Harry's

A few weeks ago on a Friday my parents were visiting for the day from Hampshire. We decided to take them to Harry's as we knew that it would cater for my mum with its plain English cooking.

I phoned the restaurant in the mid afternoon to make a reservation. It turned out that they were quite busy and I was told that we could have a table at 6.30 but it was needed back at 8pm. That suited fine as my parents wanted to be on the road back to Hampshire at 8pm. We went ahead and made the reservation.

We arrived at the restaurant and were seated immediately by a very polite young waiter. He took our drink order and returned with the two beers and a bottle of white wine, minus a wine cooler. Our waitress arrived at the table shortly after and took our food order which included a few variations to my Mum’s dish. The waitress made note of this but in a very curt and abrupt manner which was noticed by all. We asked her for a cooler for the wine which was placed on the ground next to our table a few minutes later.

Our main courses arrived in good time. Three out of four dishes were luke warm and all were served on cold plates. My Mum’s request of onions in her salad never materialised . We didn’t complain as we were having a good time. Our table was cleared at 7.40 and that was the last we saw of our waitress for twenty minutes. We were not offered dessert menus, so at 7.55 I got up to see if we had been forgotten. It was assumed by the nice waiter that I was getting up to ask for the bill. I said that we hadn’t seen the dessert menus, to which he replied there wasn’t enough time. I informed him that we had finished our main courses and had been cleared 7.40. I returned to the table and was followed shortly after by our now irate waitress. She approached the table in an angry manner literally throwing four menus across the table at us. Turning immediately on her heel, she very angrily announced that she had now rearranged tables so that we could go ahead and have dessert. She then flounced off without taking an order.

Immediately we were gob smacked!!! Four jaws instantly dropped in shock. We were amazed at the audacity and rudeness of the waitress. None of us had ever been spoken to like this before in a restaurant.

I went to the counter to speak to the manager. It turned out that the waitress was the manager. I asked to speak to the owner, Harry himself. He happened to be behind the bar at the time. I conveyed to him what had just occurred. He seemed totally disinterested and immediately defended his waitress/manager by stating that he had worked with her for ten years, and that she was the best waitress he had ever come across. In my ten years experience of working in restaurants, I know that such a waitress would have been fired.

Harry compensated us by knocking £12 off the bill and eventually apologised. He wasn’t interested in keeping our custom; in fact, he couldn’t have cared less as he had a full restaurant.

We did appreciate that the restaurant was busy but there was no need for such rudeness. Needless to say, we will not be going back. The food was sub-standard and the service was appalling.
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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Went there this morning and managed to get the window seat . Didn't book but wanted to take a mate for a birthday breakfast before going into Brighton .

2 Veggie Breakfasts with Tea and Toast .

Totally wicked .

Excellent service - great food all for £13.00 .. can't say anymore than that .
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Leon Stanton
Sunday, December 30, 2007

Only ever had breakfast here but never disappointed . Hits the spot everytime . Good food - good service and value for money .. Never remember to book the window table but will one day . A must for anyone meeting friends on a saturday or sunday morning and filling up with food and good company before moving on .. Look forward to my next visit ..
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LEON STANTON
Thursday, July 26, 2007

I went to Harry's last night and found the attitude of the staff offensive. I had telephoned earlier to enquire as to whether they could cater for someone with a gluten intolerance, and was told that they could. In layman's terms it would involve their making a gravy out of cornflour rather than wheatflour. I ordered my steak and enquired again as to whether they could make it gluten-free and was told they could, but when it arrived it was dry...no sauce or gravy to compliment the steak and roast potatoes. I enquired again and was told 'well you asked for gluten-free so we've removed the gravy, what did you expect?' I asked if they could make a gravy out of cornflour for me but when the waitress returned I was told 'Chef doesnt have the ingredients to make you a gravy...we use thickening agent, there's nothing we can do for you'. I thought this was meant to be a quality restaurant but I was wrong. My steak was ok, albeit dry, but the creme brulee was bland, tasteless and it wasnt set. It had the consistancy of cottage cheese. There were 9 of us out for meal. Not one of us left a tip.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

I recently went to Harrys restaurant as I remembered how good the Sussex smokie was and really wanted to treat myself and my partner with some 'home cooked food'. However I was bitterly disappointed with not just that, but all of our courses, the prawn cocktail was no more than you would except in a pub and my hot brie was cold and slightly pathetic looking. As far as my Sussex smokie was concerned I have sent out a search party for the missing haddock! my partners sticky ribs weren't very nice and very bland....so I won't be going there again what a shame, what's happened ????
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S Andrews
Thursday, January 25, 2007

Good quality English food in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere - brilliant. I had liver & bacon, which one doesn't see on many menus these days, a classic English dish cooked to perfection. Bizarre that these days this type of place is a novelty, but there we go. If you like English grub, the stuff your mum used to cook, then check this place out, you won't be disappointed.
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Stuart Nisbett
Wednesday, August 02, 2006

I've been to ***** three times now and keep trying to like it, but it always lets me down. For dinner; haven't tried breakfast. The tuna was cooked to the consistency of a flip-flop and the sausages were so salty as to be barely edible. The sundae is good, though.
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Rathead
Friday, June 30, 2006

May be great for breakfasts, but didn't hit any of our taste buds for an evening meal. Adquately cooked, but absolutely nothing beyond the main feature, ie no complementing sauces, nothing to emphasize the flavours - if you like your food plain and unadorned in any way, then there were decent size portions, but for us, all were lacking in flavours and imagination.
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Shaz
Saturday, June 24, 2006

Went back to Harry's this weekend after a lapse in visiting of about 10 years!

I was delighted to discover that Harry's hasn't changed and great deal - the breakfast is still the best hangover cure available in Brighton for me.

Go for the "greedy" - the black pudding is good. The more adventurous can opt for the "pile up" which doubles up most items.

Free tea pot top ups and a reggae version of Dark Side of the Moon on the stereo. What more does Sunday morning need?
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Philip
Monday, May 22, 2006