Have been to this pub many times to drink and a few times to eat, each time being OK. Food is regular pub food with average prices. They had a refit and re opened two weeks ago so thought I would try it out. I ordered Tuna steak from the 'Specials' board, at £11. It came with boiled new potatoes so I asked if I could swap for mash instead. No problem. At this point, good pleasant service. My meal came looking ok but with new potatoes instead of mash. I wasn't going to mention this as it was only a minor detail. Tucked into my first mouthful of tuna and had to 'fish' it back out of my mouth (excuse the pun) a large hard piece of bone. I managed to pick my way through about a quarter of the steak, which was bones. The rest of the steak was very, very dry and over cooked. When they came to take the plates away I was asked if everything was OK so I politely let them know. The waitress took the plates and said she would see what she could do. She bought back the puddings board and said mine would be free. It was a gesture at least, which I was grateful for. When the (I presume landlady) came to take our order her attitude sucked, leaning on the table saying 'yeah, you didn't like your steak did you? We've never had complaints about the tuna from anyone before' I wasn't going to say anything else about it before this, but this pretty much did it for me. I asked her if she had seen how many bones there were, how dry it was and that I had asked for mash all for £11. To which she curtly replied as walking off 'Well, I'll get it taken off for you then' There was not even a hint of an apology. The waitress came over a few minutes later to take our desert order but I was so taken aback by the attitude I had received that we just wanted to leave and asked for the bill. We went up to the bar to pay as they seemed to have given up on us by that point. The man behind the bar said sorry about the meal to me without making eye contact An apology at least, but then repeated what the other lady had said being that they had 'never had any complaints about it before' and that he would 'contact the supplier about the bones'
It's wasn't so much about the food now, it was more to do with their attitude. Meals go wrong sometimes, fish can be overcooked sometimes- it happens. I was going to have the free pudding with out saying anything more about it. But the attitude was pretty poor without a sincere apology.
You would think that after a new refit you would want to create a good impression. You can't underestimate how much business you can either gain or lose through word of mouth unfortunately for them, through attitude alone. I'm sorry to say that I doubt I, and a few others, will be eating there again. read more
