Came here for lunch on spec on Saturday. We were nearby and I saw it was in my bookmarks and thought I'd give it a try. I rang at 12pm to be told that the restaurant was full but that we could eat in the snug.
When you walk into the room it looks like a very welcoming pub with an assortment of sofas and low tables, with dining tables interspersed. Further on is the restaurant and bar, and there is also an outside area which looked very inviting on a lovely summers day. I saw that that area was about half full and the restaurant was practically empty. The snug was mostly free as well.
Once we'd found a table in the snug I went to the bar for a menu. There were three people behind the bar and I was told that it was waiter service but I did manage to get a couple of menus. After 10 minutes no-one had arrived at the table so I went back to the bar again where there was a surfeit of staff, mostly milling around and chatting amongst themselves. The girl I asked came with me immediately and took our order. I had the avocado and poached eggs on toast with bacon and the other half had the breakfast. My dish looked wonderful when it arrived but fell very flat. All the elements of both meals had clearly been cooked earlier and merely assembled prior to being served. Consequently my toast was hard and cold, and was the bacon. The poached eggs were overdone and lukewarm. It was incredibly disappointing. My other half's eggs were similarly overdone and although his bacon was warm, the sausage was cold.
I went to the loo (which was clean and fragrant) and when I came back the manager, Joshua, was talking to my companion. He had mentioned to the waitress who came to clear the table that the food had not been cooked to order, and she had, to her credit, passed this on to Joshua who had come to speak to him. He said the food was cooked to order and having listened to what I had to say, he gave us a substantial discount on the bill without further ado. He gave us his card and asked us to return.
So the rating is difficult. The food was 2 stars but they rescued this with excellent service in the end. To be fair, overall 3 stars but I would like to go back. read more
