Pattenmakers Arms — Restaurant in Amber Valley

Very rarely would I go out of my way to post a review, however after our experience last night, to say we’re disappointed is an understatement. We arrived at The Patternmakers, and headed to the bar to confirm our reservation and was greeted by a man that at first we expected to of course be very polite (why wouldn’t he be?) “you will have to bear with me. At some point your reservation has been changed (there were 5 of us) as we only have you down for 2.” Well we definitely called and booked for 4 (poss. 5 - & were told over the phone not at all an issue… when we mentioned this, his response was “WELL MY SYSTEM DOESNT LIE” okay. “Please wait here in the bar, order some drinks, I will come and take your food order and when we have done rearranging the restaurant to accommodate your 5 person booking, we’ll call you through. Okay… (tbf could have sat in the bar area to eat as there was only us and one other table of 3 in there, but yes, well wait!) Drinks ordered, food ordered, time to head to the restaurant. Absolutely gobsmacked to see TWO tables accompanied. TWO. Three including ours. WHAT HAS HAD TO BE REARRANGED?!! (Photo enclosed) Food arrives, 3 starters to share, Aranchini - lovely, Cream mushrooms - lovely, Calamari - lovely…. Until a friend cuts a piece open to find a HAIR running THROUGH the batter. Call the waitress over (have to mention how lovely the waitresses were) very apologetic of course and proceeds to take the small plate away immediately “we will of course take this off the bill, we’re very sorry” No problem, thank you etc etc. continue to chat away amongst ourselves.. when we notice the man approach us for a 2nd time, again seemingly gunning for an argument. “What would you like me to do? Replace the calamari? Take it off the bill? There is no way that hair has come from our kitchen, they have short black hair and that was long and blonde. There’s no way we’re guilty off that” Okay, firstly, the situation had already been sorted by a very competent and polite young lady who had been and addressed the situation with us, secondly, “were not guilty” there is a hair running THROUGH the batter, it’s not been planted there. Things like this happen, we get it. Apologise and move on. We did eventually stop him mid conversation and advise that his argument wasn’t necessary and it had been resolved, however if he did want to come over to broach the subject, just apologise. His argumentative state had already made us uncomfortable when we first arrived. This just topped it off. Have to mention that the food itself was lovely, the ladies serving were brilliant, but the way we were treated by the man last night means we will not be returning, and we will definitely not be recommending. Could be great, one person really affected the whole experience...

A really disappointing experience. The manager was so rude and arrogant, which really ruined our entire evening and we would never return.

When our group of 5 arrived he told us we had only booked for 2 people (we booked over the phone and therefore the booking was entered by one of the employees) - when we said we definitely booked for 5, he very rudely said ‘my system does not lie’. He was annoyed that he would have to ‘rearrange the dining room’, yet when we eventually went into the dining room after a very long wait - it was empty - only one other table was filled (at peak time on a Saturday night), so we were all confused about what took so long to accommodate us. Still we didn’t say anything and sat down at our table.

We then ordered starters to share and we found a long blonde hair running through the batter of a piece of the calamari. We told the waitress and she politely apologized and offered to take it off the bill. We agreed. Shortly after, the manager came back over to our table to advise us that the hair was not possibly one of their chefs and said ‘in this situation we are not guilty’. He was extremely defensive and accused us of putting the hair in the food (we are also all brunette).

After we asked him politely to walk away from our table as he was ruining our evening we didn’t see him again and thankfully we enjoyed our main courses without the atmosphere he had created. The staff were lovely and the food was ok but we would never return simply because of how poor the manager made our...

Not a good experience at all - such a shame as it was our first time and was looking forward to it. We had the festive menu, no bread was served with starters despite it stating on menu that bread is served alongside all starters. The 'roast' potatoes on all 3 plates were anaemic and I honestly thought they were new potatoes at first. The waitress replaced them, however they were only marginally better. The sharing veg was for 2 people - not for 3. We had 2 carrots each, which looked ridiculous on the plate. As I already complained about potatoes, I didn't want to complain again. At the end, I had been charged for the NZ sauv despite specifying Chilean at the start of the meal. Although it was changed, it wasn't without, what sounded a sarcastic remark of 'there's not that much difference in them'. As I have worked in a bar myself I do know that the NZ is more expensive and it felt like a sneaky upsell.

As we got the bill, I was shocked to hear Sebastian ask if the gratuity was being included in our bill since we split it 3 ways. I felt very awkward and it sounded as if he was asking for a tip. A tip wasn't given due to issues throughout the meal. We had an abrupt goodbye after he took payment due to this. I hate complaining as I have worked in restaurants myself when I was younger so I know what it can be like, but there were too many issues for me to go back...