Bibis

I had eaten at Bibi's before, a few years ago, and was disappointed. Then a friend of mine suggested going last week, saying that there is now a new chef so I agreed. I must say that the atmosphere was still a bit noisy and crowded, but this time service was quick and the food so good to die for. Kudos to the new chef Mario Sciacca!! Keep up the high standards!

To keep things brief:

1. We waited a little over 50 mins from the time of order to receiving our starters. We waited another 50 mins from the time our starter dishes were taken away to the time we received our main meal (i timed it). We ordered bread because we were so hungry but this also took 20 mins to get to the table with an additional cost of £6 pounds per 4 pieces. We were so dissapointed that we did not order desert.
2. In total we were there 3 hours having only starters and mains.
3. I was attempting to impress my guests but the food was not particularly impressive. It was barely above average.
4. The atmosphere was good but we were so hungry that at times the table just fell into silence becasue of hunger!
5. The waiters did not listen when they were spoken to and had to be corrected several times in terms of orders and drinks.
6. We deducted the service charge off the bill in the end only to find out when we got outside that we had been overcharged almost £30 extra for things we did not receive or that were covertly added (thinking that they were included within the meal).
7. We spoke to the manager but he was not interested in conceding to the problems we encountered.
8. The standards have dropped considerably. My quess is that they are seating far too many people at a time and are dispensing with the quality of their food and service for the sake of larger clientele.
9. For the money there are better places to go but there is no doubt it is visually impressive.

Easily the worst resturant experience I've had in Leeds.

Looking past the atmosphere (which I accept may be to some people's taste, those who might be drawn in by the promise of Take That tribute bands perhaps...) and medicore service, the food really isn't very good. Some of our dishes looked nice, but really lacked flavour.

The killer blow is the price - it's simply far far too expensive. For £23 for a starter and main, you'd expect something so much better. Then a poor house wine at £19... For the amount you spend, you could (and should) go to one of the better restaurants in Leeds, where you do get what you pay for.

Avoid. Though there's always a chance you'll have to go there on a work's night out...

Do not eat here if you enjoy friendly, competent service. The food is extremely average, the atmosphere pretentious and the service appalling.

While the art decor ocean liner style of the venue is spectacular (whether to your taste or not) the service and food do not live up to the grandeur.

Before we got to the table (booked for 6pm on a Friday night), we had been reminded three times that the table had to be free at 8pm.

The menu is far too long. Usually a sign of frozen food. A starter of calamari confirmed this. They were clearly frozen and then fried, but what possessed the restaurant to fry them in sump oil?

That is the only way I can think to describe the rancid taste. Despite all three of us leaving half our starters each, the waiter did not enquire as to whether anything was wrong when he cleared the plates.

Our main courses followed with alarming speed. Something to do with needing the table back perhaps? In case we'd forgotten.

Three different main courses, spaghetti with clams, fishcake and veal were all dumped down in front of us.

The veal was dry and tasted as if it had been deep fried in the same sump oil as the calamari starter.

The fish cake was dry with what little passing nod to ocean fishiness it possessed being beaten into subservience by a too spicy sauce in which it was soaked.

And the spaghetti, usually a pretty safe speciality of an Italian restaurant, was too plain and cold to be appetising; the clams in the pasta were gritty reminders of the sand in which they normally dwell.

A request for mayonnaise to go with the chips accompanying the fishcake resulted in a small pot of sour cream.

And a jug of Pimms (at £25) which claimed to offer an average of 10 glasses was served in shallow martini glasses, not Pimms highball glasses, and produced just 7 small servings.

After our main course (no comment on the half eaten meals) we were reminded again of the need to have the table back. The food was beyond poor and the price was staggering for the qual

Loved this restaurant, my boyfriend brought me here as a surprise!