselves!!! Ohh how wrong I was! Instant coffee, awful! I was told there was a pot of filter coffee, it was just as bad, and horribly watered down! My husband said his tea was FISHY!! What the actuations heck?!?! Do you guys wash the water urn with the same spong as the fish board!?!?! That is disgusting!!! Two english breakfasts ordered, I had scrabbled eggs (the ONLY redeeming point at breakfast!! my husband had fried and awfully under cooked! No one wants runny eggs! The mushrooms clearly batched cooked, tomato, halved and lightly fired I hope you like partially raw tomato! Bacon, very generic, beans were beans, what else can you say? Maybe add some spices, a condiment or two?!?! I ended up eating my scrabbled eggs and bacon, but desperate to get some vegetables in my ate my mushrooms and beans under protest! And ended up filling up on pots of yoghurt! My husband spotted flies on the pasties on the open buffet where the tea urn was, so we stayed away from that! I know its a fish restaurant and flies are expected, doesn 't mean I want them doing the Charlston across my croissant!! Morning two, I opened for an omelette as that is crack some eggs and add the bits, I wish I took a pic as it was hilarious!! It looked like a egg pancake with bacon bits and mushrooms!!! Good heavens! Once again I filled on yohgurt and toast, which was freshly made thank goodness! I noticed there was specialist coffee available, lattes, mochacinno etc, I ordered two to get told those cost extra!!! OMG! What kind of Mickey Mouse, back garden, off the books kind of eatery you guys running here?!?! For Petes sake! Would I recommend this place, NO! Would I eat there if it was free? Clearly as I had no choice and was part of my stay, but if they offered me compensation for the poor service in the form of a free meal, I 'd say NO!!"

Lords of the Manor

Lords of the Manor

The Lords of the Manor Hotel Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire GL54 2JD, Oxford, UK, United Kingdom

Hotels • British • European • Vegetarian


"We had one of the most delicious dining experiences we have ever enjoyed. The chef, Charles Smith, is truly a cuisine genius. Everyone of the courses in the tasting menu was a trbute to his creativity and subtle mixture of ingredients. We could not believe his sophistication at the age of 29 and we wish him a wonderful future career. Separately I’d like to address the initial welcome and bar experience which was not pleasant. When you enter the front door there is no apparent reception area; there is no one to greet or guide you. No one asked for our name or what kind of dinner reservation we had made. We stumbled around a few narrow hallways guided by sounds of conversation until we found the bar. The solo bartender was harried and overwhelmed and bar seating area completely filled. We were told to walk down the hall to another lounge where we enjoyed our cocktails. This was shared with another couple who were dressed in sloppy jeans and tshirts while we were attired in jackets for the men and dresses for the ladies. This initial lack of welcome and hospitality typified both times we have eaten at LOM in 2017 and 2019. We would recommend that the 2 different dining experiences be separated physically from the beginning of the evening starting with the greeting, bar drinks, and continuing through dinner. The disconnect in hospitality and service should be easily addressed and improved."