Reliance, The

Hungry C (22 January 2007)

I went with friends to The Reliance on recommendation. I'd been told it was 'Shabby Chic' which I took to be pretty laid back and indeed it was. On first appearance it looks like a bit of a studenty bar. The drinks were well priced and the guest beer was excellent. There was very little wait for a table. The service was very good. I had the roasted beetroot starter which I must admit, having read other reviews of it, left me a little disappointed. There was a huge mound of leaves, a scant scattering of parsnip crisps and 3 rather small pieces of roasted beetroot. Onto the main course, very tasty pan-fried duck. A bit tough mind, in fact, after struggling with it for the best part of 5 minutes I finally gave in and asked for a sharper knife. Steak knife in hand I made short work of it and it was very tasty. The slight disappointment of the mains were quickly overshadowed by the Banoffee Pie. An absolute masterpiece and worth the visit just for that alone. The price all round was very reasonable and I would heartily recommend it were it not for the hygiene concerns. Now, I understand the premise behind shabby chic and I can see what the owners were going for but the toilets were disgusting. There were numerous broken wall tiles, the floor was wet with, I presume, urine, and two of the U-bends were clearly broken, two grubby and urine filled white buckets underneath, testament to the thought that the repairs were long overdue. I couldn't get that out of my mind. If they can allow the toilets to get to that disgusting state, what are the rest of the hygiene standards like? It also undermined what they were trying to do upstairs. Is it shabby chic or just plain old dirty and uncared for?