Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company

betcas

very rude staff! 17th August 2009

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This review is rather late, but some time ago my husband and I went in to get a coffee, quite early on a Saturday morning and will certainly NEVER be going back to this place.
I went in to buy two coffees, and was reluctantly served by a very rude blonde lady, who went to use a coffee machine, which she didn't fill with fresh coffee - she sniggered with her colleagues, thinking that I hadn't picked this up - having paid and then drinking the coffee, I realised that it was infact luke warm water, with a bit of milk - the lady had obviously not changed the coffee from the night before. I went back and spoke to another member of staff - he did actually taste the coffee himself and looked rather appalled. I just took a refund, because I was so disgusted with the staff behaviour.
All I can say is that this experience has put me off ever visiting the establishment again. I'm sure the food is very nice, but if you experience this kind of service when buying a coffee I dread to think what else goes on. I do hope that they have a frequent staff turnover, and that the staff I had the misfortune to be served by staff that morning, no longer work there.

whiterat

Poor Service 13th April 2009

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location was great, food was expensive and generally good. Liked the wine, but the service was was more suitable for a local amusement park, Better described as service with an attitude and not a clue.

beanstar

Expensive! 1st September 2008

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I would be not quite so damning as the last poster but agree with some points made.

This restaurant is in a beautiful setting in "trendy" Whitstable and promises a lot. The ambience inside is sometimes lively sometimes quiet - depends when you go!

The menu is written on a huge blackboard on the wall which is fine if your table is nearby but we usually sit too far away for me to read comfortably. It does mean they can refresh the menu without printing out menu cards but maybe a 2nd blackboard would help.

The food is pricey but this was a London-based restaurant and brought a lot of its clientele with it when it first opened, so they were used to paying the prices, I guess! We have never had a bad meal here but I do think the vegetables are over-priced. I cannot say I've ever left the restaurant hungry and have never been disappointed with the actual meal.

Service is a bit hit and miss. Sometimes we have had very attentive service, other times we have been fighting to get served or get anyone's attention. We have never experienced the table not being cleared but we usually have coffee after dessert so the bulk of our plates are gone already.

If you stay there late in winter, the room gradually feels colder. It can get too hot when the place is full. On a fine day, it's a lovely place to sit and stare.

calamitycaz

Overpriced fishy SLAP in the face :o( 2nd June 2008

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We had high hopes for this place – the setting and décor is beautifully rustic yet airy, in the old Oyster company premises right on the beach. We had a romantic treat in mind, despite it being a bit pricey, we are always happy to pay for good food and good service. Unfortunately this was not what transpired and we were sorely disappointed to the point of insult... The service was shoddy with an air of ignorance, pretentiousness and incompetence(people were paying their bills and leaving before the waitresses had even bothered to clear their tables). The food was HUGELY overpriced, and extremely disappointing. Small portions of average food, vegetables charged by the portion for an extra £3 each. (MESSAGE TO RESTUARANTEERS EVERYWHERE – HOW MUCH DO VEGETABLES COST, FOR HEAVENS SAKE??!!) It’s criminal. We had mussels to start (average, mean portion for £7). For mains we ordered the half lobster, which turned out to be a cold salad, with no sauce and served with a spoon of poorly made potato salad (sludgy rubbish potatoes - overcooked and tasteless). Fortunately we ordered fries (frozen cheap ones) and spinach (which was fine) to fill us up. It was all food we could have bought from the fish counter in Sainsburys and saved a fortune. It was really basic stuff. No cooking flair, not even any sauce or seasoning on the lobster. Shocking really. We decided to make a run for it. After waiting AGES for someone to come over so we could ask for the bill, they didn’t rush to clear the table. We were fuming. Then the bill came and was a slap in the face for what we had experienced - about £80 we hadn’t been there even an hour, it was HORRIBLE! Lesson learned, we’ll never eat there EVER again even if our worst enemy was paying for it!