Chef hits back at ‘keyboard warrior’ who left scathing TripAdvisor review complaining her salad was cold

She also claimed that £23 for a three-course meal was "overpriced"

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A chef has publicly called out a TripAdvisor reviewer who complained that her salad was served cold and compared the restaurant to Fawlty Towers.

Jamie O’Leary, 36, doesn’t normally respond to comments on TripAdvisor, however he couldn’t help himself when a “gutless keyboard warrior” left a scathing review of his restaurant JOL's in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

The reviewer named Liz, from Dorset, originally left a cutting review on the website which was later removed by TripAdvisor after claims it was “inaccurate and unfair.”

Undeterred, she returned with a second review despite not revisiting O’Leary’s restaurant – one of the highest scoring in Wales.

Here, the customer complained that her poached salmon was “undercooked”, the crab balls were “rock hard”, the lamb was “tough” and swede “over-caramelised” while the curry sauce had an “uncooked taste.”

“Regrettably this restaurant has similarities to Fawlty Towers with dreadful food and the slowest service I've ever encountered in a restaurant which only had 12 other people dining,” she wrote.

“We went here expecting to eat well but the word disappointed doesn't even come near to the dreadful and overpriced lunch we had.”

Shortly after posting, O’Leary took it upon himself to respond to the customer’s review, and he didn’t hold back.

“What a pleasure it is to hear from you again after the first review from your current smear campaign was removed,” he wrote.

"Usually I'd rise above dignifying your rather misleading review with a response however today you are in luck, strap in Liz as its going to get bumpy."

O’Leary went on to explain to Liz that there were no crab balls included in the restaurant’s crab dish and that she must have confused them with the Irish Soda Bread.

He also stated that the salmon is not under cooked but cured and poached, and that the salad is meant to be cold.

“Salad being the clue,” he clarified.

In response to her disappointment that the restaurant does not state where it sources its product, O’Leary hit back by explaining this would “turn the menu into a rather longwinded affair.”

He also points out that she visited JOL’s on a Sunday when her so-called “overpriced” meal of three courses costs just £23 – something O’Leary considers to be “a bargain.”

The frustrated chef concludes his response by saying that, while TripAdvisor can be a “fantastic tool” for business and customers, “there is always the risk of it falling into the wrong hands.”

“Gutless keyboard warriors who simply have nothing better to do that try to damage hard working businesses reputations,” he wrote.

“All of my staff treat the restaurant as their own and work hard to maintain the very high standards that we aspire to so its frustrating for everyone when someone just wants to make a noise.

“We look forward to seeing you again soon Elizabeth from Dorset, but in the meantime happy trolling.”