LOCAL pub RESTRAUNT NOT UP TO SCRATCH

magicmusician2002

sorry about long rant and some babbling, but im still FUMING

hi guys, i went to a local pub/restraunt, known for its fine food and pleasant atmosphere iver the weekend. It was my wifes birthday this month so on sunday we decided to scrap sunday dinner as neither or us wanted to cook and we went to eat out
now this was not your average weatherspoons type place, it is an independant place.

We got there at about 5:15 and got drinks sat down looked through the menu
I chose the steak meal (not apt for a usnday maybe but i like steak and apparantly they do really good steaks there)
and my wife ordered chicken with new potatos as our main courses
and a side of cheesy garlic bread

order placed at 5:25
by 6:00 no food so i get up to ask how long its going to be very politely
- as in this 30 minute time another couple have come ni sat down ordered and had their meals placed in front of them
was not given an apology for the wait and was just told that it would be 5 minutes.
by 6:15 NO FOOD my wife gets up and tells them she isnt happy about the service and can we please have our food
the 2 main meals come within a couple of minutes
8 minutes later the garlic bread comes out COLD

my meal was good, tasty but not worth that wait (by now 2 other couples have come in AFTER us had mains AND deserts and LEFT!!! and we are only just getting our mains and the side order comes out when we are over half way through our main meals!!!)

the chicken was not advertised as being on the bone - my wife was expecting fillets as ANY other place we go to that serves chicken on the bone advertises as such.
my wife gets 1/2 way through her chicken then notices that as she gets anywhere near the middle ITS RAW.
the deserts we took a chance on came out in a timely fashion

but it took a lot of times complaining about the wait and the food before they did anythiong about it
they guy who was there acting as manager didnt have a clue, the lady who started chasing our food was MUCH more helpful
she took my wifes main meal off the bill
and the side of garlic bread and our drinks
so a resolution but iot should NOT have taken that much effort to get some customer service
despite the resolution - (taking off the RAW chicken was something which they couldnt argue about) i just dont think i'll be eating there again

mymatebob

Is there a local site where you can review this place?

We have one for our area, although sadly, critical reviews tend to get pulled very quickly so it is certainly not unbiased.

I must admit I would have left before the food arrived, having had to wait that long

Oliver27

Sounds like the sort of place that will be on
Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare's.

hollydays

!!!! happens.

As an example,when on holiday last year we went to a restaurant.It was probably the best meal i have ever had.Everything was just right.

The next night we went again.Everything we asked for was off the menu.The fish- arrived so salty i couldn't eat it.Everything took ages.We never got coffee we ordered.They gave us the wrong bills.Etc.It was difficult to understand such contrasts.

Same place,different staff or circumstances.

I wouldn't have expected pub chicken to neccessarily be a fillet,unless it was in a sauce,so I disagree there.Chicken on the bone has a lot more taste,some people have just got used to chicken breasts from supermarkets and assume it's a superior product,which isn't necessarily the case.
Apart from that,yes the waiting was unnaceptable if everyone else was getting similar food.

oldagetraveller

Did you pay the bill when it arrived? Hopefully not.
The problem is most people in this country still accept shoddy service and poor food. I've done it myself in the past but sure as hell not any more.
I'd have walked out after that other couple were served, and told the manager why.
You'll hear diners complaining amongst themselves but when the waiter/ess asks if everything's alright they just say yes?!

Mark7799

oldagetraveller wrote: »

Did you pay the bill when it arrived? Hopefully not.
The problem is most people in this country still accept shoddy service and poor food. I've done it myself in the past but sure as hell not any more.
I'd have walked out after that other couple were served, and told the manager why.
You'll hear diners complaining amongst themselves but when the waiter/ess asks if everything's alright they just say yes?!

The OP said they had a reduction in the bill which it seems they were happy with.

I agree with your other comments, especially the last line. I've been guilty of that in the past but now give honest feedback.

uktim29

oldagetraveller wrote: »

You'll hear diners complaining amongst themselves but when the waiter/ess asks if everything's alright they just say yes?!

I think thats just what cynics like to believe rather than actually being fact.

Iamthesmartestmanalive

So let me get this right

You continually moaned for your meal,and then when it comes you moaned it wasnt fully cooked - do you not see why that was???

As for others getting served, different meals take different times to cook and prepare and the likes

Tbh whilst you maybe did wait a while this isnt unusual in restaurants, and the food quality clearly came about from you hassling the staff

nickmack

Iamthesmartestmanalive wrote: »

You continually moaned for your meal,and then when it comes you moaned it wasnt fully cooked - do you not see why that was???

As for others getting served, different meals take different times to cook and prepare and the likes

From the way the OP described it, they did not moan, they enquired politely. 35 minutes is plenty of time to cook a steak and chicken, so I would have been asking questions at this point.

Tbh whilst you maybe did wait a while this isnt unusual in restaurants, and the food quality clearly came about from you hassling the staff

Where is the hassling of the staff evident? They waited 35 minutes, were then told it would be 5 minutes. After a further 15 minutes had passed, no food, so they enquired again. Perfectly reasonable behaviour on the part of the customer.

HC_2

magicmusician2002 wrote: »

sorry about long rant and some babbling, but im still FUMING

hi guys, i went to a local pub/restraunt, known for its fine food and pleasant atmosphere iver the weekend. It was my wifes birthday this month so on sunday we decided to scrap sunday dinner as neither or us wanted to cook and we went to eat out
now this was not your average weatherspoons type place, it is an independant place.

We got there at about 5:15 and got drinks sat down looked through the menu
I chose the steak meal (not apt for a usnday maybe but i like steak and apparantly they do really good steaks there)
and my wife ordered chicken with new potatos as our main courses
and a side of cheesy garlic bread

order placed at 5:25
by 6:00 no food so i get up to ask how long its going to be very politely
- as in this 30 minute time another couple have come ni sat down ordered and had their meals placed in front of them
was not given an apology for the wait and was just told that it would be 5 minutes.
by 6:15 NO FOOD my wife gets up and tells them she isnt happy about the service and can we please have our food
the 2 main meals come within a couple of minutes
8 minutes later the garlic bread comes out COLD

my meal was good, tasty but not worth that wait (by now 2 other couples have come in AFTER us had mains AND deserts and LEFT!!! and we are only just getting our mains and the side order comes out when we are over half way through our main meals!!!)

the chicken was not advertised as being on the bone - my wife was expecting fillets as ANY other place we go to that serves chicken on the bone advertises as such.
my wife gets 1/2 way through her chicken then notices that as she gets anywhere near the middle ITS RAW.
the deserts we took a chance on came out in a timely fashion

but it took a lot of times complaining about the wait and the food before they did anythiong about it
they guy who was there acting as manager didnt have a clue, the lady who started chasing our food was MUCH more helpful
she took my wifes main meal off the bill
and the side of garlic bread and our drinks
so a resolution but iot should NOT have taken that much effort to get some customer service
despite the resolution - (taking off the RAW chicken was something which they couldnt argue about) i just dont think i'll be eating there again

Your bill reduction reflected the poor experience you had. Just don't go there again!

We all know there are terrible restaurants out there. You did the right thing: complain at the time and explain the problem. You just need to put it down to experience. If enough people have the same poor service and tell their friends, the restaurant will soon pull its socks up - or go out of business.

kuohu

It's refreshing to see that you complained at the time. All too often people keep their mouths shut and then post on here about writing to head office

But also I think you should name and shame!