Ruskin in St. Helens

My first visit to this restaurant tonight, New Year’s Eve based on the recommendation of my mum who is hard to please and had enjoyed a meal here a few months back. We booked a few days in advance and were looking forward to a change. I’ve had Turkish cuisine before and enjoyed it. The restaurant was very busy and while we ordered drinks fairly quickly, we waited another twenty minutes or so before the waitress returned to take our meal order. We waited for an hour and a half before getting fed up and caught the waitress's attention. We told her we’d ordered ninety minutes ago and she apologised and said she would see what she could do. Pretty soon the order arrived. The staff seemed offended that we had complained about the wait and were brusque in serving the dishes. My chicken Ali Nazik was cold and the staff member was quick to explain that this was because it was served on a bed of yoghurt sauce. This was a reasonable explanation but on trying the rice I found it cold. The plates were not warmed and the food was lukewarm by the time it arrived at the table. Nearby customers were having similar long waits and earwigging a conversation, poor excuses were being given for the delays. I would try this restaurant again on a less busy night as the chicken was delicious but I think that they were booking too many people at a time and not enough time was allowed for diners to complete their meals before the next booking arrived. Perhaps more staff were needed, or there were too many tables for the staff to properly provide a seamless dining experience and a speedy service.

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a meal so much. I ate three courses of which the starter and main were huge portions but I couldn't stop as they were all so delicious and ate the lot. My dessert was basically ice cream with a rich toffee sauce and digestive biscuits crumblings over it, just enough to finish my meal off and all washed down with 2 glasses of house Merlot.

Fabulous tapas & wine selection, grwat service & reasonable prices. Looking forward to returning.