I went to Marney's for lunch on a sunny Sunday.
As a location it's hard to fault, set off the main road next to a green near Esher golf course. Great views of a little church and pond and a lovely beer garden, with plenty of space to sit and enjoy the sun, a drink and some food.
Well some may say that 2 out of 3 isn't bad, but the food on this occaision was so poor it completely ruined my day. And no, that is not hyperbole.
Today the menu was limited to a BBQ - 5 items: Beefburger, Pulled Pork Sandwich, Chicken burger, mushroom and goats cheese and smoked skipper's. All served with salad and coleslaw (and a Cumberland sausage on the side for the meat-eaters).
Being both a burgerphile and lover of all things porcine, I thought I was in for a treat. However, on this occasion I was sorely disappointed.
I opted for the pulled pork, with one of my party going for the burger and another the smoked kippers. The cardboard plates arrived with missing sausages that had to be requested. The pulled pork was just about ok, very sweet BBQ saucey, but dry. Like it had been reheated and thus dried out and served in a long-life, un-toasted burger bun. Not the moist, juicy pork, glistening with rendered fat and sharp tangy sauce cutting through the fat that I was hoping for. The salad was just a few shreds of iceberg lettuce with some tomatoes and cucumber sliced on top and catering pack coleslaw, heavy with cheap mayonnaise. The burger fared no better, economy style, cheap, tasteless meat, with a slice of processed cheese in the same bun with the same poor accompaniments. Needless to say, the kippers were no better.
At £10 a plate, I felt like I had been mugged. A McDonald's meal would have been far superior and I could have saved £20 in the process.
If you want somewhere to sit on a sunny day and have a drink, give it a go, if you want to eat, give it a wide, wide berth. read more