Guy's Restaurant & Bar

First time visiting Guys last night for a birthday dinner.

Pros -

The staff were very friendly and welcoming. The food was very nice, I had the steak and it was cooked perfectly. Nice decor inside etc and generally just a really nice place to eat. Very varied menu, good choices. Nice drinks menu

Cons -

The heating was clearly broken. We complained two or three times and it never seemed to get any better. It was far too hot in the resturant and this really took the gloss off of the evening. Its a pet hate of mine and it can be the difference between going back and not going back. When you are paying a little extra to eat in a place like Guys then everything needs to be spot on. Otherwise, it just becomes another overpriced returant.
There was also a member of staff who while being very pleasant, didnt really get the host bit. We were asked to hand plates/menus down the table to other members of the party etc
There is an issue with the toilets being located next to the entrance to the kitchen... nearly crashed into a couple of plates of soup on the way to the loo.. and its a little off putting. This however is just my opinion!

I will be going back for sure as the steak was up there with one of the best I have ever had... but I hope the heating will be fixed or it might be the last time.

On a final note, the pre-t menu is great value at £16 for three courses.

My first visit to Guy's and I really enjoyed it.

Upon entrance the staff were very friendly and the bread given to diners is welcome.

I had mussels to start with. Now, people with far greater knowledge of all things foody have told me that ordering mussels when there isn't an 'r' in the month is a mistake. Well, I made that 'mistake' and still enjoyed them. Some of them hid in their shells and I couldn't get them out, some were a little small it has to be said, but the dish was still enjoyable. Perhaps a little more bread with the dish though as there is a lovely soup/broth with the mussels and I did feel that it was wasted.

Main course was the chilli-chicken risotto. The menu warned that this dish was hot. It is. I liked it, but I do wonder whether Guy's get diners complaining about the dish as it's probably the spiciest main course I've ever had. However, the chicken was lovely and it's one of the nicest main courses I've had recently.

Final course was a cheesecake and that was great.

Staff were really friendly, courteous and unobtrusive. I'd definitely go back.

Dear Colin,

Sorry to learn of your disappointment, not the experience we try to achieve.

I will address each of your points in turn.

1. You should have received bread & butter, as do all guests dining on our pre theatre menu, sorry about that.
2. Normally, if a customer is not ready to order when first asked they are left for a further few minutes to decide. As we were very busy that evening I can only assume this was slightly longer than is usual, again apologies to both of you.
3. No excuses for waiting without drinks, sorry.
4. The chicken and haggis dish was indeed overcooked and not in our opinion good enough to be served. We did apologise and offer an alternative, Chicken Milanese, which was not to your liking. From the menu you chose sirloin steak which you requested 'well done'. The cooking time for your well done steak resulted in the extended delay. As for the supplementary charge, we did not consider this to be an issue, there were several other choices available on this menu without a price supplement.
5. Regarding the complimentary glass of Limoncello, sorry if you took this in the wrong spirit, it was offered as a gesture of goodwill.

During the course of your visit you would have been asked if all was well, at least once after you had your main course. If you had informed us of your disappointment we would have certainly strived to rectify any problems on the spot.

I hope my apology and explanation goes some way to convincing you to come and try us again.

Kind regards,

Guy

Phew! What an unforgettable weekend!

We returned home late last night and I wish it was only Friday again!

I write to thank you and your marvellous staff for making our special day so, so, special.

From the moment of our greeting to the end we were looked after in such a wonderful and unforgettable way that we shall remember it always. You and the whole of the staff deserve the highest praise and thanks. The attention, care, thought, wines and food were just super and very much appreciated and everything was perfect. You , yourself have been so accommodating, attentive and careful which has been memorable.

Our most grateful thanks for all this which has made this an occasion never to forget.

I do sincerely hope we shall have the great pleasure of eating with you again

Regards

Brian

Guy,

Looking forward to seeing you tonight. I have been busy lately, just got back from London last night after a couple of days, had to tell you I had bang bang chicken in one of Ken Hom’s places, do him a favor and send him details in how it should taste. Put that on your web page or whatever.

Regards

Ian

Ian Kerr

Managing Director

For and behalf of Wm. Bain Fencing Ltd

I love Guy's - I have been several times and each time it has been delicious :) the last time we were there was Christmas Eve and the place was very busy, the service was brilliant, the food was outstanding - we all had a try of everyone else's dishes so forks were flying up and down our table and everything was spot on - we have a booking for Mother's Day and very much looking forward to another pleasant meal.

Tam Cowan 'The Daily Record'. 01/11.2008
" According to one of my pals (who happens to be half-Italian) the best pasta in the Merchant City can apparently be found at Guy's, the cracking wee bistro on the Candleriggs. "

Hi Bigeater,

Very happy to read you enjoyed your lunch. I never knew about the wine issue but later that evening did see a bottle of Chablis which had not been finished, although I didn't detect any flaw. We are closed until 05th August but please call after this date and we will put things right.

Last Friday we visited Guy’s and took a few of our staff who had had a successful month as a reward. It was our first time in the restaurant and I must say that we were very impressed by the food, it really was excellent. There is a very good atmosphere and the staff were very friendly and attentive. There was only a couple of things that could have made it slightly more enjoyable – we ordered a few bottles of pink champagne which was very pleasant, however we also ordered a bottle of Chablis which for some reason was either ‘corked’ or of just poor quality (it was £95 so I doubt it was the latter), between the four of us who were drinking white wine we only had a about a quarter of a glass so we asked the waitress to remove it from the table. We were actually charged full price for the wine which was disappointing given the amount of money we spent that afternoon. I must stress that this did not ruin the experience and that we would definitely return to Guys – all in all it was a very enjoyable experience.

Always looking. Guy

thanks for your reply and honesty,maybe a host/hostess would benifit your resturant. good staff is hard to come by.

Alanm,

Glad you enjoyed the food, sorry if the service let us down. Constantly trying to improve all round and I am aware that now and again the coffee machine appears to be the centre of the waiting universe but working on it.........

Guy

sorry to disagree ,have found the food to be of excellent standard, but would agree with previous clients the staff should offer their service more , the coffe machine seems to be a vocal point for staff. understanding that owner/chef has his hands full in the kitchen maybe should employ a strong manager which does not nesscessary take away the character of the owner.

Paul,

Sorry to read of your disappointment with our food. Did you let us know you were unhappy? I wonder what you ate that tasted bland? I would be grateful if you would let me know. How many dishes did you have to form the opinion that all our food is sub-standard? Any particular dish? I will give your reply my full attention.

Was the reviewer of this restaurant somwhere else?? The food was not good at all. Tasted bland, huge choice of sub-standard fayre. Pehaps trying to get a small menu right would be the answer, because going on my experience and the experience of others, this restaurant wont last if it doesnt pull its socks up. You wouldnt mind if it was cheap, but it is an expensive restuarant, and not worth a penny of it.

Reply received from ARNAZA

Dear Guy,

I appreciate the time you have taken to respond to my email and post. Thank you for your clarifications. Your thorough response to the concerns presented, is adequate compensation.

I see many of the issues arose because we were not proactive patrons. I have a suggestion as a former waitress/server and the daughter of one who once waited on Princess Grace Kelly and Andre 'The Giant'. A server should continually offer their service, this is a great way to impress his/her employer by making additional business, make the guest feel they're valued, ensure an excellent tip, and secure plenty of returning patrons and referrals.

Again, thank you for your time.

Best wishes,
Mrs. Hughes

I visited Guy's a few weeks ago with my partner. They managed to squeeze us in at very short notice on a Saturday night. The food was fantastic, some of the best I've eaten, and I really liked the ambiance. Staff were very friendly and I thought the meal was good value. We will be returning soon.

Visitor 1.

Sorry you felt let down. You should never have been given a grubby menu, no excuses for that. Melba toast is however by the its very nature, cold, often dark as we have light and well toasted slices and gets broken as it is so fragile. The pre theatre menu offers great value for money on a fairly simple but balanced selection. We do not drop the quality of produce just work for very little profit on these special menus. Pre theatres menu are designed to provide an quick, tasty and economical bite before a night out. If you wanted something more 'exciting' our a la carte has many wonderful choices on it. The staff are always informed of whatever soups, specials, etc., are on but it is possible that there was a change of shift from day to evening servers and the member of staff had not had a chance to find out what was being served that evening. Glad you enjoyed your wine just a pity you never voiced your dismay at the time.

It is upsetting to receive such a stinging and unfavourable report from customers who clearly did not enjoy their visit to my restaurant. I apologise to any and all of your colleagues for any dissatisfaction they may have felt as a result of their experience here.

I wish to make some points to set the record straight,

1. Your reservation was at 8.00pm and not 7.30pm as you state.

2. Unfortunately, all the tables booked in for 7.30pm arrived late creating a knock on effect for the kitchen, which is tiny, resulting in a slight delay with your starters. We allow up to 30 minutes on a busy evening for first courses to arrive, your orders came through to the kitchen at 8.22pm meaning your wait time increased to 38 minutes. I am sorry for this but as I have explained there was now a backlog of orders on the tab. May I add that normally our diners are out with family, friend or colleagues and are pleased to have some time to enjoy each other's company.

3. You say your desserts were not served until 11.00pm. but the reality is that most desserts went out at approximately 10.40pm , not in our opinion an outrageous time from first course to sweets in a restaurant of this type. The chocolate puddings were slightly delayed as our pastry chef was unhappy with the first batch prepared for you and remade the entire order. We try never to let mistakes leave the kitchen.

4. " our drinks stood empty, which could be understood because we said that we'd get our own at the bar" Why you felt the need to bring up the matter of empty glasses I am not sure when in your own words you said you would get your own at the bar. You ordered your drinks almost on an individual basis creating a huge amount of extra work for the servers and bar staff. This is not the normal method of ordering drinks in my or indeed any other quality restaurant and without doubt added to the time delay in servicing your table.

5. Your water jugs were refilled on several occasions but you would have only had to ask your server to bring you more water at any time you needed it.

6. The girls worked very hard as did the kitchen to try and make your evening a pleasant experience.

7. If anyone amongst your party had asked for extra vegetables and/or potatoes they would have received them immediately. I cannot understand why this request was not made given your comments.

8. I agreed to provide the same menu that you had one year ago at the same price, despite huge increases in costs to me, and also waived the normal 12% service charge we apply to large parties such as yours.

9. I came out from the kitchen and spoke to several of your colleagues to check on their satisfaction and apologised to anyone who expresse…

I believe you should be made aware of the experience that I and the other 19 members of my staff had at your restaurant on Fri Jun 20. We arrived at 7:30pm at the time of our reservation. Our appetiser arrived after 9pm and at length it was 11 before our dessert was served. During this time our drinks stood empty, which could be understood because we said that we'd get our own at the bar, but the water jug should have been refilled, while servers chatted to the bar staff and stood near the kitchen. After that, we were given a very small amount of vegetables and potatoes per 4 people. Many people including myself went home far less than satisfied.