abarbistro Reviews Summary

Service

Pros:

• "Service was faultless. Especially as they took care of use after being let down by the spice island."
• "the staff were lovely, attentive, cheerful and professional"
• "Service is fantastic here and Kira whom took care of us in particular is fantastic and got this restaurant an extra star."
• "Service is friendly and attentive - we've been back two or three times now."
• "The service was excellent as ever; all overseen by the ever attentive and proffesional James."
• "staff are amazing, every one of them super friendly and nothing is too much hassle"
• "The staff very friendly and service was excellent."

Cons:

• "Getting attitude by one of the waiting staff was the cherry on the cake"
• "The service was friendly but inattentive as we had to keep asking for things and overall the service was slow."
• "The standard of service was shocking for a restaurant with aspirations"
• "Service was slow, though friendly"
• "The waiting staff don't appear to communicate with the bar or the kitchen staff and the result is shoddy service, very late over cooked food."
• "Service was poor. Waited too long. Paid and she forgotten bring back the change."
• "the service was slightly slow"

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The food is top notch."
• "All food starters sides mains absolutely top food a credit to the chefs."
• "Best Haddock and Chips I've had in years!"
• "The fish was perfectly cooked and it tasted lovely."
• "Superb seafood"
• "Both myself and partner's food (starter & main) was mouth watering."
• "The mussels were very tender and of a decent size."

Cons:

• "The food was bland in that the moules tasted overly fishy and the pork was over cooked."
• "Fish and chips were tasteless and other dishes were disappointing."
• "Disappointed with food, very average, no garnish with fish burger and not that tasty £14."
• "The Caesar salad was a bit bland."
• "Poor availability of vegetarian menu items for my wife and what was available lacked any sophistication."
• "The beef was inedible and the Yorkshire puddings flat, cold and tough"
• "Dessert and pizza were a big disappointment."

Atmosphere

Pros:

• "We had a lovely evening."
• "Really relaxed atmosphere, immediately felt comfortable and welcome"
• "The atmosphere was great too."
• "Great atmosphere."
• "Place was buzzing and in a good way."
• "really pleasant ambience and setting"
• "There's a wonderful ambiance there with romantic lighting."

Cons:

• "The vibe and atmosphere has changed too."
• "I don't liked atmosphere. There are just pensioners."
• "The outside area is noting attractive, so there's no much atmosphere I could have experienced."
• "Unfortunately there were one or two individuals who had no respect for other customers and were very loud"
• "The restaurant is a bit cramped with the maximum amount of tables which makes it really noisy."
• "It’s not a happy experience overall I don’t think I felt comfortable sometimes when communicating with the staff."
• "Only drawback is a) finding it in this corner of Portsmouth... then b)parking which adds £3.50 to the cost."

Cleanliness

Pros:

• "The cutlery is the cleanest I've seen in a restaurant!"

Cons:

• "The table was sticky and we had ask for it to be cleaned as the wine and water glasses stuck to the table whenever you put them down."
• "It wasn't particularly clean in the toilets either and the tables were sticky."
• "Asking for new ones was ignored and not replaced"

Value

Pros:

• "Beautiful price."
• "Excellent, food, wine & exceptional service at a reasonable price."
• "Top quality and tasty food+ beautiful price."
• "Delicious, high-quality and reasonably priced"
• "Great selection of wines and the specials and mains were both fantastic for what felt like a very reasonable price."
• "Food here was beautiful and reasonably priced too."
• "found it very reasonable considering they are the only place for a distance"

Cons:

• "Dessert was a bit tiny for the price as was the starter."
• "Nice service but food overpriced for what it is."
• "Result pricey for what you get, not that amazing at all."
• "Although the food was very good I thought it was a little overpriced for what it was"
• "The chocolate and rum delice was small for the price"
• "Price wise this place is comparable to some restaurants in Gunwharf Quays."
• "Certainly, their price is in proportion to the price."