Sinclairs Bar

[Julia]

My recommendation is to give it a miss!

We had a meal there tonight, when we arrived the bar was full of dirty glasses and ashtrays, I ordered wine there was none left so I chose another but they could not find the corkscrew.

We ordered food but was then told it was not available so had to order something else.

At this point we wanted to leave but had already paid for our meal.

The toilets were filthy, no toilet seats, no toilet paper, no hand soap in the dispensers just a big refill bottle had been left on the sink for you to help yourself, no paper towels and the hand-dryer had been ripped off the wall and was dangling by it's electrical cable.

That will be our last visit there for quite a while I should imagine

[unicorn]

That sounds appalling. Environmental health should be called.

[Rheghead]

That sounds appalling. Environmental health should be called.

Is this the place?
http://www.highland.gov.uk/prots/eh-inspections/premises/s-premises/sinclair's-the-shore-wick.htm

A clean bill of health, has it changed hands recently?

[angela5]

That was a good report on sinclairs bar in may they have let it slip then julia if its as bad as you say.

[Julia]

Is this the place?
http://www.highland.gov.uk/prots/eh-inspections/premises/s-premises/sinclair's-the-shore-wick.htm

A clean bill of health, has it changed hands recently?

Yes, that's the place, we've eaten there before and it was very good then but that was about five months ago.

[unicorn]

I would have refused the meal and left cos if it was like that I just couldn't have eaten the food anyway yuck!!!!!!!!!

[connieb19]

I don't know if it's true, but I've heard it's the roughest bar in the town!!

[Gizmo]

My recommendation is to give it a miss!

We had a meal there tonight, when we arrived the bar was full of dirty glasses and ashtrays, I ordered wine there was none left so I chose another but they could not find the corkscrew.

The bar had been busy and the ONE member of staff hadnt had time to clear everything away from the tables, the corkscrew going missing was just unfortunate

We ordered food but was then told it was not available so had to order something else.

Certain popular foods eventually run out at busy times, that just cant be helped, Sinclairs is certainly not the first bar to run out of something at this time of year

At this point we wanted to leave but had already paid for our meal.

You could have quite easily had a refund and left if you were that unhappy

The toilets were filthy, no toilet seats, no toilet paper, no hand soap in the dispensers just a big refill bottle had been left on the sink for you to help yourself, no paper towels and the hand-dryer had been ripped off the wall and was dangling by it's electrical cable.

The toilets had been cleaned as usual, if they were dirty it was only through usage during the day....and the male member of staff that was working is hardly going to notice if it needs cleaned, there is a toilet seat....someone once again had broken it, as for the hand dryer......it has been ripped off the wall around 4 or 5 times now, it amazes me the total dissrespect that girls have for the toilets in the bar they are drinking in.

As for the lack of toilet paper or hand towels....well that is inexcusable and does not usually happen, just an oversight which would have been rectified as soon as staff were made aware of the problem

[Julia]

I've used the Caithness web site in an appropriate manner and all I get is folk whingeing about my comments, what is the point having freedom of speech on a local forum if every time I voice my opinion I am shot down in flames!

[connieb19]

I've used the Caithness web site in an appropriate manner and all I get is folk whingeing about my comments, what is the point having freedom of speech on a local forum if every time I voice my opinion I am shot down in flames!

I for one appreciated your comments Julia. Too many people get shot down for just giving an honest opinion. As you say what is the point in a forum if you can't give your honest opinion. Maybe someone from Sinclairs will hear about this and buck up their ideas. If so you have probably done them a favour!!

[Andrew]

get a grip you lot, i was only saying that i hoped you had told them, and i was not shooting any comments down in flames, i was merely expressing my opinion as you said you do often - whats wrong with that?

it is good that these boards are used to express opinions (thats only my opinion though)

[connieb19]

get a grip you lot, i was only saying that i hoped you had told them, and i was not shooting any comments down in flames, i was merely expressing my opinion as you said you do often - whats wrong with that?

it is good that these boards are used to express opinions (thats only my opinion though)

Andrew, If you read the posts I dont think Julia was refering to you. Unless, of course you are Gizmo????

[angela5]

I've used the Caithness web site in an appropriate manner and all I get is folk whingeing about my comments, what is the point having freedom of speech on a local forum if every time I voice my opinion I am shot down in flames!

I for one julia am not whingeing about anything you said i am all for freedom of speech.. feel free to post anything about what you feel.

[Whitewater]

Julia your post was not a recommendation but a criticism. Free speech is all very well and good when used in the correct context. You may have had an unfortunate experience at Sinclairs but not to let the staff know in person immediately is unacceptable. If you had informed the staff there and then I am sure they would have been more than happy to deal with your complaints. Both Simon and Sue are very disappointed in the way you have gone about your complaint and would have liked to have known in person rather than hearing it from the public.

Since your initial opinion on the forum I have spoken to Simon who informs me that to date he has already replaced 5 toilet seats @ £20 each, an actual toilet, and further seats are on order. It really is terrible in this day and age that people have very little respect for property. In fact, within the first week of his replacing the pub seating it was burned in a number of places. The carpets have been cleaned professionally on 3 occasions and the toilets are actually cleaned twice daily. The hand drier has been ripped off the wall on six occasions and this has now been replaced by hand towels. I sincerely hope he doesn't have the same problem as the hospital with a £12,000 plumbing bill should the towels be disposed off in the toilets!

As all the food is homemade and very popular should your choice happen to have run out during service it is nigh on impossible for the staff to make a fresh batch.

I hope this has answered your criticisms and that this is now the end of the matter.

[Setanta]

I think the use of this forum to debase a place on a singular experience is quite unacceptable. If this is the general norm then I am amazed at how busy this pub is. It would seem that there is a lot of people from Wick and the surrounding area that are gluttons for punishments. Maybe it’s because life is too good to them and they have far too much money that they feel the need to go somewhere and upset themselves daily?
Or is the real reason that Sinclair’s is so busy with food down to the fact that they serve good, fresh meals daily?? I know which one makes sense to me.
Another comment that was totally uncalled for was the one about it being the roughest pub in town.
That is total baloney, at weekends there can be up to 300 people in the place and no fights will be witnessed. Don’t get me wrong with that number of people gathering together there can be some rumpus but it is very rare. The security staff in the place make sure trouble makers don’t even gain access.
Problems do arise when in such a busy premises and in general it is appreciated greatly when a customer approaches a member of staff to let them know that something is amiss. By doing so the problem can be rectified sooner rather than later.
Sinclair’s is imho the most popular public house in Wick and for it to get such a bashing here like this is uncalled for.

[Sandra_B]

Maybe they should hire more staff and buy another corkscrew?

[wicker]

I think sinclairs is the best place to eat in caithness at moment, all the food is prepared from fresh and non microwaved crap (the lasagne is to die for). The place is clean and staff are friendly in my opinion but also have to admit i do find the toilets are not the best but it doesnt spoil my opinion of the place and shall continue to go there.

[spiggie]

I think sinclairs is the best place to eat in caithness at moment, all the food is prepared from fresh and non microwaved crap (the lasagne is to die for). The place is clean and staff are friendly in my opinion but also have to admit i do find the toilets are not the best but it doesnt spoil my opinion of the place and shall continue to go there.

best place to eat in caithness...... i DONT think so!! are you not taking into consideration all the other hotels and places that prepare fresh food..

[Julia]

Julia your post was not a recommendation but a criticism. Free speech is all very well and good when used in the correct context. You may have had an unfortunate experience at Sinclairs but not to let the staff know in person immediately is unacceptable. If you had informed the staff there and then I am sure they would have been more than happy to deal with your complaints. Both Simon and Sue are very disappointed in the way you have gone about your complaint and would have liked to have known in person rather than hearing it from the public.

I made it plainly obvious to the member of staff serving me, no apology was given or even a single comment made by him for the state of the place, he appeared he couldn't of cared less. I had to take my daughter out to the bar from the toilet to get a clean napkin to dry her hands on.

The only time he actually spoke was to say there was no corkscrew (he made no attempt to even look for one) and to say the lasagne was finished (that's why we were there as it's the best lasagne in town!). A simple "we are short-staffed" would of explained a lot.

I don't know about it being the roughest bar in town either, but I do know that my last visit there socially on a friday night which was some months ago, a fight broke out and it was the lead singer of the band playing that threw the first punch, the bouncers soon got on top of things literally but by then quite a bit of blood was on the dancefloor.

Next time I will keep my opinion to myself.

[Sandra_B]

Julia said she had talked to the staff at the time, obviously it did no good. Why is she not to say what she feels? Is there a chosen few at Caithness.org who are entitled to opinions?