Fredwell Bistro in The Vale of Glamorgan

As a self confessed coffee snob, I like to think I know a good coffee when I taste one. I have to say, the Cortado at NINETYSIX was the best coffee I’ve had in a long long time, locally or anywhere for that matter. The atmosphere was relaxed and the table service, yes, table service; was prompt and polite. A comfortable and relaxing experience. PS - You must try the homemade carrot cake!!

Amazing place! Discovered by random! Very nice staff and the food is just delicious! Had a carrot cake which was absolutely yummy! Blankets at our disposal, nice touch!

What a terrible experience from start to finish! Firstly we ordered drinks that sat on the bar getting warm for 20min before being served to us! We ordered food which took ages to come 50 min to be exact and it wasn’t busy! Two meals were served then we waited another 10 min for the other two meals to be served. The presentation of the food is awful it comes and doesn’t look at all appealing. Asked for mayo, ketchup and vinegar 10 min later we were still waiting and had to ask again. Southern fried chick burger was almost burnt so overcooked the chicken was dry! Steak and ale pie pastry do hard it was difficult to cut. Very tasteless and gravy like water. Fries were frozen bag fries that looked anemic and were soft and soggy. We weren’t asked at all if we wanted more drinks! Ordered side of 8 onion rings were served 3. Would I eat here again NEVER! Don’t listen to the good reviews this place is terrible both service and food!

Two friends and I visited here, and the food was excellent, and service was speedy. However we found the staff to be fairly passive aggressive and abrasive. We went up to the counter after finishing our lunch to order some tea and have a little cake for desert and instead they just told us our total of the bill and seemed annoyed/frustrated when we wanted to order more things. Would definitely visit again as the food we had was excellent, was just a shame about that staffs attitudes, I would usually put this down to a bad day, but after reading many other reviews this seems to be a common occurrence

So, I booked a table online earlier in the day, turned up to be told that they couldn't find my booking because he had done all the online bookings the night before so hadn't updated the list, but he could "squeeze us in". Just 2 of us. By the time we left, I counted 31 empty seats so less than half full. Given menus and told to order at the bar and cutlery was "over there" if we wanted any! Being sat next to the bar, I ordered some drinks while deciding which steak to have, not a hard decision seeing as there's a choice of sirloin or ribeye.... Went with the sirloin. Asked me to pay when I was at the bar which I thought very unusual for a restaurant. Went to the table to get our knives/forks, surely the least they can do is set a table??? Took in the surroundings while waiting for the food, pink flowers all over the feature wall which looked out of place, terrible music which sounded even worse playing though what ever device they were using behind the bar. Food didn't take long to come and wasn't bad to be fair, alough it was served on a cold plate. Sauce didn't resemble any peppercorn sauce I'd ever had before and reminded me of baby puke. Ate and left without any sort of service such as being asked if the food was ok. Don't think I'll be returning