Sambuca in North Tyneside

We were there yesterday and it was so cold I kept my coat and scarf on until I left. My vegetarian pizza was very nice but the topping was really very sparse. I only saw just two girls waiting tables, which was woefully short as the place had quite a few covers to look after. Our drinks order was promptly taken but it was almost an hour before we were served with the drinks. Food service was no better. We won't go back. Insufficient staff and no proper heating = false economy. I realise businesses are struggling but as I say we won't go back.

Unfortunately gone down hill in recent years. Food bland, didn't even have Mozerella cheese to put on Pasta.

Went to Sambuca today for Sunday lunch, it’s always ‘cheap and cheerful’, however, I would MUCH rather pay the extra £10-£20 on the bill for actual service. The waiters are all really young and not many of them, therefore I’d never complain in the restaurant. It isn’t their fault at all, whoever managers or owns the place should employ more of them, it’s just greed. Waited about half an hour for some potato skins, Sunday lunch was brought out and then had to wait even longer for vegetables, I actually had to remind them. I also asked for a glass of wine which was never even received, again I had to mention this which was just dismissed, and had to check myself that is wasn’t on the bill. Been here many times and I’d actually never return, because like I said I’d rather pay the extra money for decent service.

Great service great staff... And great food. Excellent value for money

Bad experience 15nov. Because of work being done toxic fume smells. All windows and door open. Freezing inside in draught. Owner was total not interested

Went for my birthday tonight service was terrible. Place run by kids with no experience who could not be bothered. Ended the night by being served mouldy cheesecake

Visited a few times over the years, used to be a very good restaurant but sadly there is nothing good to say about this place anymore. Avoid

Ended up walking out as no one had been over to take order for drinks or anything! Was sat a good 20 minutes and hadn't even got asked what drinks we wanted so got up and left. Wasn't even that busy either

Had a meat feast pizza.. More like a meat famine. 2 bits of chicken 3 pieces of peperami 4 small pieces of diced ham and 3 spoonfuls of some tomatoy stuff? Chairs were uncomfortable table rocked that much I felt seasick... Staff was lovely but wouldn't rate the food to much.

Service was very slow, staff weren't very friendly. Were there to celebrate a 3 year old birthday and they didn't acknowledge her.

Used to like this restaurant, haven't been for a little while but wow how tired and scruffy is this place now. Tables sticky, condiments empty, toilets are disgraceful. My husband enjoyed his food, mine was lacking in taste but as its waitressed by young people I didn't bother to say anything. The only good thing now about this place is 2 youngsters waiting on tables who were extremely polite. Wont be going back. It needs a lot of tlc.

Having been coming to this restaurant for quite a few years, we went last night for my grandsons birthday having enjoyed celebrating his birthday there a few years ago!!! What can I say, it was absolutely awful!!! The place wasn’t busy but there was a largish party of people (8 possibly) at a table further along from us. I don’t know if one of the guests was actually a staff member but the staff were backwards and forward to their table and very familiar with them. Our table was booked for 6pm, after about 10 minutes a young girl came and asked us for our order so we ordered drinks, 2 cola’s, I bottled beer, 2 fruit shoots and a small lime and soda and also ordered food at the same time! Despite the bar area being quiet we didn’t receive our drinks and half an hour had past so stopped the guy who seemed to be in charge and he went over to the bar. He then continued on serving other people but our drinks still didn’t arrive! I tried to get his attention again but he was very obviously ignoring me! The next thing our starters arrived, a garlic bread and some potato skins, so I asked the young lad that brought them where our drinks were so he also went to the bar and enquired. We finished our starters and 45 minutes after we placed the order our drinks arrived with an apology from the young girl behind the bar. She knew I was furious and stared at me for me to say it was okay but it wasn’t so didn’t answer! She brought over two cokes that we ordered and two large glasses of fizzy orange for the children! We told her we hadn’t ordered fizzy orange, we’d ordered two orange fruit shoots so she took them away and brought the right drinks and the beer and lime and soda! Not long after that our food arrived, 4 pizza’s and two pasta dishes, the pizzas were okay but the pasta was tasteless! My granddaughter needed the toilet so my daughter took her but had to phone her partner to bring some tissues along as they didn’t have any toilet paper! At that my son-in-law asked for the bill that was brought promptly! He was asked if everything was okay and he said yes as just wanted to get out of the place as it was by now getting in for 8pm! It wasn’t my place to but in and spoil the night, hence this review. They obviously knew we weren’t happy so we’re asked if we wanted a free shot!!! I said we’re here with two children for a birthday so at that point they brought a dish of ice cream out with a candle on and they got him to stand on a chair and they sang to him (which he enjoyed)!!!! Don’t waste your time or your money at this place, we will never step foot in there again!!!!

Absolute rubbish. Probably the worst value for money meal. Starter has two scallops and two pak choi stems. The best example of over cooked veg that did not have potatoes and a sea food pizza without prawns that you could buy better at Morrisons for half the price.

Good value food in quirky surroundings

Ok - no Sunday lunch, sold out (fair one) but should have been told as we were being seated Table was so sticky, told waitress and she said - tables had been revarnished and were still tacky 🤔(maybe wipe them over properly) Staff tried to remove drinks before they were finished Not a good experience

I have visited this Sambuca’s several times over the years but sadly the last two times have not been good. We were there for my birthday today and when the drinks came they were handed to us across the table. When the food came three of the meals were handed to us again instead of being placed in front of us. Eventually got the forth meal 10 minutes later. Overall 7/10

Very very poor service, we booked 24 hrs in advance for party of 6, we arrived 5 mins early informed a staff member and she said " i will sort it" We stood for another 10 mins with a table set and empty but still no one came to seat us. Another 10 min wait another party of 6 came in and were sat at the empty table before us, when i spoke to the staff she was very flippant about the whole matter and actually walked away from me rather than address my complaint when i pointed out they had sat a party before us even though they arrived 20mins after us. We were sat eventually 30min after arrival, then when we ordered food we were told there was no Sunday lunches left. Its the first time i have walked out of a resturant due to bad service.

My wife and I have been very regular diners at Sambucas Forest Hall for years now and were there again last night. The food was great. The menu is extensive. The prices are very reasonable. And the staff were friendly, helpful and efficient like they always are. They're generally quite young but they're well managed and all of them are quick and eager to please. There has been the odd issue over the years, the staff are only human after all, but they were always dealt with politely, quickly and efficiently. I've read some of the negative reviews on here and wonder if the reviewers have confused this Sambucas with somewhere else.

Great food. Certainly not expensive by today's standards. Cheerful, attentive and respectful staff. We've been going for years. We've had the odd issue but that's life and they've always been addressed politely and efficiently. I read some of the negative reviews about the place and wonder if the reviewers are confusing it with somewhere else.

I’d give this restaurant zero if I could. Been twice and both times got food poisoning. And that’s saying something because I can eat almost anything and be fine. I never leave reviews either because I’d usually just keep my opinions to myself but I’m furious that this is the second time I’ve been made sick by this place. There won’t be a third. They must have such low food hygiene standards, beware!

takes so long to get served im very disappointed

Popped in on spec for dinner with the Mrs. The starters weren't out of this world (tomatos just looked like theyd had better days on the bruchetta but it was edible) but we both had pasta for mains and both of them were EXCELLENT. The Mrs got a good portion of lasagne and I had tagliatelle which was absolutely lush. Would certainly go back.

Disgusting food cold service very poor never again spent over £100 very very poor

Staff all looked miserable and not happy to be there, service was basic, asked order, passed to table, no enjoy ya meal, nothing. Asked for bill, and altho wasn't busy at all, they somehow forgot we had asked. Food was really nice though.

Family birthday starter was horrible I ordered potato wedges they were disgusting tasted like cardboard and the sauces were just thrown on the plate

Honestly such a great Italian restaurant the food is amazing and just everything is perfect. They do a great job of serving and make it not slow but not quick so basically just the right timing

For a low cost Italian restaurant the standards are very high with good chefs and staff

This is our go to place, we enjoy the food , the staff are friendly and a lovely atmosphere 😀

Here again. We always come to Sambuca for a family dinner. What's not to like. Lovely food, lovely service. Great value. See you soon.

My wife and I were in Sunday evening. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. However I asked for some bread with my minestrone and was charged £5 for it so not happy as it is usually free.

Very nice Sunday lunch even on a very busy day the service was very good

Popped in for pizza & pasta - quick service & nice food

Been here a few times, foods been nice but today,, disappointing,, my wife ordered the lasagne. If I wanted a bowl of cheese I would have went to the deli, little pasta, little mince and loads of sauce and cheese, staff weren't interested.. Last time I go there

Love the food here. This was the second time visiting friends close by and well definitely be back. Friendly atmosphere, very attentive Staff and beautiful food (especially the pizzas we had are recommended 😋)

Where do I start, we came to this resturant for a change for Sunday lunch and we booked a table for 1415 hrs for 4 people 2 of which are disabled, my mother in law is 66 and on crutches and my dad is 93 and very unsteady on his feet with dementia. When we arrived at the place we were told to have a seat as there was a wait and there were no seats apart from a huge deep chair which our parents couldn't sit on, the front of house wasn't managed very well as there was no one on the booking in desk constantly, we eventually got a seat for my mother in law to sit down and we were taken to our seat after waiting for around 30 Mins which is disgusting when our booking was for a specific time, there were too many people booked for the same time. The staff were very hard working to be fair and couldn't fault them.

Met friends for lunch, very stylish restaurant, food great. Great place to catch up.

Very average… food ok, 2 waiters could have had more money out of us…. Told there wasn’t a dessert I picked.. asked the lad, what was in the Sundae, didn’t seem to care?! He was new.. So I didn’t bother. Waited for a coffee for ages, service let it down…. We questioned it, was like an inconvenience….. Rather go and pay more for a better service…. Also the disabled loo could do with a refit and clean. We were also given the wrong bill!! Please check……

We visited today as a family for Fathers day & what absolute shambles that was. The restaurant clearly overbooked themselves & couldn't handle it. We sat down & completely ignored by the staff who were all running round doing too many things at once. Ordered our drinks & food & we waited 35 minutes just for our starters to arrive & the portion sizes were tiny. What was really frustrating was seeing another family come in after us an saw they had their starters & mains well before we did. Main course took ages to arrive, Staff said the veg would soon follow but we had to ask for it as no one brought them over. Service was very slow, lots of young staff who seemed uninterested. Such a shame as this is on our door step but we won't be back at this Sambucas - I'd rather drive to a different one than spend another penny here.

Enjoyed the meal and will be going back with other friends and family. The staff were friendly and helpful.

Food was lovely but had to wait for it two families after us got served first wasn't happy

We came in for a meal on Sunday and from the get go the staff were brilliant! Food was great, delicious, hot and great portion sizes. My son said 'in my whole 8 years of life, this is the best restaurant I've ever been to!' We will be back!!

Late afternoon family meal. Soft drinks were served and were flat but replaced immediately with bottled drinks. Food was quite nice especially the calzone.

Staff were helpful, food was ready largely on-time. However the food wasn't good at all. Carbonara was tasteless, potato skins were soggy and in some cases were huge slabs of uncooked potatoes. The arrabiata was okay, but the pizza again was poor. Ended up binning most of it. Shame as myself and my wife used this quite a bit in the past, but it's been a while and we won't be back.

Lovely atmosphere & lovely food

Nice, cheap and chatty. Know what you’re going to get each time

I've visited this sambucas 3 times now and each and every time, I leave the resteraunt pleased and full, beautiful food, quick service, pleasant staff. Of all the resteraunts I go out and about to, this is by far my favourite. Definitely recommended, they have good through the week offers and reasonably priced in today's expensive market.

Great service by Erion and fantastic Sunday dinner!! Definitely be back!

Amazing food, very good service food came quick very interesting decor, amazing surprise find

Great atmosphere, food & service.

Not been for ages……food and service still the same high quality we remember….we were looked after by Lauren who deserves credit for making sure we had a really enjoyable evening. See you again soon……Cheryl & Dave

Food was nice but 3stars for food because my marinara pizza had squid on cockles which are not on the pizza according to menu so would ring next time get on what I will eat I picked bits out but was waste of pizza

First time at Sambuca, Forest Hall, can’t fault the place, lovely atmosphere. Went with my friend and we both had the 3 course lunchtime special for £7.95, both had potato skins which were lush, lasagne main which was lovely and then ice cream, really good food especially for the price, service was really good and plates were cleared away promptly. Will definitely visit again. We ordered a garlic bread with the main and didn’t eat it so they popped it in a box to takeaway.

Love it Inexpensive and varied menu Very children friendly

Family came for food tonight and got at about 6.30pm but did not receive starter until 45-50 minutes after, the main course was not there even after almost a hour of waiting after starter after being told several times the food would be with them very soon

Went to forest hall to celebrate my 74 birthday Ordered food and drinks Drinks arrived quickly but waited after 30 min I asked where the meal order was, after 10 min two orders arrived but not the third. After another 10 min 3 rd order arrived with apologies. I sent that meal back as the other 2 family members were nearly finished their meal, and did not want to be eating on my own. Even though the 2 meals were very nice they were not enjoyed as my birthday had been spoiled and they felt uncomfortable eating without me. When I got the bill the waiter told me they were not charging me for the 3rd meal AS I DID NOT EAT IT if it had arrived in time it would have been eaten. Never go back to Forest Hall, Cramlington is far better

It's cheap and cheerful and the food is really tasty. The pasta portions are generally a lot smaller than other dishes for example risotto comes in a huge bowl making my pasta look like a starter in comparison. I don't have a huge appetite but when I order pasta here I always scrape my bowl, every time I think I could do with an extra scoop, however the arrabiatta here is the best I've ever had. Sometimes the restaurant can be quite loud on weekends, especially when multiple kids or family parties are in, but it doesn't bother me now I'm used to it and know what to expect. I'm shocked by some of the poor reviews I have read, nearly all relating to noise or waiting times. I have never experienced it to such extremes and have been coming here years, I rarely book and when its busy I'm usually sat within 20 mins. During the week you'll find a quieter more relaxed atmosphere. The wait staff are polite and friendly and happy to accommodate any additional requests. Overall I'd give this place 4.5 stars, it would be a 5 if they would be able to put a little more pasta in the bowls. Oh and please re-open the door at the front of the building.

Service was good, the ambiance was nice, great parking, reasonable prices... Sadly the food let it down. Basic pizza with very little tomato sauce on the base. Ice cream had a weird grainy texture. Hot chocolate was lovely.

Food is great, and the atmosphere is nice, but the service has been a letdown the last few times I have been there. Last time I went, they'd overbooked, and then the times before that my table was forgotten about. It's a shame really because I really do enjoy the food, but bad experiences put me off returning.

Great food at an affordable price!

When me and my family first went inside the restaurant there was a queue which is is some places but then the owner called derek said it going to be a 30 minute wait because he didn’t do a two hour time slot thing so we waited in the car for 30 minutes then we went back inside and waited what it felt like ages then we got seated drinks were good starters were good but then the main corses the Yorkshire puddings and the pasta was stone cold there was a hair in the food the toilets were disgusting the flush handle was comb off and very slippery floor which someone could hurt themselves then the desserts were good the biscoff cheesecake was amazing but for £128 I wouldn’t go again very poor for a Mother’s Day dinner.

Booked a table for mothersday . Called 3 times to confirm the booking .waited for 20mins in the rain outside another 20mins inside to be told it could be another 20mins at least. Who ever is the manager should find another job .

My Daughter booked a table for 2pm for 6 people for mother's day...1 hour later we were seated and 1 hour late were served our main course. It was utter chaos. The owner called Derek made some lame excuse that his online booking system had a technical problem...said anyone who had driven could go and sit in their car and come back in 30 minutes...unbelievable!!! Then he disappeared into the kitchen never to be seen again!!! The food was luke warm at best. My Daughter sent hers back twice and they still tried to charge her, needless to say when it was pointed out they amended the bill Will not be going back!!!

Excellent Sunday dinner and value for money

It saddens me to say this as I love sambucas but my experience on Friday 16/2/24 was terrible. I had a table booked at 6pm for myself and 3 friends. We weren’t actually seated at the table until 7pm. We weren’t even offered as much as a drink while we wait and everyone seemed to be running around trying to do too many things at once. When we finally got seated we waited a further 20 minutes before we even placed our order to then be told half an hour later that the kitchen had lost our order so we needed to order again. I still remain sceptical about this as had our order have been input into the computer, then surely it would be on the system against our table number and not “lost”. Anyway, at around 8.10pm, our starters finally arrived & mains came at around 8.40pm. I can’t deny the food was delicious as always but the service was absolutely appalling. I can only describe it as chaos. I completely understand that the staff were busy but there seemed to be a complete lack in organisation, leadership & communication. At the end of the meal, we asked to speak to the manager to complain about the service which we would never normally do but felt it was needed. The manager became extremely hostile & argumentative saying “well you ate the food though so what’s the problem”. Yes we ate the food because we were starving! He then walked away & sent over some poor young girl with our bill to deal with it so he didn’t have to. We apologised to the girl and went to the bar to pay but asked if we could speak to the manager again. We explained to him we didn’t have a problem with the food but wanted him to know that the service was not up to a standard we expected as paying customers. He then said “well don’t pay for it then” and refused to take any money off us. A bill worth £120 which we were more than happy to pay! He was completely rude, ill mannered & defensive and continued to refuse our money. The bloke had a stinking attitude and for that alone I will not be coming back which is a shame as it’s somewhere I used to enjoy eating.

Excellent food and very friendly staff

Lovely food , but felt a bit watched over by the waitresses, I know they have a job to do , but felt very rushed during our meal, table was more or less cleared whilst I was finishing my wine ! Will come back as the food is nice , but would like to left alone a bit more !

Unfortunately, the food lets this place down. The atmosphere, decorations and general facilities are really nice. The drink options are good and the staff are very helpful and friendly. They covered everything we needed, and most of them engaged with my toddler, which was great. The food bill overall was cheaper than your average, so I can only imagine that reflects the review. The risotto was watery and not authentic texture,consistency. The pasta was overcooked and covered in black pepper. In practice, it should be optional for the guests to choose on red pasta. The garlic mushroom starters were nice, as were the mussels and the garlic bread was OK. The veg on the side was nice. The deserts looked nice but there was no tiramisu which I found odd for an Italian, and dissapointing as its my favourite. Instead I took a piece of chocolate orange home, it was tasty but very dry which made me question how long it had been left to sit. Overall average food but as I say reflective of the price.

Ordered a takeaway Opened it at home with the wrong dish Should of been Cajun steak pasta I got beef and tomato's sauce pasta Ordered potato skins with two dips Two dips were missing Ordered a cheesy garlic bread They got that right!....

Food is 10/10 staff are friendly and helpful and have always tried to find us a table when we have dropped in

Terrible service like others have said staff are totally disinterested, horrible greasy food. Place also needs a good clean. If you want decent Italian food locally go to Amici’s.

Awful service, awful food. Worst restaurant I’ve ever been too! Staff disinterested whether you’ve liked your food or not. Avoid this restaurant

Shocking does not even cover my experience in this restaurant tonight. We should have walked out after sitting so long after being seated that my wife had to approach a member of staff to take our drinks orders, unfortunately we didn’t ! Every single member of staff moping around like a close family member had just died (apologies our this was indeed the case with every single member of staff…..). Food awful just absolutely tasteless, had to ask for bread with my soup and was asked did I want bread ??? Not particularly but thought I’d get it !! Lost count of how many times I asked if my drink was coming , no black pepper or cheese offered with any pizza, Risotto looked and tasted like something my dog may have produced. Every meal chosen tasteless and bland. Although plates with most of the meals still on them were collected we were not asked if everything was ok only if we were finished. Explained we were not happy but as was the theme throughout the meal the waitress couldn’t be less interested. Please avoid this restaurant, we are currently looking for an email address for head office and would like a full refund as although this restaurant is cheap i begrudge paying a penny for this debacle tonight. Didn’t raise this at the time regretfully as we saw no point considering the experience we had witnessed and the couldn’t give a dam staff attitude. If anyone knows heads office complaints email address please link me into a review on here so I can contact them , plenty other terrible reviews on here so hopefully someone knows this email address.

Absolutely terrible. We had a table booking for a large party at 7pm but they had ‘overbooked’ the restaurant so we didn’t get seated until 8:10pm. There was no apology from any of the staff or managers. The food eventually came and everyone only had around 5 potato skins on their plate. The pizzas were tasteless and no one brought Parmesan or black pepper, even thought we asked twice for it. Terrible food and customer service. Avoid.

Absolutely terrible. We had a table booking for a large party at 7pm but they had ‘overbooked’ the restaurant so we didn’t get seated until 8:10pm. There was no apology from any of the staff or managers. The food eventually came and everyone only had around 5 potato skins on their plate. The pizzas were tasteless and no one brought Parmesan or black pepper, even thought we asked twice for it. Terrible food and customer service. Avoid.

I am sad to be writing this review, as I love this restaurant, but I visited today with two friends it was a disaster from start to finish. Drinks (3 soft drinks) did not arrive, despite asking 3 times, starter arrived with no dips. Main course took ages then order was wrong. When it arrived the penne Roma with chicken(which I often order) was tasteless. I only ate the chicken and left the pasta. When I complained instead of apologising they accused me of eating it, then complaining. Treating a regular customer this way is shocking. I asked to speak to the manager, they took the pasta off the bill but still no apology. Sorry Sambuccas me and my friends will take our business elsewhere and won’t be back. Very poor.

Out of all the sambucas I have been too this is hands down the best for food presentation and service all round. I have never had an issue here or complained about anything and always look forward to going.

I only enjoyed the pudding,didn't think much of the food

Went in on Friday dinner for Christmas lunch with friends from work it was absolutely lovely

Bad experience for the first time here.! Quite unsure as to how this last visit turned out so poor.? Was seated just a few mins late but that's understandable on a Saturday in December.! Was served a pint in a lipstick smudged glass which was quickly changed but then waited approx 30mins for our order to be taken by a waitress in black whom just rolled her eyes and appeared unbothered.! Starters were then quickly served followed by mains but couldn't get waitresses attentionas she trundled around the floor with her mobile phone in hand whilst laughing and joking with someone the other end.! Think we were actually served the wrong pizza's but just ait them to quicken things up, so as leave asap.! Requested the bill, only to find cake had been added that we never had or even ordered.! First time ever that didn't leave a tip but I couldn't due to very poor service.! The waitress in black should be showing a better example as a mentor to the younger members of the staffing team and I feel bad that it is them whom have lost out.! Very unprofessional.!!!

Just got the banquet box for £11.95. Wow, enough food for four people! Outstanding value and super yummy.

Great food, service was excellent.

Just had the Sunday lunch,£9-95 for 3 courses, starter soup or potato skins,mains lamb,beef, chicken belly pork, ice cream or coffee. Mains were as good as most pub Sunday lunches, portions were more than generous. Restaurant was very busy, I'd recommend booking as we did, staff busy but on the ball. Would recommend and definitely will come back.

My family used to visit sambucas regularly but this will be our last time. Food has drastically gone down hill. Pizza bases have changed and now taste frozen. I ordered cannelloni, which was disgusting- the mince was dry with no sauce, no spinach, not sure what I was eating?? Portion sizes have reduced- especially the potato skins and finally lots of empty tables on a Saturday night which says a lot.

Very disappointed, normally very good. But my salmon meal and,prawn and mussel sauce,was cold. Then when it was returned I went to put pepper on, and the top was lose, so my dinner was ruined. In hindsight, they didn't charge me for my meal., but they were going to charge me for the mash extra which was to go with my meal. !! When I mentioned it to the waiter he just laughed. Poor customer service.a bit empathy, for the customer , would go a long way.

Just passing today and decided to call in, haven’t been here for years! Still a cold building, decor is nice. Went for the lunchtime special. Potato skins were alright, seafood pizza x 2 were very tasty; definitely a lot better than our last visit.

Good and drinks were lovely. Great value. Very good service

One of the best Sambucas in the area 👌🏻

Lovely place for a catch up with friends and food is always nice. We wanted to pay separately and that was not a problem.

I expected actual chillies, not a covering of chilli flakes on a Lucifera pizza!

Came to try out, wasn't disappointed, great food, brilliant service.

It was a good wee place to get a bite to eat

My first visit was absolutely fabulous. Staff were all very welcoming and with a private car park at the rear parking is no problem. The menu is very well presented and with the large choice, it was hard to decide on just one dish, so we had a 3 course meal instead. Will definitely be back very soon.

If I could give zero stars for a bad experience I would. My sons birthday was a let down, we were promised to sit in the pod but when we arrived they told us it was double booked - ok no massive deal but they said they would make a fuss of him. They sang happy birthday to another child in the restaurant while we were there, no one attempted to do anything for my child despite me asking twice more. Eventually the bill came with a chocolate cake added ( never received and not really wanted tbh just the happy birthday song), when my husband approached the woman who appeared to be in charge ( laughable) he was told they knew nothing about his birthday- she was actually the lady who said she would make a fuss at the beginning. She started actually arguing with him and still didn’t offer to help us. We ended up paying the bill minus the cake and a deduction we refused to pay for the shambles !!! Still no apology from this lady. Took a very upset child home - we will never return to this restaurant, very very disappointed. The food wasn’t very good tonight either chicken was very watery, little amount of sauce but tried to make the most of it for my sons day. It’s not the end of the world, he will get over it I’m sure but obviously you want your child’s day to be the best you can - this was all round just a bad experience which Will definitely put me off returning and pass on my opinions to everyone I know locally to avoid this place! Shame as we use to enjoy eating her frequently.

Wow, what a terrible experience. Booked a special table for my son’s Birthday, got there and was told it had been double booked by mistake. We got seated at another table but a little disappointing. It took around 90 mins to get two courses of very bland and tasteless food. At the start of the evening we’d mentioned that it was our son’s 9th Birthday, which was why we had booked that certain table. Despite the initial disappointment, we were happy to hear the manager say they’d make a bit of fuss over him. Aside from being given our food we were completely ignored the whole time, during this time another little girl had Happy Birthday sang to her by the restaurant. My wife and I asked several staff if we could arrange something similar for our son, happy to pay for that service. Waited 25 mins after the last time we asked and not a thing. I asked for the bill and lo and behold, a dessert we never got was on there! I approached the manager and explained that we’d waited for a cake to be brought out but as we’d waited so long it was too late and time we had to leave. She said she’d wish someone had spoken to her, I reminded her we’d spoken to her directly, twice…remember her promise from earlier in the review!! Anyway I said I wasn’t prepared to pay the full amount of the bill, she wordlessly removed £20, gave me the card machine and said absolutely nothing else, no apologies, nothing. So, they say you can’t put a price on a child’s happiness, well Sambuca can, 90 mins of your life, awful food and a £20 discount. Shambles. Will never come again. You know, it’s these little disappointments that slowly chip away at our children’s innocence and build their mistrust of the wider world.

Nice spacious restaurant with plenty parking at the rear of the building, group of 5 called in for the lunch time special 3 course meal that's available until 5. Had a round of drinks to start then settled on potato skins to start, various pasta dishes followed by coffee to finish. All staff were attentative and pleasant, checked several times if the food was OK, no complaints with the food or drinks, excellent value. Would recommend calling in if you want a nice early evening meal served by pleasant staff at a price that won't break the bank.

Been before a few months back we have been today a party of 7. Food was spot on but the service was terrible. So slow from getting our drinks to waiting for every course was the same .Had to ask where our last course was after waiting a long time .Asked for a drink of water and waited ages again had to ask a second time .Could of been better not the usual service you expect

Sunday dinner with the family. Friendly staff, lovely food and doesn't cost a fortune. Recommended

Amazing place have been a few times food is amazing and the staff us super friendly

Have visited this restaurant many times for the Early Bird menu, we have a young grandson and the timings fit his bedtime routine. The restaurant has a lovely Italian ambience, the staff are helpful and attentive. The food is always consistently good, excellent vfm and would highly recommend whatever time you visit.

Popular Italian restaurant, tasty food, good wines. Friendly helpful staff