Belfast
Graze

Graze

Unit 8 Library Court, 404 Upper Newtownards Road, BT4 3, Belfast, United Kingdom

Steak • Irish • Western • European


"At Graze on 6 Oct evening , with a friend belated birthday treat restaurant looked great, nice atmosphere, lovely menu. Impressed with the breads and tapenade, starters were also very nice beef noodles and monk fish special , then the problems start…we waited ages between finishing our starter and main, which wasn’t great but ok as we were happy to catch up over our bottle of wine £26 . The mains then arrived 1x monkfish and 1x 10 oz fillet steak special £35 most expensive item on the food menu . I had ordered it medium rare and it arrived medium well. I stopped the senior server/hostess next time she passed by who I understand is part owner along with the chef and explained my steak wasn’t cooked as ordered she apologised and took it away. She then came back to the table and said it would be about a 5 min wait so she would top up my glass of wine, but then didn’t top up my friend’s we both felt this was very rude, as my friend was sitting with her meal and expected to eat it whilst I sat there with no food due to their mistake. During the wait well over 5 mins , I overheard a gentleman speaking to the hostess about their bill and that he also had to send food back her response ‘I can only tell you what the chef tells me’ her tone was far from what I’d expect when speaking to a disappointed customer. By the time the new steak arrived, we had finished our bottle of wine and the Parmesan chips we had ordered as a side £5/5.50 to share were cold. The steak was not like any fillet I’ve ever seen before nor the earlier fillet …. I’m not sure what cut it actually was but definitely not a fillet. I queried this with the hostess and was told abruptly it is, it’s just a bigger fillet. I mentioned that I felt it was really quite rude to fill my glass earlier without considering that my friend was having to eat her dinner alone and the hostess then snapped at me ‘so you want more wine then’. She poured some wine into my friend’s glass and what could only be described as a dribble into mine clearly trying to make a point. Unfortunately the steak looked totally unappealing but as I was really hungry by this point, I ate half of it. We weren’t in the mood to order desserts. The bill arrived £129 pre service charge no discount offered as gesture of good will. We spoke to another server who brought the bill and explained we really couldn’t justify paying the service charge given all the issues and how disappointed I had been with my steak both times, but if they could consider taking something off the bill we suggested the 2 cocktails £19 , we would be more than happy to pay the service charge on the full amount of the first bill. The server came back a few minutes later to say her supervisor the hostess, part owner wouldn’t agree as she’d already topped up our wine. Things go wrong, it happens but it’s how it’s made right and how you are made to feel. We were left very disappointed and this was honestly the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. Hope you have better experience than we did!"

Bistro Este

Bistro Este

221 Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, United Kingdom

Soup • Fish • Meat • Bistro


"Been going here since it opened and always felt it well priced, imaginative food and good ingredients. Last night it could only claim to be one of the three. The flavour of the scallops in my starter was killed stone dead by the spicyness of...the XO sauce which was good in itself, but the scallops belonged nowhere near it. My main of fish cakes and prawns was a disaster due to the poor quality of the ingredients. My hake a grey colour and mushy, not the firm white glistening piece of fish I would expect for a dish. The prawns also soft and mushy, clearly not fresh. The fish cakes were in fact potato croquettes fish in these was nonexistent. My dining partners dish of lamb was dry and as a slo cooked piece of meat one would expect the opposite. I suspect not freshly made for it to eventually dry out like that. His gnocchi hard from being re heated and fried, the element of mint was there but fading. Service was average as our table piled up with empty glasses and an empty water bottle I had to pile them to the side to make it obvious. White and rose wines are chilled to death. Its a rather annoying trait that they swirl ice in each glass to make it cold then pour refrigerated wine into it. A Viognier I ordered was barely recognisable. The rose I suspect oxidised by living a long lonely life in the fridge. It was drinkable though. Trip advisor need to update prices here. Starters are and mains start at for chicken and for veggie option but most with fish and chips Gone is the early bird menu."