Not what you'd expect from a roast
- New potatoes with one roast potato- but roast potatoes with internal black spots from bruising or early decay.
- The 'seasonal' vegetables (think they may have to research what seasonal vegetables are- Swede in May but no Brocolli?) may have been lightly steamed at best but again not what you'd expect with a roast lunch and stone cold by the time they reached the table- some of the leeks I tried were verging on raw rather than al-dente or tender.
- No Yorkshire puddings served with the standard roast, only with Pork/ Beef. Nutroast was soggy and tasted like stuffing.
- Meat was ok, nothing special.
- Asked for a dessert menu as otherwise leaving hungry, and was presented with some scribbled items on the back on a receipt roll.
The real issue came when we asked to speak to a manager regarding our table's water bottle. There was clearly something floating in the bottom of our water bottle and after closer inspection we noticed that there was something stuck on the side. I had assumed it was perhaps limescale from the water system but after speaking with one of the members of staff they informed us it was probably tissue. We asked to speak to a manager at which point somebody came over. We asked them if they were the manager and they abruptly told us they were actually the owner. At this point I should have read his tone as aggressive but, wanting to give them the benefit of doubt, explained to them the problem we had with the water. The owner abruptly told us that he actually checks the CCTV for any complaint he receives, and as the water was filtered and the bottles cleaned daily that it was impossible for there to be tissue in there. We asked him what he meant by that, his statement about checking CCTV and our complaint being impossible felt as if he was accusing us of either lying or planting the tissue in the bottle itself (which we had been drinking throughout). He didn't have an answer for us other than the issue being entirely impossible and pointing in our faces that he would check the CCTV. My partner asked him not to point in our faces and the owner told my partner to 'watch his mouth'- which completely shocked me.
After asking the owner to leave our table so we could end the confrontational situation and ease our embarrassment in front of all the other patrons, he demanded that we should be the ones to leave and he promptly left.
We left immediately after, wanting to save ourselves further embarrassment, and started on our half hour journey back to Bristol. Sadly at eight months pregnant I couldn't face the humiliation walking through the pub to use the bathrooms so felt very uncomfortable on the journey back.
I emailed the Manager, Sandi, to ask them to check the CCTV as they said they would, and explain why we were treated this way- it was mortifying and I was confused how or why an owner would speak to customers like this?
I tried to be understanding, after all with lockdown easing recently it may just be that operations and service were rusty, so I wanted to give them the opportunity to respond before I wrote any public reviews. We had really looked forward to this outing and came away feeling saddened and confused. They replied reiterating that they still assumed we had planted the tissue in the water bottle ourselves (?!) and that our complaints about the food had warranted being removed from the restaurant. They also accused my partner of being aggressive towards the owner in front of myself, his Mother and our 7yo son, when it was quite clear that the owner was confrontational and aggressive himself.
Shocking and sad to write such a terrible review.
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