We have been to the Nelson Arms three times previously and our experiences were pretty good and the food was always reasonably good and that's why we chose to go there for my daughter's birthday dinner a couple of nights ago, 10th Nov 2016. I must say the standard of the service and food was less than sub-standard, almost abysmal. Firstly, our onions rings were extremely oily. Our mains finally arrived almost half hour after our starters. This is on a Thursday night when service levels should really be up and running. My son and I had the rump steak which cost $18.50 each and we agreed that this was one of the worst steaks we've ever had. It was as if it was just taken out of the freezer and cooked and it was chewy as rubber. My wife even tasted it and agreed. My wife's chicken/mushroom linguini had pieces of chicken in it which appeared to have been cooked and thrown in with no taste at all. My daughter had the ribs but the chips were cold and greasy and had to be taken back. They were brought back hot but still greasy. We complained, very politely, to a young lady staff, who appeared to be lost in all this. I asked her if the chef is the same one and she said that the chef had just been changed recently. My daughter liked the ribs and asked the waitress to pack it for taking home but the waitress forgot it. She later apologised for this and, quite rightly, agreed not to charge for my wife's and daughter's meals. She also thanked us for our feedback.
But that is not the really the problem. The next morning my wife had an absolutely nasty phone call from an irate woman who kept screaming at her: "we are not Claridges you know" and that "there are people who are starving out there" etc. all of which made no sense to my wife and had no bearing at all to the fact that the food was hopeless and service level below standard. This woman, ostensibly the owner or manager, also screamed at my wife that we are not allowed to come back to her pub ever, to which my wife responded that this is exactly our sentiments and intention too. Her rude, nasty and boorish behavior in response to perfectly honest constructive criticism is extremely appalling and my wife is still reeling from the shock of it. Is it normal for a paying customer to get an ear-bashing and walloping for not liking sub-standard food and giving a feedback on it? I always thought Basil Fawlty was a comic character, but apparently there is a real live Ms Fawlty right here in the Nelson Arms. I would have thought that the correct, civilized and appropriate behavior was for her to offer an apology for the bad experience we had and for spoiling my daughter's birthday dinner. I can say for sure that this is one establishment that I will definitely not be going back to ever again considering there are so many wonderful places with delightfully wonderful people running it and serving good, value for money food.
* Visited November 2016 read more