Cockleshell in Swansea

The food was amazing, unlike any cooked dinner I've ever had. Having unlimited vegetables and re-fillable drinks is lovely, the staff were super punctual and friendly and the atmosphere was really nice. I would definitely go again. (Raffle number: 62)

Amazing service the staff are awesome they go above and beyond for the customers always willing to help and support if you need it I would recommend the tobay any day raffle ticket 26

Brilliant food and it's even better when they give you 50% off every so often

Lovely food .Helpful staff.High speed WI FI.plenty of cars park

Lovely experience every time we visited

Ticket 51: great meal at the Toby carvery in Gorseinon, Swansea.

Lovely place, food is always gorgeous, good selection on the carvery. Staff are always friendly and accommodating. Raffle: 113

Food- fantastic, hot and plenty of it Atmosphere- again fantastic, not crowded and relaxing. Staff- fabulous! They know us, always have a little chat, nice and respectful. We love going every week ♥️ Ticket - 34

Tasty food, plenty of it. Good choice of vegetables.

Lovely, great service, Lamb was especially tasty. Ticket Number 111

This is a standard carvery chain. I enjoyed going here. It was during the week, and surprisingly quiet. The food was what I expected - good but nothing special. Atmosphere was nice because it was quiet, and I would not come here if it were busy. As it is, will visit again.

There is a good atmosphere in the restaurant and the carvery was superb.

Over booked , had to cue to get in , cue extra long for food , beef was so bad couldn’t cut it or chew it !!!! Then had to wait 15 minutes to pay for bill after asking to pay our bill Toby is such a lovely place for food but tonight it wasn’t and I was so disappointed It was like they couldn’t careless about there usual standards but only about the money they were making by being we’ll over booked

We received a nice welcome, all the staff were wonderful - well presented, polite, helpful and patient. The carvery lunch was perfect and we were delighted with the experience. We were disappointed that there was no cranberry sauce but a minor hitch.

This place is amazing. It was quite busy but I didn’t mind as it was an amazing carvery. You can’t go wrong with a Toby Carvery. Amazing food and quick service as well

Severed by Georgia amazing service fab food what else could you want

The food here was lovely as usual. The waitress Georgia was very helpful and polite. The atmosphere was excellent

Fantastic food , great service highly recommended

Booked for 6:40, turned up to find a queue out the door that was for people who had booked and people who hadn't. No tables had actually been reserved despite booking. I have had good experiences at a Toby Carvery before (hence the 2*), but I wasn't prepared to wait at least 20 mins outside to get sat at a table that hadn't been reserved for the time requested. Luckily there are plenty of pubs around that serve food. I'm sure this would've been fine if they had reserved a table. (Side note, I did hear a few people leaving after having eaten there, and most seemed to be complaining about the lack of food)

Really good example of Toby Carvery

Waited by the front door in this cold weather with my elderly parents for over 10 minutes waiting to be seated, the most measly slice of turkey you’ve ever seen, dried out roast potatoes which my mother couldn’t cut never mind eat, an empty gravy bucket,never again

Needs to be decorated to a higher standard in my opinion and the queueing system to get your carvery is terrible!!

Firstly it wasn’t actually that busy on our arrival a small queue of 4 people for carvery at 5pm..The roast potatoes were extremely overcooked and I’m all for brown and crispy as long as you can cut them,some of these were black,roast parsnips were actually black so asked if they had any more was told yes,after waiting a good 5 minutes and had asked three people was told won’t be ready for half an hour, it’s a carvery be more organised.Asked for my food to be reheated as was left standing waiting for parsnips,food came back with 3 hairs on the plate, spoke to manager and said it’s an open serving area so could be anybody’s hairs! Replaced my meal..Gravy area was dirty didn’t look liked it had been wiped from spills all day,no excuse for that really it takes 2 minutes,people were also waiting for gravy to be replaced,very unorganised.usually go to Carmarthen and never encounter these issues,won’t be returning

Always such a friendly place. Meats and veg are always on top form. Love coming here. Best around

What an absolute shambles! Far too many people booked and still allowing others in. Waited 20-30 minutes to be seated (we were booked in at 3pm). Queue for the carvery had around 40-50 people in it and was about an hour wait in this queue. After this we cancelled our order and walked out. And we were followed by a few other people who also walked out. Need to sort out your booking system and not over book yourself! Won't be returning

The long line at the carvery seems longer every Sunday

Top notch carvery, great food!!!

I have just walked out of the cockleshell, very disappointed!. I went up to the carvery, ..... the meat was the last dregs of what looked like yesterday's leftovers. This was at 12:30 on the 2nd of Jan. There were very little vegetables, . So, politely I asked the young chef if he was putting fresh meat out. The response was ..... no sorry. There is no more beef and once it s finished I'll be putting out lamb!!!!!. Toby, you really need to get things sorted. Very very disappointed indeed.

Fantastic breakfast with enormous yorkshires! The sausages were flavoursome and fluffy scrambled eggs on request. Compliments to the chef!

Best place to go for carvery in swansea

Nice place, nice food, very friendly and helpful staff.....

The food was absolutely delicious, and the restaurant had been decorated beautifully for Christmas. There was a bit of a wait before we could get the food as a large takeaway order was ordered after we arrived. Around 45 mins after we'd arrived we were told we could go up and get food. The gluten-free gravy was a little low and someone said they'd get more so I waited by the condiments. I waited a little while and there was no sign of anyone coming so I asked a passing server and she said she'd bring it to the table. After waiting for the takeaway order and then queuing for a little while I was really hungry at this point. There was no sign of the gravy so I started eating and asked another passing server who said they'd bring it to the table. I waited for a while but no-one was coming so I went back to the condiments and saw that the gluten-free gravy had been topped up. There was a queue and my food was getting cold so I went back to sit. I gave up waiting and started eating my meal. By the time the gravy arrived I'd almost finished. I know it was a busy day, especially with the large takeaway order prior, but there needs to be better organisation or communication or something if you have to ask three different people for gravy, and you've almost finished your food before it arrives. I love coming to Toby Carvery, and this is not meant to be a negative review, just raising awareness of what happened on my visit.

Really nice had our own space which was nice

Great food, nice staff. Family friendly

4 of us had a carvery lunch yesterday. So much to choose from. Lots of veg and 4 choices of meat. Beautiful. And plentiful. Will definitely be returning. Served by Emily ticket 511

Only have 3 stars for atmosphere as there was a cold draft coming from under the windowsill. This was reported at the end of our meal

A lot of the tables hadn't been cleared away when we visited. Not enough staff to cater for the amount of people who came on a Saturday morning. Food was ok, kept running out of fried eggs. The outside facade looked a bit tired (uninviting), some of the window frames were rotten at the bottom.

Meat cuts to thin mun turkey beef pork gammon very tasty but I like thick slices of meat mun..thank you Fat Mike

Good value for money. Love roast potatoes and parsnips. Meet good quality

Always a warm welcome when we arrive at The cockleshell.. love the carvery. A family favourite always

The waitress was amazing and so friendly. The veg was lovely but the beef my wife had was very , very chewy and fatty.

It was my first time at a Toby Carvery and I was really impressed. I was happy about everything - except for the cauliflower. That was overcooked and mushy. But I'm a really picky person, so for that to be my only complaint is exceptional.

Fantastic children loved meeting santander.

Food was as you expect from a Toby, the queue was the longest I have experienced in 30yrs of visiting various Toby's. Having said that still a lovely roast!

All great the only negative thing that was reported before as well was the toilet situation which was not good however it was a busy day for your lovely team The food quality and staff was great . the only issue was the bill payment as it was to hard to find someone to pay for our food .It seems that no one is interested in taking the money. . LOL

Tipical carvery. As you would expect Recomend booking as its very popular

We came in last night on the 30/11/24 as a table of 8 for an impromptu dinner. We had come up from Kent to visit the Cardiff market. We had a fantastic meal and the staff were amazing!! Special credit to the chef carving he was amazing and sooo friendly. Plus the young blonde lady taking our dessert order. The best hospitality we have had in a long time. Thank you for making the meal great.

The food was Luke warm , serverly understaffed.

Beef was 50% fat. Offer voucher for 50% off could not be used. Toilet was full of 💩 and blocked. They absolutely stank.

Staff to be more informed and knowledgable regarding guest with food allergies and more neurodivergent aware

Pretty good value for money, food and service good

We had an occasional dinner with 8 people. My favorites are great meat, several different ones to choose from, and additions. Climate. I recommend

Lovely food, lovely staff, hannah was great and looked after us

We came here for breakfast today and was disappointed to have dirty cutlery on the table. Then half way through eating a staff member decides to start vacuuming... I mean vacuuming before service would of been the logical choice. The girl who seen to us when we first arrived was very polite though. Just a shame about the rest.

My feedback is regarding the inexperience and dreadful customer care by the manager. Our meals were cold, the cauliflower cheese was so hard it was inedible and the roast potatoes rock hard. We are pretty understanding customers and when we advised the waitress she said she’d call the manager. The manager never replaced our meals just shrugged her shoulders and said “we apologise” and walked away back to the bar. We left and asked for her name but she wouldn’t give it ( I believe it was Beth as another member called her that). I asked for a reduction on the bill and was rudely told head office policy didn’t allow this. So I have complained to head office but felt that I needed to make others aware as this was very poor indeed. My husband spoke to the chef at the counter as the manager wasn’t interested, the chef was very pleasant and immediately started to check the food removing some items. Others were complaining too so it wasn’t a good day there. This could have been easily rectified by replacing our meals and checking the counter instead you’ve got 5 pretty offended guests and a bad review.

Great dining experience and friendly staff.

Absolutely awful experience, poor quality food, overcrowded, never go there again.

Staff were polite ,food was great plenty of it great choice not to expensive

Great Toby Carvery, Emily was super helpful and friendly

Had a great time, wonderful service thanks to Emily

Very quick service, and friendly staff :)

We were seated quickly and our food and drinks order was taken quickly also. Our server was friendly and professional. The food was warm and well cooked.

we have visited here on numorous occaions and there is only one dissapointment there is no wheat and gluten free desserts on the menu,the staff are great and friendly also helpful.our favorite place to eat

Me and my daughter love this place, staff are so friendly and welcoming. Food is always 5*

Ok, here goes. We stood at the greeting desk for at least five minutes. Five minutes standing around is quite a long time. We were finally shown to a table and waited again, a long time, for drinks orders to be taken. When we got to the carvery, 4 of us, there was nobody there so we waited yet again, occasionally asking passing staff who said 'they'll be here now!' It took ages. Finally, when we did get served, the girl kept going back out the kitchen for new Yorkshires , then back again for hot plates. Slowly. Our friends finally went back to the table as we went to the gravy station. None left. Had to find someone to get more, and asked for the horseradish to be refilled. Another wait for gravy, then he went back for the sauce. By the time we sat down our friends had already made inroads and ours by then, was lukewarm. I'm sure it would have tasted better if hotter, but it was disappointing all round as we'd driven from the seafront where there are plenty of local restaurants, and it was a farewell dinner as our friends were returning to Belgium. Sorry, but you did ask. We all said maybe it's better when it's busier, but then it wasn't exactly quiet, despite a Monday. My thoughts overall were that the staff just weren't paying attention, and I've never been left standing at a greeting desk without even a 'someone will be with you shortly'. And there were members of staff walking between the bars, and cleaning nearby tables.

Always enjoy Toby, staff at Cockleshell are always very friendly and welcoming. It's a good dinner for the family.

Food was not as good as previous visits. Chef did not replace Pork or Ham when it run out.

Superb as always really can’t fault the staff especially Beth always runs a tight ship and it shows superb food and the best beer in Gorseinon

Quick seating (but had booked table in advance) and pleasant welcome. Took a while for our order to be taken. All meats looked very appetising. Had beef; very tasty. All veg were pretty fresh and looked appetising. Disappointingly, it then took nearly 15 minutes for our desert order to be taken, a further 5 minutes to be informed that they had run out of ice cream and then another 10 minutes for the remaining desert to arrive.

Edited review. Your sarcastic comment caused me to rethink this, so here goes... sausage half cooked, bacon cooked on one side still with sticky white bits all over, hash browns soggy, limp and soft, tomatoes, beans cheap and nasty. Mushrooms over cooked and disgusting. Atmosphere, dead and looked like it was too much of a effort to serve a customer, was charged £3.20 for the smallest glass of the cheapest orange juice you will ever encounter, the only effort I've seen them put in was the sarcasm to my original review, if only I could give them negative stars. Is that a better, more detailed review for you?

Pretty standard carvery, however the pork & gammon were exceptional. The staff are brilliant, customer service is outstanding, our server Chloe went above and beyond and then some more, use her to train staff in other branches.

Absolutely ridiculous. Apparently kids eat for a £1 WELL PUT MORE STAFF ON TO COVER IT. our que did not move for 38 minutes that's two people money back and we walked out.

Lovely food, nice and hot and really enjoyed a family meal.

We had a booking for 30 brilliant

Awesome place with buffet services

Nice atmosphere, friendly staff.

Excellent service. Everyone was so friendly, made the experience fantastic

Chief was friendly food was brilliant

Absolutely delicious, 💯 recommend

Busy had to wait a while but worth booking for. Sundays I'd say are always there busiest.

The ladies toilets are filthy wroth broken toilet seat on the floor. Smells horrendous in there. The carvery-given the smallest amout of meat, the best part of the veg selection which is the douphenois potatoes have now been taken off the carvery and you have to pay extra. Ordered them reluctantly as the carvery is dear enough as it is and they came out as practically dry potatoes with a bit of cheese on the top. Sent them back. Expensive meal for poor little meat and poor veg selection.

Worst Toby carvery ever! Food quality is bad, availability even worse. Always very short staffed. But if I change this review to a 5 star one and show them whilst I do it I get a roll of 2 dices and if they amazingly roll double six I will eat the tasteless dried up slop for free! 😲

Was very happy with our service.. table booked last minute for 17 guests for a birthday meal and I was amazed that it went without a glitch. Staff even stood and sang happy birthday to my son which I’m thankful for.. our waitress couldn’t have been anymore helpful. Over all service for us as a group was 5* from all staff who were fast and friendly. Thank you

We visit The Cockleshell regularly and always get a warm friendly welcome from the staff. There is always plenty of room to park on arrival. There isn't usually too long a queue for the food and there is always plenty to choose from. The meat servers are friendly and everything is always hot. The gravy and parsley sauce are delicious too. Chloe is very friendly and welcoming and, as we are regulars, she remembers what we want to drink with our meals. I definitely recommend the lemon sponge with custard for dessert. Our grandson loves to come with us when he can as he doesn't like other restaurants where he has to wait ages for his food. The toilets are always clean and tidy.

Lovely staff, super helpful even when it's really busy there, same service! :)

Food was lush as per usual 😁, desert was lush, service was efficient and polite and very helpful. Served by Ethan

We booked a table at 4:10pm and arrived at 15:30 supervisor Jess was lovely and seated us early to be fair, it’s important to note throughout this, the staff were fantastic despite working against ALL odds. Unfortunately there was a Que to the bar which saw us wait 15 minutes to order food, which wouldn’t have been an issue but there were then items missing- the lovely barmaid offered to move options around for us which I was really grateful for. I don’t know this staff member but she was lovely with long dark hair. I left my partner with the 2 children to join the carvery at 15:55 for us both as the Que was huge! At 16:30 I was still waiting. IN THE CARVERY LINE?! How is this even possible. The staff were working so hard but the restaurant was overwhelmed with take out orders, walk ins and reservations which meant they clearly could not cope. The kitchen staff couldn’t provide the turnover of food required. There were empty plates or half eaten food all over the restaurant- I’d be interested to know if some people decided not to pay as nobody would notice the staff were actually sweating, running around endlessly. At the carvery line at 16:30 I then requested crackling and waited for 10 minutes before giving up. I moved onto the gravy station to my dismay, empty. Waiting for 5 minutes, mint sauce finally appeared - joy. Again waited a further 15 minutes before giving up on the gravy situation. At 17:00 I took what poor effort of a carvery was left to the supervisor and asked very politely for a full refund, £57 and an hour later and no food. The food was freezing, not even a defrosted gravy could help me now. I left disappointed but what was worse was there were hordes of people still in the carvery Que from my 16:30 troop and ques outside the door. The staff are clearly overworked and underpaid. This is an establishment issue. There is clearly an overwhelm with walk ins, bookings and take away. This needs to be rectified for the sake of your staff- the atmosphere was toxic with miserable customers. There were complaints heard throughout the restaurant. I would never go again for fear of the same experience, we could not wait to leave. I’m sorry to the staff but the bigger picture needs to be addressed.

Very little meat given. No longer have Douphenois potatoes on the carvery, you now have to pay extra for them separately. I did order some and they came out as practically dry sliced potatoes, no sauce on them and tasteless. I gave them back to the waitress and told her I wouldn't be paying for them. The toilet facilities are awful. Very dirty toilets, they absolutely stink and one of them didn't even have a seat it was on the floor, next to the toilet. Worst meal we've had, so disappointing.

Cleanliness, covid safety and service was excellent and the food too. I really enjoyed my gammon at the carvery and my raspberry Arctic roll. I would recommend it and look forward to my next visit.

Very short staffed so long wait. Refill machine not working. Queued at bar to get more drinks food going cold while waiting. Toilets stall in men's toilets out of order.

Amazing meal and great service from Ethan! Would recommend highly to everyone who want some good food and great service!

Great carvery, always exactly what you want. Can come with a group, couple or even on your own, always warm and welcoming staff everytime.

Incredible good value. Plain cooking at its best. One of my favourite places.

A carvery should consist of tasty slices of carved, roast meat. VERY disappointed to be served with a few stingy "shavings" of meat. Shocking! Thank goodness for the vegetables.

Really good hospitality, Alex the carver was really good and made sure our needs were filled! 10/10. 100% recommended!

Excellent service, lovely food will be back soon! Kate our waitress was amazing with my granddaughter too.

Came for dinner here today. One particular staff member, a young girl was so rude! I asked to pay my bill and she asked where i was sitting so i showed her. She printed out the wrong bill, told her again where i was sitting, she printed out the wrong table bill again so i showed her a third time all while she was huffing and puffing like it was my fault she couldn't do her job properly and clearly didn't want to be there. I saod thank you and she ignored me. Won't spend my money there again! Custom is very important in this day we are living in and i would rather take mine somewhere who appreciates it! Should of asked to speak to the manager really.

The food was good once we had been seated after queuing for 10 minutes to get in, despite booking ahead.

Popped in here for lunch today and I was not disappointed! The servers were lovely and helpful and the beef was so succulent!

Great service from Brandon Very friendly and helpful Will visit again