The Kings Hotel (Gary Rhodes), Christchurch

We ate at this lovely looking restaurant on Saturday. The atmosphere is lovely and felt very special, but the food a real disappointment. Hardly any taste and luke warm. The portions were also tiny and without the rolls, I would have left hungry after three courses. I wouldn't go again! Poor value.

I have just come back from a very pleasant evening at this restaurant. No longer a Gary Rhodes restaurant but the same chef and staff. The service was excellent especially towards my 5 year child (the other 4 guests were adults), very friendly, joking with us and obviously enjoyed their work. The food was excellent, even my son eat all of it (which is rare). It was a little cold when we arrived but by the time we had our drinks and the room warmed up. I would highly recommend this restaurant. This was a birthday present to my mother and I was not disappointed!

A lovely meal but spoilt but the quality of the service. We waited to be offered a drink on arrival, we waited ages to have our order taken and the wine was not left on the table so had to wait for glasses to be refilled. We brought up the level of service when we paid the the bill and were told it was due to staff sickness but having read the reveiws beforehand were not convinced. Along with other people that evening we were offered a free glass on champagne on our return - hope they have enought to cater for the demand!

Saturday 28 November 2009

This was a real disappointment. Not only was the service at best mediocre you cannot see over the bushes which are around the perimeter to see the beautiful Christchurch Harbour! The service was slow, none enthused, all foreign and with little sense of humour.

I would highly recommend no one goes there.

Steve & Sarah

The location is excellent in a beautiful place, but when it is dark you can not see the view out of the heavily tinted glass, so the view is of your own reflection. There is plenty of space around the tables and the dining room (which could be a large port-a cabin?) feels spacious and airy.

The food was of excellent quality and used an imaginative mix of flavours, not sure if they all worked, but generally the food was excellent.

There was an abundance of waiters, all of whom were friendly, hard working and willing, but they didn't seem organised or able to cope. The service was slow, our food did not arrive at the same time, drinks orders were not delivered and we played a constant battle to get the attention of the staff. Our meal took three hours. By the end of the evening the waiters had abandoned their designated tables and just seemed to be mucking in where they could.

Overall we really enjoyed it, but for the price we have had a lot better. If you're used to decent London restaurants you will find it overpriced and might get frustrated with the service.

Rhodes South promised more than it delivered. Staff, including manager, fairly incompetent. Food over priced. Splendid position

Rhodes South is over priced and food not that good, but has a fantastic location

Loved Rhodes South from start to finish. We arrived early-ish at 6:30 and watched the sun set over the harbour. Service was attentive and friendly and the food exquisite.

4 of us visited Rhodes South, Christchurch on 16/4/09. We all chose different things and had 3 courses. Had very long wait in between courses. Wine is taken back to station after serving but had to ask for glasses to be refilled each time.

Would have walked out if my husband and myself had gone alone - very disappointed.

I read other reviews which seemed a bit un-balanced. I would go again and possibly recommend. We booked for Valentines night but then canceled when we realised £65 set menu plus £25 wine selection plus tips would push bill to £100+ per head - it's good but not that good!