A waiter spilt oil all over my x partners dress when clearing the table, attitude to this was terrible made a complain to the manager who was defensive was a £7.50 discount, however attitude was bad
Annie Taylor
We had some great food here. The staff were friendly and very welcoming. Could of wanted more from a place to eat on holiday.
hayleyo935
We have just had a brilliant family dinner at The Starter Bar. The staff were really friendly and welcoming and nothing was too much trouble! Our boys both have ADHD, which can make dinners out stressful, but the staff went out of their way to ensure the boys were happy and that we all felt welcome. Staff gave the boys colouring books, sharpened their pencils, chatted about dinosaurs and generally did anything to make them smile. We were relaxed enough to stay for desert, which never happens! All the food was delicious, varied and served piping hot. We definitely recommend the brownie sundae for pudding. The meal and drinks were good value and very tasty. Thank you to the two lovely ladies for giving us a really special evening to remember. Highly recommended.
iainmcg
Highly recommend the starter bar, first class service, great food, lunch is amazing, sandwich was huge and mozzarella sticks were gorgeous, had water and desert, it is was five star food, service and seating outside and inside, open 11am to 11pm, go there you won't be disappointed, cheers to Nell and her team, met her today and really nice person, service with a smile.
DavidFlatley
Visited Starter Bar in Ilfracombe while on holiday in North Devon - came across it by chance tucked away on a corner between the harbour and the main street - A great idea , starters and deserts but no mains !! - A sort of multi - national Tapas bar !! Lovely little place and good service - A good mixed menu and great choice - generous portions too , and good value for money . Great deserts ( we had a pancake and a sundae ) and cocktails too !!!
790SarahN
Lovely little restaurant. They managed to give us a table even thought ha d not booked. They are short staffed so things were a little slower which was fine with us as we were prewarned. Food was great. Gluten free menu was available, heaven for me. The food was piping hot and great. Reasonable cost as well. Wish we had tried this place sooner. Would probably be worth booking to ensure you can get a table.
Stephen S
A great friendly welcome, fantastic service. Tapas with a difference, build your own meal of fantastic starters. Highly recommend this establishment...no relative
Dan G
We came for lunch, and returned for dinner!Fantastic, patient and very hard working staff. The food was lovely... a quirky take on a tapas menu which offers a lot of variety and flavour.Thank you Starter Bar, you guys are great:)
Sarah Finnerty
Pleasant staff, good information on how long we should expect before food would arriveStaff did well as were very busy
HarriBD
We were pleased to find a table here after every where else we looked at was full. The menu choices were huge, almost too many to choose from. I had a pina colada which was one of the worst I’ve ever had. Our food was average, very clearly microwaved. Would not bother returning im afraid.
6 of us booked, 3 children and 3 adults. We arrived 15 minutes late for our table which they kindly held once we called to give them our ETA. We stood for a few minutes before anyone came to seat us, despite being in the view of 3 attendees. Menus were distributed promptly and then we waited…..for about 15 minutes until I went up to the counter to ask if we were right in thinking the dishes were starter sizes, as it said on the tin. They were, apart from the children’s which were considered as small meals. The waitress said if I could ‘give her a minute’ she’ll come and explain what were the larger dishes as we ordered. She arrived about 5 minutes later and said that she’d take drinks orders then come back to take the food order to give the kitchen 10 minutes - by this time we had been seated almost 1/2 hour, to give the kitchen 10 minutes in addition didn’t feel acceptable but we kept quiet. The cans of Diet Coke, 1 beer and jug of water arrived 10 minutes after, our food order was taken at that point, followed by a Mojito jug a few minutes after that. Quite a long time to wait for some basic drinks, understand the mojito may take longer. The mojito was watery with a few mint leaves and a couple of cubes of ice floating on top so no where chilled enough. We tried to embrace it, but honestly it was not drinkable and so I returned to the counter with it, was told that there were 4 shots of rum in it - the size of the jug to me seemed more would be required but it wasn’t the lack of alcohol it was the overall flat taste that was the problem. They said it was because it was made with soda water and they could make it with lemonade, I didn’t want a jug of warm lemonade either, and I’m not sure that was the issue, it lacked all the flavours of a mojito - the sugar lime and mint crushed together. They kindly agreed to swap for a bottle of wine, I asked if it was chilled, the waitress responded ‘it’s in there’ pointing to the fridge and so I said great and the wine arrived a few minutes later, barely chilled, no ice bucket. We asked for some ice in a glass and an ice bucket was then offered which we gladly accepted. We continued to wait for the food, it started to come out around 10 minutes after all of the above. The children meals were great - they looked good and they were happy. The tapas style dishes we received were mediocre. Patata Bravas were slices of potatoes which felt like tin tomatoes on top and some spice added. Prawn and Apple cocktail not enough prawns, plenty of apple. None of the items seemed fresh or made on site, we think most were bought in frozen but could be wrong. It wasn’t great, particularly after the lengthy wait. On arrival we had seen a couple eating desserts, which looked amazing, and I had decided there and then I was having cheesecake, but by the time we had finished our main course we unfortunately had experienced enough. Maybe it’s a place to go for a pudding and coffee, they certainly looked more appealing. Such a shame as the concept excited us but we were made to feel they were doing us a favour by having us!! If you can give me a minute and give the kitchen 10 minutes after already a length wait with no apology and an attitude that actually had us laughing out loud possibly made the food taste even worse. We understand the pandemic has been tough for this industry and those who work in it and we appreciate it may still be impacting staff numbers and although the above may suggest differently, we are sympathetic, but the overall attitude and air of the service we received felt like a school situation where we needed to wait and do as we were told. It’s laughable but disappointing.
AndrewMN82
Very accommodating squeezing us in at 9:15pm before last food orders at 9:30pm. Fab food and lovely friendly staff.
michaelnunn1
Had an excellent meal on Wednesday evening garlic prawns,white wine mussels and garlic mushrooms ! Top notch so good we booked for the next evening , our wedding anniversary! Unfortunately because our hotel had a major power cut we had to come home early so walked down to cancel our booking . The lovely staff had already sorted out a card and a bottle of prosecco for our anniversary. The fantastic staff fantastic food like I’ve said a hidden gem .Brought a tear to my wife’s eyes fantastic place.
hannahbF416KU
We hadn't booked a table for our first night in Ilfracombe and although inside the restaurant was fully booked, we sat outside with our dog. We loved being able to order many many different dished to share, everything was delicious! Service was friendly and food came out fast.
Lawloser
Fabulous find, we only intended to pop in en route to another restaurant but ended up staying to eat & enjoy a bottle of good red wine. Large blackboards around the restaurant displaying the huge range of tapas dishes, desserts & cocktails available. We shared the fisherman's basket, olives & whitebait, all served quickly by knowledgeable friendly staff. A chilled bottle of tap water too. We finished with the Treacle sponge pudding with custard & the Toffee popcorn sundae, highly recommended! We had a 10% voucher and had enjoyed an ample feed for around £30 including wine. Family run business, friendly staff with a can do attitude! We've been back twice more to sample the sangria & afternoon teas! They've covered all the bases here. Well worth a visit!
A waiter spilt oil all over my x partners dress when clearing the table, attitude to this was terrible made a complain to the manager who was defensive was a £7.50 discount, however attitude was bad
We had some great food here. The staff were friendly and very welcoming. Could of wanted more from a place to eat on holiday.
We have just had a brilliant family dinner at The Starter Bar. The staff were really friendly and welcoming and nothing was too much trouble! Our boys both have ADHD, which can make dinners out stressful, but the staff went out of their way to ensure the boys were happy and that we all felt welcome. Staff gave the boys colouring books, sharpened their pencils, chatted about dinosaurs and generally did anything to make them smile. We were relaxed enough to stay for desert, which never happens! All the food was delicious, varied and served piping hot. We definitely recommend the brownie sundae for pudding. The meal and drinks were good value and very tasty. Thank you to the two lovely ladies for giving us a really special evening to remember. Highly recommended.
Highly recommend the starter bar, first class service, great food, lunch is amazing, sandwich was huge and mozzarella sticks were gorgeous, had water and desert, it is was five star food, service and seating outside and inside, open 11am to 11pm, go there you won't be disappointed, cheers to Nell and her team, met her today and really nice person, service with a smile.
Visited Starter Bar in Ilfracombe while on holiday in North Devon - came across it by chance tucked away on a corner between the harbour and the main street - A great idea , starters and deserts but no mains !! - A sort of multi - national Tapas bar !! Lovely little place and good service - A good mixed menu and great choice - generous portions too , and good value for money . Great deserts ( we had a pancake and a sundae ) and cocktails too !!!
Lovely little restaurant. They managed to give us a table even thought ha d not booked. They are short staffed so things were a little slower which was fine with us as we were prewarned. Food was great. Gluten free menu was available, heaven for me. The food was piping hot and great. Reasonable cost as well. Wish we had tried this place sooner. Would probably be worth booking to ensure you can get a table.
A great friendly welcome, fantastic service. Tapas with a difference, build your own meal of fantastic starters. Highly recommend this establishment...no relative
We came for lunch, and returned for dinner!Fantastic, patient and very hard working staff. The food was lovely... a quirky take on a tapas menu which offers a lot of variety and flavour.Thank you Starter Bar, you guys are great:)
Pleasant staff, good information on how long we should expect before food would arriveStaff did well as were very busy
We were pleased to find a table here after every where else we looked at was full. The menu choices were huge, almost too many to choose from. I had a pina colada which was one of the worst I’ve ever had. Our food was average, very clearly microwaved. Would not bother returning im afraid.
Restaurantji Recommends
6 of us booked, 3 children and 3 adults. We arrived 15 minutes late for our table which they kindly held once we called to give them our ETA. We stood for a few minutes before anyone came to seat us, despite being in the view of 3 attendees. Menus were distributed promptly and then we waited…..for about 15 minutes until I went up to the counter to ask if we were right in thinking the dishes were starter sizes, as it said on the tin. They were, apart from the children’s which were considered as small meals. The waitress said if I could ‘give her a minute’ she’ll come and explain what were the larger dishes as we ordered. She arrived about 5 minutes later and said that she’d take drinks orders then come back to take the food order to give the kitchen 10 minutes - by this time we had been seated almost 1/2 hour, to give the kitchen 10 minutes in addition didn’t feel acceptable but we kept quiet. The cans of Diet Coke, 1 beer and jug of water arrived 10 minutes after, our food order was taken at that point, followed by a Mojito jug a few minutes after that. Quite a long time to wait for some basic drinks, understand the mojito may take longer. The mojito was watery with a few mint leaves and a couple of cubes of ice floating on top so no where chilled enough. We tried to embrace it, but honestly it was not drinkable and so I returned to the counter with it, was told that there were 4 shots of rum in it - the size of the jug to me seemed more would be required but it wasn’t the lack of alcohol it was the overall flat taste that was the problem. They said it was because it was made with soda water and they could make it with lemonade, I didn’t want a jug of warm lemonade either, and I’m not sure that was the issue, it lacked all the flavours of a mojito - the sugar lime and mint crushed together. They kindly agreed to swap for a bottle of wine, I asked if it was chilled, the waitress responded ‘it’s in there’ pointing to the fridge and so I said great and the wine arrived a few minutes later, barely chilled, no ice bucket. We asked for some ice in a glass and an ice bucket was then offered which we gladly accepted. We continued to wait for the food, it started to come out around 10 minutes after all of the above. The children meals were great - they looked good and they were happy. The tapas style dishes we received were mediocre. Patata Bravas were slices of potatoes which felt like tin tomatoes on top and some spice added. Prawn and Apple cocktail not enough prawns, plenty of apple. None of the items seemed fresh or made on site, we think most were bought in frozen but could be wrong. It wasn’t great, particularly after the lengthy wait. On arrival we had seen a couple eating desserts, which looked amazing, and I had decided there and then I was having cheesecake, but by the time we had finished our main course we unfortunately had experienced enough. Maybe it’s a place to go for a pudding and coffee, they certainly looked more appealing. Such a shame as the concept excited us but we were made to feel they were doing us a favour by having us!! If you can give me a minute and give the kitchen 10 minutes after already a length wait with no apology and an attitude that actually had us laughing out loud possibly made the food taste even worse. We understand the pandemic has been tough for this industry and those who work in it and we appreciate it may still be impacting staff numbers and although the above may suggest differently, we are sympathetic, but the overall attitude and air of the service we received felt like a school situation where we needed to wait and do as we were told. It’s laughable but disappointing.
Very accommodating squeezing us in at 9:15pm before last food orders at 9:30pm. Fab food and lovely friendly staff.
Had an excellent meal on Wednesday evening garlic prawns,white wine mussels and garlic mushrooms ! Top notch so good we booked for the next evening , our wedding anniversary! Unfortunately because our hotel had a major power cut we had to come home early so walked down to cancel our booking . The lovely staff had already sorted out a card and a bottle of prosecco for our anniversary. The fantastic staff fantastic food like I’ve said a hidden gem .Brought a tear to my wife’s eyes fantastic place.
We hadn't booked a table for our first night in Ilfracombe and although inside the restaurant was fully booked, we sat outside with our dog. We loved being able to order many many different dished to share, everything was delicious! Service was friendly and food came out fast.
Fabulous find, we only intended to pop in en route to another restaurant but ended up staying to eat & enjoy a bottle of good red wine. Large blackboards around the restaurant displaying the huge range of tapas dishes, desserts & cocktails available. We shared the fisherman's basket, olives & whitebait, all served quickly by knowledgeable friendly staff. A chilled bottle of tap water too. We finished with the Treacle sponge pudding with custard & the Toffee popcorn sundae, highly recommended! We had a 10% voucher and had enjoyed an ample feed for around £30 including wine. Family run business, friendly staff with a can do attitude! We've been back twice more to sample the sangria & afternoon teas! They've covered all the bases here. Well worth a visit!