The Herb Kitchen - South Tyneside

Terrible experience. It's strange that they only recently got a page on TA months after opening, and now the business is ruined! I had been a customer for years, since it was called Cafe Blanco (I think that was the name but I can't remember), then Apparo. I loved Apparo, had breakfast, coffee, dinners, and tapas there. Things started going downhill with all the theme nights. The tapas deal changed and became only economical if you drink alcohol, which my daughter (12) and fiancée do not. Then it closed briefly and rebranded as The Herb Kitchen (same owner). When I asked the waitress at The Herb Kitchen why the owner, Conor, made the change, she said he wanted to focus solely on evening dining and move away from breakfast and coffee. Big mistake, as it alienated half of the clients, including myself. Despite living in Harton Village, we still decided to give it a try. Our first visit for Sunday lunch was a disaster, with terrible service and inexperienced waitresses. The food was subpar, and the card machine was broken, a recurring issue from Apparo. Going next door to take out cash was inconvenient. The empty restaurant on a Sunday lunch spelled trouble. We decided to try the wood-fired pizzas they heavily advertised on their Facebook page one evening. The restaurant was empty and cold, and the pizzas turned out to be a disappointment - not wood-fired, cold, undercooked, and inedible. When I asked the waitress about the pizzas, she casually mentioned that they hadn't turned on the oven that day, without informing us beforehand or offering a discount. The broken card reader meant more hassle and charges for cash withdrawals. We vowed never to return. I wanted to complain directly to Conor, but the waitress wouldn't give me his number. Months later, I saw that The Herb Kitchen had closed down. I am not surprised and feel relieved that others won't have to endure the poor service, bad food, false advertising, and cold, empty restaurant it became. Conor should learn from his mistakes and hire experienced staff, even if it means paying them more. Don't advertise something you won't deliver on, and keep the restaurant warm. You had a successful business with Apparo, but you ruined it yourself.

My recent experience at Herb Kitchen for dinner was quite pleasant. We were drawn in by their 3-course meal deal for £9.95 and a desire to support local eateries. The menu options were excellent, and the food itself was delicious, accompanied by a great choice of wine. The restaurant had a cozy and inviting atmosphere, with appropriate background music. It was definitely good value for money, but there is room for improvement. The establishment has only been open for a few months, and the young and inexperienced staff could benefit from more training and guidance. The owner/chef should set clearer expectations. Some suggestions for improvement include presenting menus more elegantly, offering a wine list rather than just pointing to bottles, setting the tables with cutlery, providing salt and pepper, and offering water when ordering wine. These may seem like small details, but they can greatly impact the overall experience. Despite these shortcomings, we enjoyed our visit and meal and would consider returning in the future in hopes of seeing service enhancements.

I went to this restaurant for lunch. The menus were dirty and on plain sheets of paper. It wouldn't be hard to laminate and clean them. The menu options were limited and disappointing. The service was awful, with the waitress constantly disappearing when we tried to place our order. Our drinks only arrived after we had to ask for them halfway through our meal. We definitely won't be returning to this place.

Went tonight for a birthday treat, didn't know anything about the restaurant, but we were both pleasantly surprised. Food was well cooked, had calamari that wasn't chewy, rump steak that was soft and well cooked, excellent wine. Only problem was don't take card payments, so need cash, but will definitely go back again. Would suggest a wine list to choose own wine from, asked for rose we were given a bottle, it was good though.

I had two pizzas, since apparo opened again as the herb kitchen, both were very good and hit our usual pizza around a mile! tonight we visited 3 adults and 3 children, quite busy eating was served within 15 minutes. steak and blue cheese pizza was even better than the previous one. they were very accommodating to prepare a child’s share of pasta with a simple tomato sauce that was not on the menu. triple cooked hand cutting chips are also very good!