A brave waiter was lucky to escape serious injury after he was stabbed by a thief wielding a six-inch knife in broad daylight at a popular South Shore restaurant.

A Romanian waiter at Henry VIII Restaurant suffered a one and a half inch long, three inch deep wound in his armpit after he confronted the thief in the bar area of the Southampton eatery on Sunday at 4.30 p.m..

He was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and remained in a satisfactory condition on a general ward last night. A Royal Gazette reporter visited the waiter but he refused to talk about the terrifying incident.

Police said the waiter saw the thief coming out of the men's toilets and go towards the bar area. He then noticed the man fixing something in his trousers.

The waiter checked the bar and noticed missing bottles of alcohol.

When he told the man that he was going to call the Police the thief then threw down a bottle of brandy and pulled out a six-inch knife and stabbed the waiter, before escaping on foot.

He stole a bottle of Courvoisier and Absolute Vodka worth $65 each.

Henry VIII manager John Ferris said: "It is basically general practice for our staff not to attempt to stop thieves, but you never know how you will react in a situation like that.

"The incident was also witnessed by a tourist and a taxi driver who both thought the thief looked out of it."

Mr. Ferris added: "We now have Sunday night security to help keep law and order in here. We have been planning to get surveillance cameras on the property, we did not do it sooner because we did not want to spoil the atmosphere."

The thief is described as being a tall, dark-skinned black male with short-cropped hair.

Police are asking witnesses to contact Det. Insp. Stephen Rollin on 234 1010.