44 - The Vale of Glamorgan

Visited tonight (10 May) two weeks after our last visit and what a difference in service and quality of food. Turned out to be a very expensive disappointment.. This used to be a great place to eat and whilst not cheap used to offer more value. Charging £15 for 4 tiny slice of cheese and £18 for 9 paper thin postage stamps of ham is just not on. The rest of the food was lack lustre and just not the quality I expected for the price. It appears this bar restaurant is living on past reputation, no wonder the place was less than 25% full at 7pm on a Friday evening

First off service: excellent! Secondly, food: excellent! Finally, atmosphere awful!You know what it is like when you have booked into a lovely 17th. century hotel, all oak beams and plush carpets in reception. Then, you are led through the hotel, along a corridor into the modern extension at the back. That is what our Bar 44 experience was like. Through the main restaurant area, past the kitchens, through all that buzz and chatter and vibrancy to be seated at a table next to the toilet entrance in a room with all the atmosphere of a dentist's waiting room, with more empty table than occupied. Sterile and lifeless.If you book, insist on a table in the front section. Really, really disappointing.

Awfully disappointing. So sad to say that. Been coming here for over 10 years. Food is ok but service is such a disappointment. Used to be amazing however this afternoon I was made to feel (as a woman dining alone and taking up a whole table) like an inconvenience. I was acknowledged after a couple were served before me despite being there for five minutes. Drinks left on the bar, I was tempted to serve myself, food “placed” on the table, no check back and no interaction whatsoever. Apart from a slightly begrudging “was everything ok?” when I declined to pay the discretionary 10% service charge. Staff more concerned with themselves then the customers echoed in others reviews hence lack of service charge. Won’t be back.

Have always enjoyed coming here but tonight was sadly very underwhelming. The staff are nice but the standard of service has dropped dramatically. This seems to have coincided with the departure of the lovely manager was in charge over the last couple of years. The staff are very young and appear to have had no training in how to deliver great customer service. No one seemed to be in overall charge and they were more interested in chatting with each other instead of checking on customers. At no point during our meal did anyone check to see everything was ok. At one point during our visit 2 staff members were rolling cigarettes at a table at the bar! They may well have finished shift or been on a break but this to me is inappropriate. The food was ok, patatas bravas were however very crunchy and overcooked. As much as I want to support local businesses I don’t think I’ll return.

Lovely lunch taking advantage of the special offer . Extensive choice , generous portions and high quality food Service was also excellent