Crossbush Beefeater — Restaurant in Arun

Requirements for a good meal at Beefeater Arundel.

Set your expectations VERY low Take your own 250g of lard and just eat that, as it will have a similar texture and taste to the majority of the food. Plan ahead for toilet stops on the way back.

We had a.sharing platter for a starter. The ribs appear to have been cooked a day or so prior, and were dry with only dried up barbecue sauce. The so-called nachos were simply plain nachos chips. No seasoning, no salsa, no guacamole, just the stale chips. The wings consisted of 4 tiny winglets. The potatoes (4) sections were cold. Of the 4 - 2 were bad and inedible. To top it off the calamari were 4, half thumb sized pieces of batter. If it had calamari within in had long since decomposed. Basically this was a £13 plate of food not fit for human consumption.

My wife had a beef and ale pie, served with veg. The pie, although only luke warm actually tasted quite nice. Clearly it was made off premises. Even the chef couldn’t ruin this. It was served on top of a dollop of mash, which despite being warm, at best, was also edible. Then the 17 peas. Not 20, just 17. A small serving spoon at best. The other 60% of the plate was empty.,

I have the house special burger. No coleslaw as they had run out. I was told I could have some lettuce and a couple of onion rings. I advised I did not like lettuce so just wanted onion rings. I was given 2 + a piece of batter. All 3 appeared to have been in and out of the fryer several times, and then left to soften back up in a bowl of oil.

The burger bun was soggy, although I have no idea how it got like that. The burger meat was actually quite tasty when removed from everything else. The chips were stone cold, and greasy and had clearly been sitting around for about 20 mins at least.

We had no opportunity to complain (not that I thought it was remotely likely anything better could come out of the kitchen) as the server, who was friendly enough, was rushed off her feet and did not appear until I had long since given up on the food and was already feeling nauseous.

Even then we were not asked if we enjoyed the food or wanted anything else. Had I been asked the latter I would have responded that what I really wanted was to be able to go back in time an hour so I could go to McDonalds (just across the road) instead and get a decent burger and a quarter of the cost.

In summary this was, by some considerable margin, the worst food I have been served in the last 5 years. It was absolutely disgusting from start to finish, not that I came close to being able...

At least a dozen food items on the menu were unavailable. They had run out of peas and regular chips. At least 4 or 5 main course options were unavailable and at least 3 puddings were out of stock along with other food items needing to be substituted due to lack of availability. But what we were able to order was adequate and the plant burger was great. There was one draft ale on tap which was well kept. Doom Bar.

Our table looked good but wasn't completely clean. Perhaps that was just unlucky. Furniture wasn't tired at all and all looked fine in the restaurant area.

Food presentation was OK but underwhelming, but nothing at fault, just basic. One of our party ordered a vegetarian main course but the meat equivalent was delivered accidentally and the person in our party only realised part way thorough eating it. Luckily they weren't vegetarian and didn't mind, but it could have been a big deal for another customer. We felt we should gently mention it to avoid future problems. Despite us playing down the error, the waitress apologised and removed that meal from the bill at the end which was a nice gesture and not necessary for us.

The best thing about out meal was the friendly and welcoming staff on arrival and throughout the meal. They handled the things that were lacking on the menu well. Without the staff, this would be a two star joint I think.

With so much food unavailable things didn't seem to be being managed well. (We wondered if the menu was changing drastically very soon -but if that was the case surely chips and peas are on the new menu?).

The toilets were almost hilariously bad. Mop buckets were under 3 of the 4 urinals. It felt like the place was going to be shut down or sold imminently. We laughed about how bad it was.

If the food had been cheap it would have been OK, but it wasn't and was priced in a way that set expectations higher than reality. It was like a quiet run-down Wetherspoons but with good table service and a quick turn-a-round but with a smaller menu and a quarter of the food choices out of stock.

From reading other reviews the Sunday roasts seem to help the overall scores for the place so perhaps Sunday is the day to go.

As our only family meal out for our entire holiday it was underwhelming and a bit of a disappointment.

Building maintenance and food stock level management both need attention.

Things that don't need improving... The staff's approach, style, professionalism and friendliness despite the challenges faced by a lack...

Had breakfast here Monday morning & there were several tables available but was shown to a small one I couldn't fit into as cramped corner seat was at an angle. Asked if could have a better table & pointed to empty ones but was told they were reserved for people who did prebook & that I hadn't reserved a table. Couple then arrived & hadn't booked either & were shown to the table we wanted to move to. Single man then arrived also ..said he hadn't booked & was shown to another table available & a further couple who hadn't booked arrived and were shown to a better table. My table was moved away from the wall whilst I collected a cup of tea, but no apology received for the sarcastic tone stating she knew what I meant but that's that!! Young server however was lovely & explained procedure for Continental/english breakfast. Viewed Continental breakfast which consisted of 4 flavoured kids' squash.. no orange juice option. Milk jug for tea/coffee/cereal was around 5litres/huge & heavy & unable to lift as full to the top, so also spilt when asked for help! No sweetener available, & only several overdone croissants, muffins, crumpets, toast, pancakes & small pan au chocolat, 2 tubs with runny fruit in (not ideal for kids!) & a few yoghurts, granola, rice Krispies, Alpen, coco pops cornflakes.. all very bland & none of it presented nicely & no ham or cheese available, although described as continental! Bin enclosed under counter of coffee machine, unclear & need both hands to throw away teabags etc. Menu also misleading as states unlimited English breakfast when in fact, you have to state which items you want in your fried breakfast with no option to replace those items you don't want with an alternative, despite being charged the same price of £10.99. Usually an unlimited option implies a buffet, but this is not the case at all. I didn't eat anything from the Continental selection as none of it was appealing for adults at all & really wanted an orange juice. So in conclusion £10.99 for an English breakfast which was very bland tasting, I would not recommend this place for breakfast. Never been here for lunch/dinner & can only hope it's better than my...