Alba - St Ives

Me and my girlfriend came here for a birthday dinner. The food was absolutely excellent although the service was a little slow to begin with . Although this was... read more Me and my girlfriend came here for a birthday dinner. The food was absolutely excellent although the service was a little slow to begin with . Although this was soon forgotten about once our food arrived . Absolutely fantastic.

This was my third visit to Alba, as I had enjoyed the food very much on previous occasions. It is expensive but I thought it was worth it for a special occasion... read more This was my third visit to Alba, as I had enjoyed the food very much on previous occasions. It is expensive but I thought it was worth it for a special occasion. However I will not be visiting again after this visit. First of all, one of the reasonably priced wines on the menu (Picpoul which I love) was not available. No suggestions were made for a different wine but the one we chose was ok. The 'amuse bouche ' was a tiny portion of uninspiring soup. My chicken dish was floating in a bland, watery souplike sauce with undercooked boiled potatoes and leeks. My friends had fish which was ok; nothing special. Nobody asked us whether everything was ok until we had finished. I said that my sauce was watery and bland. The waitress immediately rushed off with my plate to talk to the chef. She returned with the unsurprising news that there was nothing wrong with it. It was supposed to be like that . The bill was £96 for 3 mains, one starter and a bottle of wine. The dessert menu was unappetising and like everything else, grossly overpriced. It is a shame as Alba used to be really great. Now it is pretentious and overpriced for what it is.

The restaurant cancelled our booking on the day we we were due to go because of unforseen circumstances. We were on holiday and this was supposed to be a specia... read more The restaurant cancelled our booking on the day we we were due to go because of unforseen circumstances. We were on holiday and this was supposed to be a special evening, we were so looking forward to going. Due to it being such short notice we were unable to book somewhere else, we were hugely disappointed not impressed with being let down at the last minute.

The food was outstanding and the restaurant was really nice but unfortunately the service needs to be addressed, Perhaps a bit of 5 star training to match the f... read more The food was outstanding and the restaurant was really nice but unfortunately the service needs to be addressed, Perhaps a bit of 5 star training to match the food would make this place the experience it deserves.

We enjoyed a great 'cabaret ' in the form of a grandstand view of practice night at the local lifeboat station. Kept everybody (with a window seat) enthralled.... read more We enjoyed a great 'cabaret ' in the form of a grandstand view of practice night at the local lifeboat station. Kept everybody (with a window seat) enthralled. The fixed price menu is good value, the fish fresh, the wine reasonably priced and the staff attentive without being too 'there ' on what was a very quiet Wednesday evening. Just right for what we wanted.