"I like to write good reviews and celebrate good food. I'm afraid our experience of this place did not live up to expectations. We chose The Stables based on Tripadvisor reviews and because we like Greek food. Our reservation was mid-week for 20:00. We arrived...at the restaurant a few minutes earlier and were asked to wait in the waiting area. The reception girl brought us menus, which we saw as a good sign hoping that the service will be quick. We made our food and drinks order. The restaurant has Cypriot wines on the menu. I am currently off alcohol so I asked for a ginger beer, not available. OK, any zero alcohol beer or wine. Not available. OK, I will drink sparkling mineral water. Not available. The best was yet to come. After 15 minutes of waiting we were shown to our table. There was no one else in the restaurant. Another party of 6 arrived soon after. The restaurant was freezing. We sat next to a radiator, which was hot but the place was freezing. Was the heating switched on when we arrived? The other table did not bother taking their coats off. After some time we were served with a piece of toasted bread each and olives, which was nice. Then we were waiting for our starters. The reception girl/waiter was going to the kitchen and back and we jokingly said that she is probably the one who cooks as well. 45 minutes later our starters arrived (20:45), which was consisted of toasted pita bread, hummus, tzatziki, grilled Halloumi and mushrooms in gravy. Hummus was bland, tzatziki did not have any cucumber in it. By that time we were really hungry so we did not complain about the slow service or lack of flavour and just ate. We were putting high hopes for our mains: 2 x Fish Meze, Meat Meze and a Moussaka. Half an hour or so later the Moussaka arrived. Then the waiter and the chef came to our table to explain there there was a mix up and instead of 2 Fish Meze the chef cooked 2 Meat Mezes. OK, I will have a Meat Meze instead! I am so hungry, just give me some food! So we had 3 our of 4 mains on our table. The Fish Meze arrived 15 minutes later, to everyone's relief. I watched my friend taking shells off the beautiful grilled prawns. No lemon water bowl or wet wipes were provided to clean your hands. She ate her prawns and squid rings, which were nice but she had to leave halibut and sea-bass because the fish had strong smell. I told my friend if she is not enjoying her food she should send it back and complain. Our Meat Mezes looked really good but were somehow flavourless. Having travelled to Cyprus, mainland Greece and other Greek islands we know how Greek food tastes. This food did not taste Greek or Cypriot: not seasoned enough, not enough herbs, just bland. English version of Greek food? Not sure. At the end of the evening the chef/owner had a cheek to come to the table to ask how our food was. We told him the fish had a smell. He explained to us this is because it is very fresh as he sources it from the local fish market every day at 4:30 in the morning. Was it left out of the fridge all day? The owner offered a glass of wine on the house at which point we just wanted to leave. No discount or refund was offered. To summarise: a traumatic experience, freezing room, expensive and bland food, a very slow service with lots of mistakes. We do not know how this place got a Certificate of Excellence in 2015, they probably had a good chef and more stuff then. Our compliments to the reception girl/waiter, she tried to save the situation but it was not possible. Unfortunately, we cannot recommend this restaurant and it is definitely not #1 in Scunthorpe."
