To ask what is the worst restaurant you’ve eaten at in the uk

[Whereisthecoffee]

Inspired by another thread , tell me about the worst restaurants you have eaten at in the U.K.
thanks

Scottish Steak House, Piccadilly, London - wonderful view, horrid food. Fortunately closed down.

A Chinese buffet next to Sea Life, London - yuck! also, fortunately, closed down.

Went to a terrible place in the Isle of Wight once; horrible salty microwave food, they brought the wrong things, meat in veggie dish and cringy 'entertainment' (like bad karaoke). That's the only one I can think of that was terrible, lots have been bland but I can handle that with cheap chains. This place had good Tripadvisor reviews as well so you can't always rely on that. Everyone I've ever met who's been to a Jamies Italian has said it's terrible so I've avoided them. Frankie and Bennies is just overpriced and bland IMO, don't really get the appeal. I don't normally eat in chain places just cos I've always lived in cities where there are much better options available so don't see the point.

Oh just remembered afternoon tea at Patisserie Valerie, the plates and cutlery were all quite dirty which grossed me out a bit. Sandwiches quite dry also but I still ate. I find a lot of places put too much salt on stuff as well.

Relevant Records Café, Cambridge
HK Fusion, St John's St Cambridge
Ramsay's Heddon St Kitchen, London

A chinese elvis restaurant in Tooting. On a hen night we accidentally set the table on fire with our flaming sambucas. There were plastic glasses on there and the smoke was really noxious, and the heat fierce. I was a bit scared as I was trapped behind the fire on a banquette seat. They had no fire extinguisher so threw water and the ice buckets at the table. Elvis kept on crooning throughout.

bella italia in islington

*Fieldsofcabbages

I had the same. I’m sure it was a takeaway in Borehamwood !!! I was really looking forward to the paneer ( the best bit). I should of complained in hindsight.

Albrighton Garden Centre cafe. Enormous queues to buy food. The quiche I was given had pastry so hard I couldn't cut it. I complained and chose a jacket potato instead, which was raw. I wanted to complain again but my mother wouldn't let me and i didn't want to spoil her day.

Cafe Rouge in Bury St Edmunds....tiny portions....not cheap...had to stop at Burger King on the way home as the kids were still hungry !!!

Frankie and Benny's. Went with my friend and her 1 year old daughter They offered to bring friends DD food out 5 min before ours so she can get a head start on eating it. Her food came out, it was an hours before ours came. They insisted they hadn't forgot but obviously did

Of course by this time, a 1 year old being a 1 year old started to get bored and restless. Started crying and we had to walk her round the restaurant to try and tire her out a bit. No apology from the waitress and even managed to get part of our order wrong but we were in that much of a rush at this point we wolfed it down and got out asap. Never been back since

I am a good cook. I do begrudge paying for a meal that isn't as good as what we eat most nights.

Astonished by the number of posters who appear surprised that they were served sh*t food in chains. Surely that goes with the territory?

Of course it doesn't.

Plenty of independent places are bloody awful - but they tend to close quickly, so we are unlikely to concur on their famous crapness.

OTOH, some chains are good. I read your post thinking of Pizza Express as an example, searched the thread, and I find only one mention of it - and that's to praise it in comparison to somewhere else. Sure, it's only pizza, but it's generally tasty and well made with fresh ingredients.

I don't have the money to go to some of the more upmarket restaurant groups, but I read Jay Rayner because I like him, and he's very good at pointing out when big 'name' restaurants are actually little more than chains hiding behind clever marketing. Wouldn't bother me that they are, but clearly it'd be the end of the world to people who judge based on snobbery rather than enjoyment of the food!

I once ordered red mullet in a pub with a great reputation near Huntingdon somehwere. This was about 20 years ago. The place must have changed hands without us realising as I was offered up the whole fish, head, bones and all, smothered in a thick cheddar cheese sauce. It was revolting.
Can anyone link to the ‘best places to eat’ thread which I’ve clearly missed?

Pub in the new forest

Long time ago, team building day

My food was fine and im a fast eater so by the time the last oersons meal turned up i was finished

She had ordered spag bol and it was pretty much pasts and tomato sauce so we went in to complain. The young man behind the bar looking weirdly terrified and was looking at an older very angry woman who turned out to be the owner

We went back outside and within a few minutes a furious and very very drunk landlady came out, ripped the plates out if peoples hands....while they were still eating. Grabbing glasses, she tried grabbing mine but i had her by at least a foot and just held it out of her reach,..which seemed to infuriate her further. The terrified young man was trying to apologise and explain that she had 'issues' (my word not his)

She was swearing and threatening us and in the end we bolted for the cars

Quite a tumultuous night

I havent read the whole thread but if there is a similar story i apologise

Sould say that the person complaining was very polite and generally a lovely person so she wasnt rude or aggressive

No really a restaurant, but the Japanese chain Wasabi. Everything is over-packaged with no recycling facility and it’s not nice either. Been twice in recent months when with DD but have told her never again.

Not a massive fan of Prezzo or Strada. I have had pretty much inedible main courses in both places.

I do like Pizza Express, the best chain by miles.

TGI Fridays at Trafford centre. It took nearly 25 minutes to get a seat. Then 45 minutes for our food to come, which was cold. My medium rare steak was well done and grey. My OH burger was cold, and the bread was like old toast that crumbled apart in his mouth. He tomato was like paste. The chips were so salty they were inedible. The waitress offered 5% off the bill and got arsey when we told her we wouldn’t be paying for the meals at all.

@Serin Dylans? No way! I've only ever had amazing experiences there and have been there more times than I can count. Hopefully you guys just had a one off there!

Dh and I go to Prezzo quite often - we use Tesco club card vouchers, so it is a cheap treat - and our nearest one has never let us down, and the next nearest has been pretty reliable too - the only thing we’ve had that wasn’t nice was a risotto my mum ordered that was swimming in oil.

@bubblegumfactory
I'm not sure if this is the one mentioned but there's this www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3180340-to-ask-what-the-best-restaurant-in-the-uk-you-ve-eaten-at-is

In my case it was the Haunch of Venison in Salisbury. It was Mother's Day so they were busy but it wasn't very good and I'd never go back.

Oh and the motorway services which advertised home-made soup which had obviously come out of a tin. I can't remember which one it was except that it was on the M6 (not the services on the toll section).

TGI Friday in Leicester Square about 15 years ago was actually traumatising. We went for a 'works Xmas do', I had had a difficult split up with my long term boyfriend the week before.

The starter of potato skins was so over cooked when I put a fork in they pinged off the plate across the room. My main course was last to come out (most people had finished) and it was completely tasteless. How chicken, tomatoes and basil and mozarella can be tasteless is quite a feat

The cherry on the top of this compote of despair was the staff finding out it was my birthday that day so did the lights and singing which is my worst nightmare at the best of times and far too much to deal with after a recent dumping and a poor quality culinary experience (and the prospect of the rest of the night in Tiger Tiger )

Oh that’s a shame about Hutchesons especially as it’s far from cheap. We’ve been I think 3 times and the first two times food and service was lovely but the last time the food was still good but service was a bit meh and the tables were closer together. Not been back since.