The Bay Spice has been a favourite restaurant for my partner and I for several years and until recently, we would have recommended to anybody. That changed on September 1st, 2018. We were looking forward to our food arriving and started by enjoying the overly expensive poppadoms. It's impossible to get that wrong and they were as good as ever. We're both strict Vegetarians and have not eaten meat or seafood in thirty years. When our meals arrived, they looked pretty good. I ordered a vegetable jalfrezi and coconut rice. My partner ordered a dish featuring paneer which sounded excellent but was only mild, as she's not vastly keen on hot, spicy food. Her food was sizzling and placed on her plate by one of the many oddly obsequious waiters employed by Bay Spice. He disappeared and we started tucking in. When the main waiter came over, my partner asked about the dish and specifically, the cheese contained within. He started grinning and said, "That's not cheese, those are king prawns." We'd specifically informed the staff that we were vegetarians. We ordered vegetarian food and yet, here we were, faced by these lumps of prawn in a vivid red sauce. Needless to say, we were furious by without a single word of apology but certainly with a creepy smirk, the waiter snatched the plate away and disappeared. Yet another waiter came over and asked if we had finished our food. I had taken one mouthful...my partner had also eaten some of the prawny sludge. We expressed our anger and the young waiter wandered away. Well, several minutes passed before the smirking waiter came back and slapped the proper food on the table with a barely audible mutter, which may or may not have been an apology but the smirk was still there. I stood up and announced that we were not eating it and certainly not paying for it. We asked to see the manager but he never came. Instead, the smirk came over and said, "I said sorry. I will go and get the film if you don't believe me." Seriously, I was so angry about it that I decided to deal with this in two ways. Firstly, never to go back to that place again and secondly, to use the 21st Century's infallible complaints service...the online review! So, to sum up...the food was incorrect and horrible. The service was appalling and I certainly don't expect the staff to make a joke about getting it so badly wrong. If my partner had been allergic to shellfish, they may have had a medical emergency on their hands and they'd be in exceptionally deep trouble. I urge anyone reading this to avoid BAY SPICE in St Leonard's On Sea . You have no idea what you might be eating and they will find it humorous that you are eating something that you don't want, can't eat or is potentially poisonous to the paying public. read more
