The Wire Mill — Hotel in Tandridge

Mixed feelings about the wiremill decided to book a waterside table for 3.30 on Saturday 3rd May due to previous great dining experience and stunning views however when we arrived after walking past a reserved sign on another waterside table we were pleasantly greeted after a short wait then when we indicated that we booked a waterside table also we were told that we couldn't sit at the table we has seen available that was not marked as reserved as this was for parties of four only and we could only sit at a outside but not waterside table for two due to a busy period, this already left a bitter feeling on our first arrival we stuck to our guns and said we would really prefer to sit at our booked waterside option in the end the staff member said we could but we had to step aside so he could clear it so we did as instructed then he disappeared for a while we were not sure if we could take our seat or not other customers started to queue behind us and were also showing interest in the table we had already chosen and gave the impression that they would just take a seat anywhere so we quickly moved into the table we wanted. The other customers sat on another available table without being seated by staff.|Many staff were around and none came to our table to serve us, even the customers after us were served before us totaling at least three customers arriving after us and being served before us. We then decided to go to the bar to get our own drinks and still not one staff member came to our table to take our food order until a good 30 min after we first took our seats when the staff member who originally met us delivered some cutlery to our table and said it is table service and a staff member will be over to take our order again this didn't happen until we managed to grab the attention of a staff member who was passing this toom about another 20 min, we ordered 2 goats cheese starters, a burger and a bagle main and further drinks, the staff member that took our order was very pleasant but unfortunately some of our menus choices were no longer available,when we finally received our starter it was beautifully presented and tasted good however, one of us cut into the cheese and found a plastic wrapper of the cheese still attached on the bottom luckily it was not consumed and a staff member was just about to collect our empty glasses when we found it so we pointed this out and the girl was very apologetic and removed it from the plate to report it to the kitchen, she later came back to inform us that we will not have to pay for that dish as it should not have been served that way we were very greatful and see was very kind, our main arrived after a long wait and tasted good. We were nervous to order desert as we were not sure if we would get served as we hadn't seen that helpfull server for a while,we did manage to get the attention of the first server who took our original order to ask for desert menus and he brought them over expecting to see him again in about 5min again it was a lot longer before we got the attention of another server who was also very good and we were served our desert in good time. In all it was a bit disappointing and we understand that it was a busy day as we have previously worked in busy resturants so do know how it feels but this has also meant we can notice when something doesn't feel like the service is smooth running and more than one mistake was made which is a shame and the reason we felt our visit and level of service didn't justify the 10% service charge we do hope that our next visit will be better and this doesn't reflect on all the team that day and a few certainly did do...

Premium price, is where the premium ends.

Come here on a friday for a early dinner / late lunch. So the place wasn't busy. There was excessive staff working, Arrived and waited at the host point for a table. no one come to greet us. so we took a seat. We waited and waited for someone to come and see us to which no one did, I got up and went to find some food menus. Still no one said hello. Then i took a seat back down. I called to the waitress after 5 mins more of waiting to ask for a childrens menu. to be bought a breakfast menu instead. we ordered some drinks. after 15 mins or so they still hadnt arrived.they then did a staff handover. To which a waitress come straight to our table after getting the section handover from her collegue, and asked if we where ready to order. I told her could we please get our drinks as we have been waiting a little while. She replied with some serious attitude that the bar is backed up. Yet none of the excess staff went to help? we ordered a coke, kids juice and a bottle of cider. So a very simple drinks order. After a total of around 20 mins we finally recieved our drinks. The lady who bought our drinks out asked if we where ready to order. we ordered 2 x starters and 2 x mains and chips with the starter for the child meal, as he didnt like anything on the menu. To then be told the mains i wanted to order was out of stock and we should of been told this when we got here. I said okay no worries can she put our starter order through and give me 2 mins to choose on another main, The other waitress come over and asked if we where ready to order, I explained to her the other lady just took our starter order and to please give us 2 mins on mains. She asked us to repeat the order. So i told her what we ordered, but we have already plavced the starter order already.p she rolled her eyes at me and walked off. The starters come. The brucetta was just under £8. The tomatoes where tastless, really pumped up with water. no where near worth the money. No one checked if everything was okay. Then we received mains £22 for lamb medallions. Which where nothing special. Nothing about the dish made it worth the premium price. Again we never got a check back to the table or anyone even come over to our empty drinks. I had to get up to get more drinks for us, and table water. Walked inside and got water from the bar and all the staff where just talking together inside. no one come up to us to bring the drinks to the table or apologise for not taking the order. Our plates got cleared. And we asked for the bill. We would have stayed for dessert, coffees and more drinks after in the sun, but didnt want to stay due to lack of service and feeling unwelcome by the waitress. a 10% service charge was added to the bill. I begrudged paying it, but didn't want to deal with the attitude from the waitress asking for it to be removed. They come very fast for the payment. We then got up and ready to leave and walked out. the waitress walked past us twice in this time and couldnt say goodbye or thankyou. We walked past 3 people at the host point just talking amongst themselves. and no acknowledgement from them. Every single step of service was wrong and we didn't recvie. for the price you pay you expect the hospitality service. Yet Mcdonalds...

Review of pub dining only. Note that both my initial review (the paragraph following), posted several years ago, and this update were written without reference to others' comments. After posting it, however, I looked through a number of other reviews submitted and learned that I was far from the only one underwhelmed by the food. At the same time, I am thankful that our experience was on the whole positive, and not as bad as that recounted by some. Like many places with a good view, The Wire Mill is overpriced.

Pleasant rustic setting, especially on a warm day, with lots of outdoor seating.

2024 update: This was once one of my favorite "country pubs" near East Grinstead by virtue of its 1) lovely lakeside location, 2) friendly service, and 3) generous portions of mainly traditional fare. I've been patronizing The Wire Mill with family members infrequently for about 15 years.

On a recent visit, the first two attributes were still there. As for the third, sadly, this is no longer the case. When the platter one is served becomes a garnished canvas with gobs of empty space, you know that culinary aspirations (or pretensions) have taken centre stage, and the value proposition has changed - in this case for the worse.

Menu choices were relatively limited: the only burger offering, if recollection serves, was a double cheeseburger at £17+ (no singles offered), fish & chips at about the same price) and steak frites for £18+. Given the small price differential, I chose the last. The steak, a small reasonably thick but uncharacteristically chewy filet, was tasty enough albeit nothing special. (Unusually, in my limited experience, it was served with a pat of melted herbed butter infused into the meat.)

The French fries, crammed vertically into a small metal cup, were OK but about as small a portion as would have been possible to provide. I was still a bit hungry at the end of the meal, which double or triple the parsimonious portion of fries would have gone a long way to remedy.

So, faced with the likely prospect of an equally minimalist pudding, I did not check to see what was available. To sum up, the service was excellent and the location superb. In respect to the food on offer, however, my sense is that you are now paying...