Canalside Farm, Shop & Cafe — Attraction in Stafford

I've been here a few times now so feel confident about writing a review based those occasions. You have a fantastic farm shop showcasing local produce and while on the expensive side i highly recommend the butchery counter if you want top quality meats. When "Nick the Fish" is there i also highly recommend the fish counter too! The cafe however is very much a mixed bag experience... it is in a lovely setting next to the canal with both inside and outside seating. For a cafe the menu is quite varied and the food and drink is of good quality. Savoury wise i highly recommend their oakcakes and sweet wise their "cream teas" consisting of a scone, butter, jam and clotted cream along with either tea or coffee are lovely! However, on more than one occasion now they have run out of clotted cream or scones so i would advise you go early in the afternoon, say no later than 2pm to guarantee they have enough in... after that time we have noticed certain things are no longer available. That all being said i am NOT knocking stars off because they ran out of certain things on the menu, i'm knocking stars off for poor cleanliness. On the several occasions i have been here without fail you will find dirty tables AND dirty floors! The last time i was in i witnessed a member of staff clean a table but then failed to even check under the table or the chairs! Possibly worse than food being left on the floor is the state of the cutlery (which is help yourself) and rarely will you find knives or folks that have been cleaned properly. Why aren't the staff checking the cutlery before it leaves the kitchen, clearly they're taking it out of the dishwasher and assuming it's clean rather than checking. As someone that once worked in a food orientated business i find that unforgivable and i urge the management to train the staff to be on the lookout for these things. Update: since writing this I have heard nick the fish is no longer selling fish here and has moved to...

I have visited several times and find the staff can be aloof but it's a great setting and convenient when walking. Yesterday I ordered a jacket potato for my two young children to share with cheese and beans on the side. The potato arrived undercooked and still hard. I took the potato to the counter and was just told it has been in for 3 hours. I had to then put my fork through the potato several times to prove it was not edible, which I found unessersary. I asked for a new one as there was no offer of resolving the problem. A second potato arrived and the beans were on top, which yes I could live with but one of my children doesn't like beans so I asked for it to come like my original order. The young girl was happy to oblige then shortly after another member of staff returned telling me they had no more potatoes as they had all been ordered (it was 1pm) and I could order something else or they do potato halves. I said I just want a potato like my original order to be told 'well your first order was correct' I responded stating it was raw for her to then return to the kitchen to discuss it again with the surly looking cook. I approached her as it's an open kitchen asking for a potato it is really that simple to be told I can have one cut in half. I told them I was not paying them extra to cut a potato in half as they don't provide any extra filling as I have done it before and begrudge it when I can just separate the potato. Let's face it lots of people do it with puddings!!! Anyway they miraculously found a potato and no one else looked like they were having one after they had 'sold out'. Very disappointed to not be able to give a local business my custom anymore and I now wish I had stuck to calling into Costa as they would not have been either...

NOT AS ADVERTISED ON THE WEBSITE. SEE PHOTOS. The changes made to the afternoon tea menu has really brought down the standard that we have come accustomed to. I fully understand that in the current financial climate, cost cutting changes have been made. However, we would much rather pay more to receive the higher standard food. The sausage rolls and pork pie feel like a cut too far. The pork pie is like Lidl basic range. The sausage roll is no where near the quality that came from the farm shop supplied. The scotch egg was also a very welcome addition to the previous menu. There does seem to be larger amount of sponge cakes supplied, but we all don't have large sweet tooth and the previous menu was a lot better balanced this way. The previous smaller cakes where better and a had better variation. We've ended up with taking away 4 boxes of cakes that we really don't want. Also, the quiche adds nothing to the whole tea. It might as well not be there. We tried to raise these issues but the staff seem to be far too stressed and under too much pressure. Also, with the missing items we also wondered if the scones had been "dropped". Only to find out it wasn't brought over because of the table size. It would have been nice to be told that from the beginning and not having to ask (almost as if we didn’t ask, we wouldn’t have got them). We like the main (a la carte) menu much better and it feels such a shame that the afternoon tea seems to be second best to it. Almost a "budget option" now. The whole experience has left a sour taste in our mouth ending up with us taking away 4 boxes of cakes that we really don't want. Update: We ended up with rough stomach’s after only having the...