Harveys Cellars - Bristol, City of

I booked HC for my 30th birthday and what a birthday all staff are amazingly friendly and professional and did all they could to make the night ru smoothly, love the fact you can decorate it yourself, get your own DJ and invite as many people as you want, every single person who came loved the stylish but quirky atmosphere too, truly great. Will not hesitate to have another party here. Thank you xx

We visited Harveys Cellars for my sister's bachelorette party. We started with a cocktail masterclass, followed by dinner in our own private area and music. It was an amazing night! Julian, the bartender for the cocktail masterclass, was fantastic. Highly recommend it for a bachelorette party!

We visited this establishment on Friday 30th October. I found it on the internet and was instantly excited as not only do I enjoy fine dining and a tasting menu flight experience, but I am also a big Harvey 's Bristol Cream lover. After making my partner promise to accompany me there soon, he booked us in for that evening. We arrived to find a doorman who greeted us, then down stairs to a place to check our coats. So far so good; seems to be a classy establishment with the right touches to make this a memorable experience. It was memorable but for all of the wrong reasons. We were taken to a table near the main bar which wasn 't a problem, however we soon realised that there was a hen party in and they were in a private room 15 metres away with no door to separate us. To start with there was a lot of cheering and screaming from this group, but I can tolerate that as I know it isn 't easy to control the noise on a large group. We were then asked if we wanted the wine or sherry menu. This would make one think that you were going to be presented with a menu that you can pick a drink from. We asked for the sherry menu as I was keen for a Harvey 's Bristol Cream. We then waited for 45 minutes and no menu or further correspondence received. My partner went to the bar to ask why we hadn 't been given the menu. We were told that the food was coming. It would appear that without seeing a menu at all, we had selected the sherry tasting menu and you can pick from two wine or sherry). I could tell this wasn 't going to be ideal as I would have preferred to have chosen a wine or sherry for each course that we would receive, or at least know what wines or sherrys were available. We had also sat for 45 mins without a drink on our table; poorly missed upsell. We were then shortly presented with our starters and first drinks 50 minutes wait). Starter was 4 different things which were one bite of each, 3 of the 4 fish. This wasn 't to my particular taste but again, I can accept that. The whole point was to try new foods so there was bound to be one course not to my taste. Second course was a selection of cured meats with bread and olive oil. The bread was not even a slice and was rather tiny bits of bread that looked to have been hand picked from a loaf and scattered in the middle of the plate, drowned in olive oil and some meat around the outside. We were presented with a side plate also. The meats were fine but the olive oil was a bit much. We hadn 't had this on our table for more than 5 mins before the main meal arrived. I would like to note that at no point from was our side plate taken from us with a fresh one provided. We therefore now used the same side plate for 3 courses. During the meat course, the hen party 's disco started. DJ and full sound system commenced and we could no longer hear ourselves think let alone what one another had to say. With each course comes a drink all sherry as mentioned. The waiter tried to give a description of each sherry on arrival, however I could not hear him. At this point the waiters knew the disco would be a problem and you could tell even they were embarrassed of the service that we were receiving. Of course, they said nothing. Now we have noise, 2 of our courses on our table at one time and two horrendously dry sherry 's each that we do not like. The main meals 2 different ones to try) was a mash potato and beef brisket and a dumplings with chorizo. Portion size is one bite mouthful of each; they arrive on a spoon so no need even for cutlery. This was not enough! Next course was the cheese and another extremely dry sherry. The biscuit was stale and the green grapes were brown! The cheese were fine but didn 't accompany the drink. We were also getting through these courses at such a pace the taste of the sherry was now overpowering. Final course is a trio of desserts and the presentation was again bad. The layered dessert of Tiramusu was possible one large spoon dollop on the plate. No defined layers so I would describe as Eaton Tiramisu it was a mess. Then we had vanilla cheesecake and lemon tart. I must have caught the end of the batch here as I had two tiny bits of each that didn 't match the other; different shapes etc. My partner was lucky to have an actual square of cheesecake and an actual miniature slice of tart. It was at this point we realised that we would need a pizza on the way home, this meal was not nice or filling I am a petite size 6 before you think that I have an unusually large appetite). They had attempted a garnish at half a strawberry however our strawberry 's weren 't even halved accurately. I had a massive chunk with stalk and my other half had such a tiny slither it was pointless putting it on. Whilst desserts were still on the table, my partner asked a waiter to bring the bill immediately. I was concerned about the expected £70 bill £35 each as advertised on the website), but we were keen to get out of this awful place and the blaring music that it provided. The bill arrived at £90 £45 each). At this my partner complained. He expressed that he was insulted that such a bill was presented and they did not argue at all; the staff were aware the experience we received was shocking. The waiter then gave a bill of £70 and my partner again said he wasn 't happy to pay that. We were then given a discount from that and given a bill for £54, which we still regret paying. That was by far the worst meal experience that I have ever received. Other points to note is the interior is cheap and dated. Laminate tables, cracks in the walls, creaky chairs. It needs some money to bring it to the standards to that it describes itself to have on the website. Both of us used the restrooms with absolutely no intention of ever using again. The males had only one toilet in use with the other cracked. Tiles missing cracked. The ladies again, dated with a lot of the hen party sat in there chatting and taking up the space. Needed a good clean and no toilet paper provided. There was also a sign on the wall suggesting that if you are seen to be going into the cubicles in groups more than one, then you will be asked to leave immediately. This place has clearly not attracted a great crowd.I would suggest with the bookings taken, this place needs to decide whether it is a fine dining and delightful place to have a cocktail and or eat or whether it is to attract one and all. It needs to be realistic as I feel the website had completely missold my evening. I was so embarrassed and apologetic that I begged my partner to bring me to such an awful place that I cried at the table during course 3. It was shameful. I will be shocked if sherry brand Harvey 's has their name to this place and if it does, I would suggest it revamps the establishment or removes its name. I cant believe that Harveys Cellars has £54 of our money. I also cant believe they describe themselves on the website as follows: A past that spans centuries and which saw the joining of two nautical giants, England and Spain: two nations once divided by war and subsequently joined by trade. A trade that included the noble wine of Jerez, Sherry. As you sit and lose yourself in the magnificence of these medieval cellars it’s easy to believe the building is soaked in a fascinating history.With its white stoned walls, hidden tunnels and shimmering blue glass bottle display, it’s obvious that these cellars have embraced an intriguing and antiquated past. If the walls could talk, they would surely whisper you their secrets of times gone by…

We visited with a Groupon voucher that we had forgot to redeem, the venue were happy to take us after the expiration- I know a lot of places that wouldn't have been so accommodating. From the moment we arrived, the reception and waiting staff were friendly and attentive. We ordered 6 tapas between the two of us and each dish was at least the equal of tapas I've had elsewhere, and some better. We especially enjoyed, and would recommend the beef stew and the goat curry, which were very flavoursome. And the ribs! The ribs were also excellent. After eating we moved to the bar and had a few sherrys each, we found the barmen to be informative and they were happy to guide us sherry novices through the choices. We eventually wobbled our way out into the night, certain that we'd return with friends.

Slow service by staff who weren 't very knowledgeable about their menu and couldn 't be bothered to find out the answer to your questions I 've only been here two weeks isn 't very helpful.Forgot one of our cocktails they only had to remember six.Portions were ok as it is a tapas menu but the tastes were fairly bland.Then forgot another drink after our meal.A real shame that what was a well respected restaurant has deteriorated so much.