Sarah's review of Seafood Restaurant

I don't think I've ever been so let down by a restaurant before. We travelled down to Padstow from London especially for our booking at the Seafood Restaurant which was made 3 months ago as I'm sure quite a few of their other diners do. Our booking was quite late at 10pm – we phoned ahead to ask if we could arrive early for drinks & were told not to arrive more than 15 minutes before our booking.

Because of this warning, we arrived at 10pm & we were seated in the conservatory for drinks & our order was taken. We got to our table at 10.30pm & waited for another 30 minutes for our starters – which were lovely (turbot cheeks & tuna). The manager apologised for the late arrival of the starter & offered a discount for the meal. However, rather than keeping an eye on the food to our table, we were forgotten again!! This time our main course took nearly 45 minutes after our starters were cleared…AND were wrong when they arrived! We sent them back to the kitchen & given it was now nearly midnight, we felt it was too late to wait for the correct food & then eat given the time it had taken for our other dishes. So we went all the way to Padstow for starters!! In the whole it cost us, £100 in fuel then £250 for our hotel room, plus we took half a day’s holiday on Friday – all that just to eat starters.

To top off this disappointing experience, after informing the staff of a food allergy I have to shellfish, I woke-up at 6.30am with a reaction to the food. I'll spare you the details about it, but it wasn't pleasant. I've never had this reaction at any other fish restaurant that I've been to as I always inform them, in case the stock they are using contains the offending shellfish. I did taste the other starter so perhaps that’s what caused it but I would’ve expected to be informed about any dishes that contained a food that any of the diners on my table were allergic to.

It was a special treat for us to celebrate our birthdays earlier this year which we do every year – last year going to Gordon Ramsey at Claridges which was lovely. I wouldn't recommend going all the way to Padstow given my experience as it isn’t worth the risk when there are so many outstanding restaurants closer to home for many people wherever you are in the UK.

Next time we'll be popping to J Sheekey instead! A very lovely fish restaurant in London.

We're writing to the restaurant about our experience too so I'll share the outcome for anyone interested.