WOW!!!!! first id like to point out the large volume of "LOCAL" reviewers on this venue and that its spooky that after a negative a local reviewer comes along and posts a positive.
My family and I went to Borth the first two weeks in August and on one day decided to eat in Borth itself. there is a pub almost opposite the Railway Inn, however it was packed and there was no room. the Railway inn had a couple of people in the pub, however the restaurant was completely void of life and perhaps that should have set alarms ringing there and then. However we walked through the pub as the restaurant door was locked and after trying to findsomeone we noticed a till and caught the attention of the "chef/cook" Myself my wife and my children aged 8,7 and 5 all sat down and looked at the menu.
The menu itself is okay and the kids meals looked fine for our youngest who likes pasta. so we ordered the tomatoe and basil pasta, as he eats this at home also. My wife and I ordered a steak sandwich, my eldest had a curry and rice and my daughter had sausage and chips. standard fare you would expect.
The food arrived suspiciously fast and as the microwave could be heard pinging away for the last 10 minutes we were dubious. presentation seemed fine so we started to eat and that, is where it all went wrong. from the food to the manager ranting at us outside the establishment in front of everyone.
the steak sandwich was on brown bread, no one asked us our preference, the bread was soggy from all the fat. i don't mind fat but i don't want translucent falling apart bread. ever heard of a bagget? there was no seasoning on it which was a stark contrast the pasta that was given to my five year old. he kept saying it was too hot so we said wait or blow, believing it was the heat. eventually we understood that he meant something else. So i tasted it and it was drenched in black pepper. I went to the counter and explained that she had put way, way too much black pepper into the pasta/sauce and my child could not eat it and that it was too much for me as it was overwhelming. I asked why she hadn't asked if we wanted black pepper. Her response was to tell me it was "out of her control as it came out of a jar"????
I told her that this made it even worse. 1st no jar of pasta sauce would have so much black pepper in it and 2nd why admit your food is out of a jar??? hang on though, that wasn't the only thing. she didn't offer an alternative or an apology so i went back to the table to tell my wife what had happened. just i did so my eldest pulled out a sharp piece of rigid plastic out of his mouth. so i got up again and went to the counter again with my boy. I told her that i hadn't ever done this before but we were not paying for the meal, showed her the plastic and let my boy explain what had happened. unbelievable, she said "it must have come off the packaging"???? Yet again no apology or any attempt to rectify the issue. we went back to the table explained what had happened to the others and we gathered our things and headed for the door.
once we were outside the so called cook ran out and demanded we pay for the steak sandwiches and drinks. we refused and my wife explained why. Terrible food, packaging in the food, and most importantly by far the worst customer service we have ever encountered. It was going to get worse. The landlord of the Pub came out and asked why we were not paying, we explained again. the cook said that i had gotten aggressive. i hadn't even raised my voice and was not aggressive. i had been calm throughout. so the Landlord moved towards me shouting, with his very big frame and threatened me to get aggressive with him. In front of my young children. Then demanded to know who i had spoken to about it. I told him that id speak to whomever i wanted to about it.
This is the same landlord i had to sit at my table and watch sobbing at his bar with his hand stretched on the bar and shaking his head. the same bar that i heard a conversation at when i went to get the drinks that he couldn't afford to get one of his tills repaired.
there is no way the food goes from sublime to absolutely terrible. beware of the local reviewers as i suspect its the landlord and friends trying to save a struggling business.
It was so bad that now, 3 months later i write this review. I really wouldn't recommend it and the absence of any customers in there should really have been a warning to us. we now know what a terrible and awful service and food and personnel is there. read more