Millstone Public House Bedford — Restaurant in Bedford

I went for a holiday meal with my sister and father today at the Millstone. It's a place we have all collectively and individually enjoyed in the past. Today, we were promptly seated in the dining area and promptly had our order taken. After about 20 minutes, our server dropped off some ketchup and told us our food would be coming soon. Over 15 minutes later, we still didn't have a single plate on our table and our server was MIA. We had to flag down another server to send our server over. Another 5+ minutes passed. My father and sister were ready to leave, I (regrettably) said we should wait a few more minutes.

Finally, our food arrived. We told our waitress that we were almost ready to leave, and she apologized but told us that there was a lot of people on the bar side. We told her 'fine', but that she could have told us that our food was going to take longer, and she replied that she had told us our food would be out soon, which we pointed out as over 20 minutes ago and that when we had to get another server to go find her, she should have come over then to explain where our meals were instead of apparently waiting for our meals to be plated back in the kitchen.

While my fish & chips were enjoyable, my father's fries were stone cold, and both his and my sister's Caesar salad tasted rancid. My father complained that that fries were cold, and we were offered new fries, which he declined. And when I told our server that there was something rancid in the salad, she said she would let the kitchen know so that they could look into. No replacement salad was offered. We were given a 15% discount on the meal, but the sour taste left in our mouths from the whole experience was even worse than that left by the salad. What should have been an enjoyable family meal became a disappointing & upsetting experience.

My sister reached out over FB later that day. The owner promptly got back to her and said that they would look into. They shortly afterwards followed up and told us that they confirmed our story with their server and manager. She informed my sister that our wait was as long as it was due to there being larger tables that backed up the kitchen. That our fries were cold because they make every from fresh, not frozen. That our salad was rancid because they use homemade dressing that doesn't contain preservatives and therefore requires more attention and thanked us for bringing the rancid dressing to the kitchen's attention.

She apologized that our meal was unsatisfactory and that we didn't find a 15% discount fair, but that that is the industry standard and they need to balance cost management while delivering excellent customer service. And that they would use our feedback to improve upon.

Needless to say, none of us are ever going back. There is difference between being unsatisfied with a meal and being served inedible food. I doubt she would find a cold, rotten meal acceptable. I think 15% is perfectly reasonable if our service had been slow or our food cold. But given that the service was slow, the fries were cold, the dressing RANCID, and to top it all off, the server and the owner gave what came off as insincere apologies among...

My wife and I just went here. We were excited to come because of the positive reviews and the large number of customers visiting and dining everyday.

Today we were unfortunately disappointed.

When we arrived we had to wait 20-30 min. I watched a host tell someone "sorry about your order" and then the guy asked if the dip was included and she didn't know. Then he left without saying anything and was upset. I thought that was a bit odd.

Once we sat down we got some water, asked for recommendations and got some alocholic drinks. I got an apple cider cocktail without whipped cream. The drink ended up being pretty strong and didn't have much to it. I don't like strong drinks like that and I prefer to taste more cider than alcohol.

We also ordered what was advertised as Pretzel Bites with a Cheddar Dip.

When it came out the pretzel bites were very doughy with no added seasoning other than butter. The "cheddar dip" reminded me visually and flavor-wise like a creamy gnocci soup from Olive Garden. It was very soupy, watery, and did not taste like a cheddar cheese dip from my experience. We are used to a yellow cheddar dip with a thicker consistency, which you can even get at a local circle K for a much lower price.

For my entre I got something called the Louisiana Chicken Club Sandwich (I believe that was the name). The bacon was hard, dark colored, and appeared over cooked. The yellow aiola (maybe) sauce was pretty good, however the chicken had no distinct flavor. It just tasted like cooked chicken breast.

I got sweet potato fries instead of regular fries, $4 extra, and they were not crispy. They were flimsy and very average.

I ended up spending $50 CAD total and it was not worth the price. I honestly had 2 chicken club sandwiches from A&W last night for a total of $6 CAD that were better than anything I ate today at the Public House (which shouldn't be the case).

Once we received the bill, my wife provided feedback on the pretzel bites tasting a bit off and the server seemed offended from the feedback. All she said was they seemed a bit doughy to what she's used to.

She kind of seemed to toss the cc machine on the table after that and didn't say much of anything. She seemed like she was upset.

I would not return to this restaurant. The prices are way too high and it seems like a place where people go to get drinks and where the food is an afterthought.

I could get much better food at a lower price from places like Moxies.

Shortly after my wife and I had upset stomach. Then I had diarrhea. Not a good sign after...

Went in with my wife this evening to try this place out since we've lived in the neighborhood for 3 years, and have been meaning to make it down. It was fairly busy which seemed like a good sign, and we were seated quickly upon arrival. We just ordered some waters and a diet soda while we looked over the menu. The soda was flat, and had no flavoring. I asked the server if she could dump it and try again since the syrup probably just needed to be changed. She obliged, only to return without a drink in hand and tell me the kitchen told her the soda machines have been acting funny for a week...a week? If you have a bar component to your business, this seems like something that should be fixed. Anyway, it's just soda right? Let's move onto the meal.

We ordered the buffalo chicken potato skins to start. It took quite a while for these to arrive, but when they did they were hot, had good flavor and were enjoyable. Worth the approx $12 price point.

For our main meal my wife ordered a spinach salad, and a bowl of their seafood chowder. She thought the salad was great, and the chowder was good.

I ordered the fish tacos with steamed vegetables on the side and rice pilaf. The haddock wasn't flaky, it smelled "fishy", was tough to cut through. It had a grey color which was fairly off putting. Either is was going bad (I'm not sick, so unlikely) or it was a poor quality fillet.The avocado slices had a weird chemical taste, almost like a cross between bubble gum and soap. The rice was fine. The steamed carrots were al dente and fine. The steamed broccoli was overcooked, very dark in color instead of vibrant green and tasted strange as if it had been steamed with something else that was strong, and not a complimentary flavor.

My wife's meal was probably a 7-8/10, while I'd rate mine about a 4/10. Did I send it back? No, I have some serious paranoia about sending food back to the kitchen anywhere unless it's an open air design.

The server was fine, she was busy, but not as attentive as I'd hoped. The glasses of water were small and never refilled (mine was empty throughout my meal...would have been nice to have that backup soda), but again, she was busy the entire time.

Total cost of the meal was $50. Would I go back again? Probably not. The vibe/decor is cool, but for $50 I could have made a similar meal at home with a more enjoyable result. Perhaps it was just...