A beachside restaurant in Bournemouth has changed its menu and tweaked their set-up after 'challenges' in the first week of opening.

Bayside Restaurant, which opened between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers earlier this month, was slammed with negative reviews in their first week.

The eatery has been funded by the council and is open for one month only until August 30.

It is housed in a barn-style wooden-framed marquee, and promised to offer a “contemporary food menu” sourced locally under the direction of Bridport-born chef Gideon Hitchin.

Read more: Inside Bournemouth’s newest beach restaurant

Bournemouth Echo:

It promised to offer 'food a cut above just the usual burgers' from pasta and fish and chips to "something more special like champagne, oysters or lobster". 

However residents who visted the restaurant in its opening week say they were left disappointed.

One resident who visited the restaurant on August 5 said: “We waited two hours with children last night to be told our food wasn’t coming.

“The waiter put in white wine instead of soda and our waiter was told “do not show your face in this kitchen again tonight” when he went to try and help us.

Read more: Bournemouth beach bar closes weeks after opening

“Many people walked out when we were there and I’ve never read so many terrible one star reviews on Google from such a short space of time.

Bournemouth Echo:

“This is such a shame as Bournemouth is crying out for these type of eateries on the beach. Everything about this place is amazing. The structure, the location etc it’s just been terribly executed."

The restaurant currently had a rating of 2.6 on Google last week. This has now risen to 3 stars.

Read more: The beach pop-ups you can still visit on Bournemouth beaches

One reviewer said: “I booked here for two evenings as soon as I read about it. We went last night for the first Friday of the fireworks thinking it was going to feel special. Unfortunately it was incredibly disappointing. The starters were underwhelming and we didn’t stay for the main course because of the incredibly long wait. There was no atmosphere, no music and lots of customers complaining. I have already cancelled our second booking.”

Bournemouth Echo:

A post under the name Gideon Hitchin said: "The bad reviews are based on the first week when the restaurant was struggling with numerous difficulties. It now has a new menu and is now much more casual, see for yourself it’s great."

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “To enhance the seafront further and create a more cosmopolitan vibe, a few locations were identified that would be ideal for independent summer beach pop-ups that aren’t attached to existing venues and we are aware that one of them - the Bayside Restaurant – has encountered some challenges during set up and the first few days of operation.

"We believe the operator has made some minor service changes in order to make the visitor experience a fantastic one with further great customer feedback received. We will be doing all we can to support them during the next few weeks.”