Gorilla manchester

Went for drinks at the front bar before a gig at the back of the venue a few weeks ago. As we came to sit down a woman was shouting at a member of staff saying they were very rude and then left; We slowly became aware to what she was referring to later into the evening when ordering our cocktails. The staff seemed to just bumble around and ignore us from the start despite being sat right in front of them at the bar with no other customers waiting to order. Then when they decided to notice us, we ordered two espresso martinis and two beers. The beers came swiftly (As you’d expect) and whilst drinking our beers we were faced with a waiter apprehensively making our cocktails reading the step-by-step instructions, not really filling us with confidence. (Don’t get me wrong I know what it’s like to be new working in hospitality, but he didn’t appear to be) when they arrived… just sad and disappointing. For the price of the drinks you’d expect much better quality but I wouldn’t have wanted to bring anything up considering the earlier episode when walking in. This is of no reflection to the staff who served us at the back venue during the gig - They were fantastic! However, The staff in the front of the bar either need a kick up the backside or a total overhaul really. There was no care, promptness or friendliness from what used to be an an amazing go-to location when it originally opened. Such a shame.

When I was initially seated, the guy sat at the table next to me complained about his breakfast. Silly me, I thought I'd give Gorilla the benefit of the doubt and order a breakfast too. What a mistake. First, the bacon was as dry as the Sahara. That was one of the many complaints from the guy next to me. Unfortunately I didn't heed his warnings about the breakfast before pressing ahead regardless. And so it proved, the bacon was so dry it was inedible without drowning it in lashings of tomato sauce. Second, the fried egg was over cooked to an inch of its rubbery life. Blackened and plastic-like. Also, the toast was so burnt that its deep blackness was like the sun had burnt out all of its fuel, leaving a perfect angular vortex of nothingness that swallowed up any flavour too. Look at the photo, how on earth did a chef look at that and think "that's a beauty, perfectly fine for the customer". Was utterly insulting. This wouldn't have been so bad were the toast to have been buttered, but sadly it just had a weakly softened and tiny, five pence piece shaped patch of dampness visible. Almost the entire slice was otherwise dry. Who wants dry toast?!??! The service was unfortunately painfully slow. So many times I thought we must surely be served, only to have our hopes dashed, time and time again. Finally, I always tip, but we were given a forced service charge of about 15-20%. You can argue it isn't forced as they'd probably take it off if asked, but I don't want to argue about it in front of my date, especially when the terrible service has made us late. This means they've trapped you to the point where you have to reward their terrible efforts. Maybe that's part of their plan? Maybe they don't actually care about repeat custom? If that's the case, then they've certainly succeeded in making sure I'll never be back. Go the Trof, wonderful food and service.

Only went to eat there. They asked to book at least 24 hours in advance if I can, but only confirmed the booking two hours before the time I had asked to book for. My friends asked for tea but the mugs were unclean. They asked for new mugs, and.... they were a tad bit unclean too. Better than the previous ones though. The positive aspect was the food. It was delicious and the hot chocolate was good too

Nice evening at Gorilla, food was good. I enjoyed the chicken burger and my friend also enjoyed his bagel, I did feel the price was a little high for the portion size. Reasonable selection of drinks. The service was good but I am not sure I would be rushing to go back for an evening meal, there was no stand out factor but overall very nice.

We visited on a Saturday afternoon and were surprised at how slow and inattentive the service was, considering the place was half empty. We ordered burgers which were very dry and had a 40-minute wait. Our server asked if we wanted sauces then never came back with them. The bill included a service charge automatically, making it feel overpriced for the experience. It's a shame because the food here was always excellent when we'd visit regularly a few years ago.