Albert's

A quick word about a new eating establishment experience I had tonight. Albert's in Salford is a sister operation to the very popular Albert's Shed in Manchester, albeit slightly shinier and glitzier.
Whilst I recognized that the place had clear potential, with attractive modern decor, nice peripheral touches and a menu that reads very well, there were just far far too many fundamental errors for me to give it anywhere near a clean bill of hell.

The staff were many and busy, but far too disorganized. Far too much rushing, not enough thinking about the customer experience; even to the point where I for one felt like cattle at times. Having young, energetic and modern staff may be good on one hand and may be in-keeping with the feel of the place, but the lack of care and experience did show drastically in places.
One staffing highlight, was the maitre d'-ess, who was very polite, attentive and professional; but only in response to a lot going wrong.
Lack of staff organisation also meant that a lot of tables were left in a void for long periods. Various tables you could see were waiting for over forty minutes between being seated and being served.

But one of the key no no areas for me by a mile was the state of the food. On the menu it read very well, but in practice when it did arrive it was badly prepared, poorly cooked and lukewarm at best. My starter of scallops were almost cold (apparently this was the idea according to the waiter but I am sorry that is total nonsense) and one half of my main of venison was near-raw and the other was near-burnt. At least the kitchen staff were consistent in their lack of conviction and ability as I certainly wasn't the only one (check Trip Adviser if you don't believe me). We were fobbed off at the end that the head chef had to go early because his wife was in labour, yet even if that is true such shocking products coming out of that kitchen was almost unacceptable.
It is a shame more than anything because I could see the potential in the menu, but it is a long way from being realized at that rate.