Free Autumn menu tasting @ slug and lettuce 15/10/08 [Archive]

ellas9602

09-10-2008, 4:30 PM

http://www.slugandlettuce.co.uk/promotions/menu-tasting

I went to the summer tasting and thought it was really very good. Lots of small samples from the new menu are laid out buffett style and you help yourself! we were stuffed!

(drinks not included)
:beer:

fallingstar1

09-10-2008, 4:45 PM

sounds rather good that does! shame it's not in my area.. :(

Flickering Ember

09-10-2008, 4:54 PM

Thanks!! I never knew there was one in Liverpool, but it seems I'm going!!

Flickering Ember

09-10-2008, 4:55 PM

Ellas, what sort of foods were there, then?

ellas9602

09-10-2008, 5:13 PM

ooh there was loads,, nearly all sandwiches from the menu but cut into halves, duck wrap,bbq chicken, full suasages, veggie lasagne, breaded king prawns..in a rush but lots to choose from, make sure you fill your plate first time because you don't get a second chance, usually another sitting is brought in soon after..we were very impressed, we certainly didn't need any dinner!

DarkStar

09-10-2008, 5:16 PM

http://www.slugandlettuce.co.uk/menus/

That's their new autumn menu.....so a selection from that I would have thought.

Got mine :)

Flickering Ember

09-10-2008, 5:20 PM

This will be a great day; free cinema screening and free food!! :D

naomi_collins

09-10-2008, 8:12 PM

This great I am taking a few friends along. Thank you so much.

anteena1

09-10-2008, 8:17 PM

This will be a great day; free cinema screening and free food!! :D

i was thinking that aswell but its put me down for a reservation of 7.30 but the film will finish about 8.10

IamJen

09-10-2008, 9:16 PM

Darn. I just got this in my email within the past 2 hours. I thought I might be the first to post it! :p

lynzpower

09-10-2008, 9:20 PM

Im booked in as well, thanks OP :D

blackmidnight

09-10-2008, 10:09 PM

Thanks!! I never knew there was one in Liverpool, but it seems I'm going!!

Same here, looks like next week is going to be good :)

lovely jubly

09-10-2008, 10:12 PM

Whoo Hoo. Got a table for Manchester

bc3000

10-10-2008, 4:12 PM

Whoo Hoo. Got a table for Manchester

me too haha! i'll see you there! i'm bringing housemates too, we're broke students... ;)

they had this in bristol back in the summer, it was so good, we didn't need dinner and they let us have seconds! lasagne, beef burgers, fried chicken, rolls and stuff.. yum!

jules

10-10-2008, 4:23 PM

did anyone get a confirmation email? I didnt!
do you just turn up and they know you are coming?

ellas9602

10-10-2008, 4:45 PM

I got a confirmation email instantly. Log onto the website and look at 'my bookings' to make sure it is there.

:)

SABJ

10-10-2008, 5:04 PM

i wont be able to go but what a fab find op i hope i can go to the next one thanks :)

fruitcake

10-10-2008, 5:16 PM

This is great, just booked for two for the winter menu....thanks, I usually miss these offers....am so happy

tinytunes

11-10-2008, 10:34 PM

Thank you very much, I always miss out on these am excited that it has been confirmed, hubby and I have a night out :) :)

debjk

11-10-2008, 11:20 PM

considering this was posted a couple of days ago I am surprised I got tickets for birmingham is it going to be packed to the rafters with everyone fighting for the last sandwich on a plate otr is it civilised with an allocated table dont fancy going if its a free for all.

pow38

15-10-2008, 5:13 PM

if anyone of u are going tonite pls check ur email account that u didn't receive a cancellation email off them, 3 of my friends had they reservations cancelled?? i've stil got mine, but that is so weird!!!

cardiff2007

15-10-2008, 10:34 PM

Went to the Cardiff one tonight arrived at 7.00 o clock by 7.30 a big crowd had appeared we waited for all this food to be brought out and they brought out the smallest plate of chicken satay sticks you had ever seen we waited even longer then came another plate of very small offerings, Everytime a plate came people just started fighting for these meagre offerings after a demoralising half an hour of waiting for something that even resembled food our party of four had become so starved that we gave up and decided to go to Nandos for a proper meal. It was possibly the worst freebie i had ever experienced in my life, they were very badly organised and also it puts you right off going to the slug and lettuce for a proper meal rather than attracting customers this debacle would deter them. I for one will stick with Nandos at least i enjoyed my meal and did not have to jostle for one poxy meagre offering.

sheer_vanilla

15-10-2008, 11:15 PM

Hi! I'm new to this but a huge thank you to MSE for letting me know about this promotion! I booked a table and my husband I and went to the Putney branch at 7.30pm and were seated on a private table. Platters of food were brought to our table and we just kept eating! Were stuffed by the time the last round (3rd) came around! Amazing food, friendly service, great drinks (we paid for drinks though) and a fantastic evening out! Free! Very impressed!

Kimberry

15-10-2008, 11:17 PM

cardiff2007, sorry for your experience. I can understand your experience in such a badly organised event.

I went to a London branch. Around 20 + guest already sitted and having drinks by the time I arrived at 7.20.

The staff bought out trays of food and put in a long table. Told everyone the buffet started (that was 7.30). Food included 3-4 types of chicken and ducks warps, pasta, pies, chicken stick, lamb kabab, chips etc.

ok, everyone did jump to the table at once and help themselves with big
plate of food. There were less choice for the late comers after 7.40. I would say the serving is enough for a light evening meal.

It's not a total freebie as everyone bought drinks at the bar. Think of it as a mid week drinks with some free pub nibbles. The food were tasty :)

Thanks again to OP and everyone who posted the web link.

cardiff2007

15-10-2008, 11:40 PM

I wouldn't have minded if we were late comers but we were the first ones there sounds like everybody didn't have the same experinece think i will email the head office and give them a heads up on how bad the cardiff one was

pow38

16-10-2008, 12:54 AM

cardiff2007 u weren't the only one to have a disappointing evening but this was b'cos one of the staff members was soo rude to us. I went to a london branch one. At 7.30pm the staff had us food tasters seated in a private section (which was nice) and told us that they would come round themselves with the food platters. Our food started coming about 8.20pm which was fine with us, however my friend and i had noticed that while the staff were going round, we had missed out on a few of the dishes that everyone else was getting so she politely asked him whether we would be getting them too or was it a pick and mix type thing. He replied 'why are u complaining? it free food!!' She wasn't complaining she was merely asking and we were shocked by this response. And so she answered him back that she was wasn't complaining and just enquiring at which point he kept insisting that she was complaining and what did she expect because the food was free.
I honestly wouldn't have come if i knew we were going to be treated like this, no free bite size sample food is worth being spoken to like that, it certainly ruined our evening.
And we did buy quite a few drinks so we were paying customers afterall. I certainly won't be going back there in a hurry.

shaneym

16-10-2008, 8:01 AM

To be fair, what was everyone expecting. The email clearly stated that only a small number of people would be seated properly, and the majority would have to stand up so it was obviously going to be a bit of a free for all when the food came round. We had tickets for a London branch but chose not to go, as we had visions of it being a case of "pigs round a troth" and my friend who went last night said thats exactly what it was. She said she actually felt embarrised jostling with other people for what was basically small finger food, so she decided to leave.

Of course, this does'nt excuse rude staff so it was probaly just bad luck at some particular branches. If some people enjoyed it then they appear to be the lucky ones ;)

ellas9602

16-10-2008, 9:09 AM

morning

I too thought the event was very badly organised last night, nowhere near as good as the last one where smaller groups were brought through in sittings. Very small plates of food were served very slowly, found it a bit degrading to queue for half an hour for some scraps of food. People were getting a bit panicky and grabbing at stuff..not very civilised. I think the last tasting was probably a little too civilised and organised which didn't give customers much chance to kill time at the bar :rolleyes: they got more money out of me for drinks this time with all the waiting around which I think was their aim. Last time were in groups of like 20, this time it was probably a group of 100.

May just give the slug and lettuce some feedback :confused:

another thing that bugged me was my husband asked the barman to recommend a bottle of wine (idiot he is, i'd already told him all wine was £9 regardless of menu price. The most expensive, always the most expensive!). Anyway the barman reccomended a white which was only £9 anyway. Our own fault I know, but not very sporting of the staff.

Not sure I'd bother again.

Flickering Ember

16-10-2008, 9:22 AM

I did not go in the end as I had to work and I am sort of glad. I do know who mystery shops them though....wouldn't mind trying it as I have never even been in before.

Flickering Ember

16-10-2008, 9:24 AM

another thing that bugged me was my husband asked the barman to recommend a bottle of wine (idiot he is, i'd already told him all wine was £9 regardless of menu price. The most expensive, always the most expensive!). Anyway the barman reccomended a white which was only £9 anyway. Our own fault I know, but not very sporting of the staff.
I really don't understand what you're saying here.:confused:

Jools123

16-10-2008, 10:58 AM

I went to the free tasting in Bristol last night and it was badly organised. Got there around 7.20 and the guy in charge went round to everyone's table just after 7.30 to tell them to go and help themselves. Luckily we got to the queue quite quickly but by the time he'd got round to some of the others the queue was a mile long. We were only about 7th in the queue but it took an age to get any food due to there being no labels on anything and the people in front kept asking what everything was. I didn't care what it was, if I liked the look of it, I took some! The guy in charge had to let 2 people push in as they had apparently had a booking for 7pm which was probably true as more people came along after to say the same thing. Anyway the food was ok but cold by the time we got round to eating it. Once the queue had gone we decided to go up to get some more food but were told that they had bookings for 24 people but more like 44 had turned up but the stupid thing was the guy in charge didn't ask to see anyone's confirmation, so of course this was likely to happen. So he asked us to wait a bit and they'd get some more food out, which came out in dribs & drabs. Certainly wouldn't pay the high prices on the menu for any of the food I tried, apart from the Oriental Burger which was lovely.

Sorry to ramble on! Very interested to hear more of other people's experiences.

Reverbe

16-10-2008, 12:00 PM

I went to one of the London ones last night and it was a little disappointing . After reading of other posters good experiences I was quite looking forward to it. The one I went to didnt have many ppl there - prob due to England game so I washopeful of a good sampling. There was lovely food yes but not much variety - few nuts, wasabi tempura veg, satay sticks and kebabs,coupla tostadas, veg spring rolls, chicken burgers only and coupla teeny pastas. This would have been adequate for the numbers BUT there was one lady who positioned herself actually sitting @ the buffet table on her own with several plates and just hoovered up everything in sight.There may have been dishes that came and went before we even noticed.

Reverbe

16-10-2008, 12:02 PM

nmckay15

16-10-2008, 12:12 PM

Sadly I agree with most of you. There wasn't hype about the one a few months ago and hubby and I had a lovely large platter brought to us then. Last night, there was a crowd of people and so many that despite having a reservation time, we had to queue up to collect tiny portions of cold food, if any was left at all.

I wouldn;t normall grumble about a freebie, but it was so lovely last time I don't think thye did themselves justice htis time. The free glass of champers were a nice treat tho.

This is Leicester BTW.

jules

16-10-2008, 12:50 PM

Well I went with a couple of friends and had an awful time.
We got there at 7.10 and the food didnt appear till 8 - not that that was a problem.
However there were soo many people there - nobody checked anything at all - it was just a free for all - nobody was serving anything and the greedy people at the front of the queue piled their plates high - there was nothing left for us at the back. A few more things came out in dribs and drabs but once again those individuals ran and took it. We asked if there would be any more brought out to be told no and they were sorry but the people at the front had obviously taken it all - well why was nothing said?? An absolute shambles - I will not be going there again - they did themselves no favours.
This was Leamington Spa branch.

sheer_vanilla

16-10-2008, 1:45 PM

i feel really sorry to hear of other people's experiences! i think i just got lucky with the branch i picked. it wasn't crowded so i guess that explains it. at the end they even brought out one free vodka shot for all of us! and offered us a slug and lettuce membership card at 15% off each visit. this was my first ever freebie and i didn't know what to expect! but a big hug to all those that didn't have such a good time. i'm sure next time should be better, esp if you'll complain to the management and let them know this is not on.

anteena1

16-10-2008, 1:55 PM

i had a fab time at the wimbledon branch. i went at 8.10 and was told it was finished but i had already told the branch earlier that i would be there at 8.30. anway they gave us a glass of perrier wine - free bottles people were helping themselves to. They sat us down and went to cook more food. my friend and i were given 2 huge platters with skewers and rolls a burger, pie etc and also 2 plates with 3 different types of wraps. and 2 pasta dishes. we couldnt finish it!! a very nice night after our free film preview or burn after reading - which was a bit weird!!

3BADDICT

16-10-2008, 2:14 PM

We went to wimbledon and it was just amazing. We were seated at a candle lit table and had food brought round on platters by very pleasant and friendly waitresses.There were plenty of seats for everybody.
Food was brought round continously and there was plenty enough to go round. We stated we were veggies and although did not have as much food to sample as others the staff went out of there way to make sure we had plenty to eat. Also we had free sparkling wine.
The whole experience was excellent the food, the service, the atmosphere.
We shall be going again. :D

Reverbe

16-10-2008, 2:19 PM

Anyone think we should bother emailing the Slug N Lettuce n telling them about our experiences?

3BADDICT

16-10-2008, 2:23 PM

Anyone think we should bother emailing the Slug N Lettuce n telling them about our experiences?
They have just emailed me for feedback on the night

Reverbe

16-10-2008, 2:30 PM

They have just emailed me for feedback on the night
Ah maybe they will do that for me as well. I just havent been able to access my emails for the last week.

Pip26

16-10-2008, 2:31 PM

Couldn't use mine in the end but it obvioulsy varies a lot depending on the staff/management of the branch - wish I'd gone now just to see what my local one did!!!!!!

lovely jubly

16-10-2008, 2:38 PM

We went to Manchester and had a really good time. We got a booth to ourselves an dthe staff were brilliant. There werent too many people and everyone was seated. Didnt even need to show email. Our names were on a list. Thanks again for the brilliant post.

DarkStar

16-10-2008, 3:00 PM

We went to the Staines one and it was very nice. We were told to get there for 7 and when we arrived we were told that quite a few people now weren't coming so there would be more food :) we got drinks and sat down (there were only 2 other people there). After about 10-15 minutes there was probably around 10 people and the food came out, we had lots of food including burgers, chicken burgers, pasta, mushroom risoto wraps, chicken skewers, lamb skewers and steak pie. Generally it was all very nice, apart from the pie and risoto which were both HORRIBLE! The only reason we were sad was because they didn't do dessert tests :(.

On the other hand other friends went to the Richmond one and never found any food.....so ended up at the chip shop!

nomealone

16-10-2008, 3:38 PM

bc3000

16-10-2008, 3:43 PM

I went to the Manchester one too and didnt get hardly any food so you were lucky lovely jubly

Every time they brought food out, one particular table of people rushed over and hoovered up the food so when we got there the table was empty again (it wasnt you was it LOL)

In the end we got two small pieces of steak sandwich and two pasta taster plates.

It was great that it was free but there wasn't much choice so I don't see how it was publicising the winter menu.

I went to the Manchester one too haha

We all thought it was quite crap but were all full by the end. The food wasn't that great and didn't really persuade me to go. The steak thing was nice I thought, but the bits I got had hardly any meat lol. I'm not really complaining as it was a free meal, but at the same time they didn't really do themselves any favours.

KittemC

16-10-2008, 4:27 PM

aussiedogga

16-10-2008, 4:55 PM

Went to the Wimbledon one and had a great night!

Free sparkling wine too with free top-ups! Can't go wrong.

Nice food. Yeah it was a bit crammy, but it was fine. I'd go again for sure.

thepearce

16-10-2008, 5:35 PM

We went to the Portsmouth branch last night and it was great - we were properly seated and food was brought to each table, so no-one was fighting for it! It's only been open for a while and the decor in there is lovely. We thought the food was great, and we were all stuffed by the end of it (the white chocolate cheesecake is gorgeous, yum.....). The staff were lovely too; we'll definitely be going back there. Sorry some of you had such a bad time, we couldn't fault our visit.We were there too (sounds like you are talking about Gunwharf). Sounds like we had a good time compared to some.

I was looking forward to seconds of the cheesecake but it ran out a few tables away :( - delish.

cardiff2007

16-10-2008, 6:47 PM

emailed the Slug and Lettuce about the terrible experinece i had if everybody does the same they might change there ways

boardwitless

16-10-2008, 10:16 PM

We went to one in the Midlands (not saying which one in case it's too crowded next time) there were about 20 people and there was just enough to go around - set out on a buffet table and the girls brought out about 4 - 5 different courses. We left quite full but I have left feedback and said that it would be better if they:
a. checked tickets - no one even looked at our email confirmation so what was the point of limiting numbers?
b. Served taster platters for couples with a bit of everything on - it is a bit embarrassing to have to scramble for the few last bits (someone even broke into a run last night to get the last piece and I think ours was one of the more well mannered evenings)
c. make a small charge (sorry moneysavers but I think up to £5 would be worth it for a guaranteed bit of everything)
d. ask for feedback straight away and use the tasters as a marketing exercise. Why ask for feedback 24 hrs later when I have to think back and try to remember how things tasted? more effective when immediate..
Will look out for the next one though. :T

claire2007

12-11-2008, 11:06 PM

Went to the one in Reading tonight as it was delayed! Food was lovely I had olives, stuffed peppers, fried veg, chicken and lamb skewers, mushroom rissoto (eeek bad spelling i know!) 2 different pasta dishes and then basically 2 main meals, one was a chicken burger and chips, the other was a grilled wrap with chicken, parma ham and rocket. The staff were very friendly and we gave our names to the host who took us to a reserved table. I was absolutley stuffed afterwards, and there was loads of people there to sample the food. :D Thanks OP!