The Old Stables — Restaurant in Arun

Disgusting service at 2143 when I approached the bar to be told by the most rude, arrogant and loud shift manager I have ever had the misfortune not to be served by. "We are closed 'was her opening line before I asked for a drink 1 said, having stayed here,and dined here on numerous occasions,,,,, I'm sorry,you are not,you close at 10pm She said she has taken the last till off . The time was now 2144,I showed her my watch. Lots of arrogance on her part Having personally been in retail for over 40 years where customer service and goodwill are paramount to the success of a business I strongly suggest that the shift manager follows a career pathway that doesn't involve interaction with people in a face to face situation. So so rude!!! I managed night clubs with 200---600 customers each evening

We would never ever consider removing cash registers so they could be balanced before the regular closing time. It was lazy and serving her own interests only. If I could give minus five stars on this occasion I would. I cannot comment on this visit about the food as we did not pre book a table for the visit. I know your rules. The whole episode leaves a reluctance to spend my money in any of your establishments again. She told me "if you are so desperate for an alcoholic drink,there is a petrol station across the road where you can satisfy your needs" How very dare she!!!!!!! I pointed out that I have drinks in our hotel room but I wished to have a 'fresh drink with my wife,' Once again I am disgusted and disappointed with the lady's attitude.

I usually praise staff around the country wherever possible, over and above etc. So On this occasion I wish her well with her chosen career.

Wednesday 26 th February 2025

Further to last night's exchange between myself and the shift manager which was witnessed by 20 plus bemused customers adjacent, I wish to clarify some details about this post 1-some establishments use the 20 minutes before closing time (10pm) as drinking up time (DUT) after last orders have been called,or not. 2-the establishment,as a condition of its licence,has to adhere to the stated, published,closing time.on this day,,2200 hours. A contract with the customer (me)had been entered into which I am/was fully willing to comply with. 3-the establishment has to serve me up until the stated closing time.(10 pm) To not do so is classed as potential discrimination and can affect the licence application. So in summary......... If you were present last night, I was correct in requesting that she served me within the conditions of the licence. If you want to order a drink in the DUT period I suggested you give yourself 5 minutes to drink it prior to 10pm as if you are still drinking after the published closing time for the day ,it will be removed from your person.

Finally,I do not need to fulfil a need for alcohol by visiting a garage for a refill.

I just wanted a quiet drink with my wife, prior to...

EDIT: I came back to eat here 2 more times & it was busier, they couldn't handle it. The service was terrible, worse still the kitchen rip you off by giving small portions of food & charging main meal prices. I ate King Prawn Linguine, barely 11 strands of linguine & some prawns - the whole dish was the size of the palm of my hand!! That was a main at £15.75!!!!! Next day was the Pie of the Day, served as a huge air blown pie crust top & looks great from the outside. Inside however it's just lots of air with barely 3 bite size pieces of meat & LOTS of gravy. It's essentially a gravy pie for £14.50!! Soup on 2 different days was good, though a little bland, so could do with a dollop of sour cream in the middle when served - it makes good presentation & helps soup taste so much better. I suggest you ask the size of the dish you order before ordering, lots of other people were equally disappointed with their ridiculously small pasta portions & empty meat pies. The food here is fantastic, very upmarket not low pub grub. Tara, our waitress, was amazing & very helpful answering questions & getting extras we wanted. Good relaxing atmosphere too. We ate Baked Camembert which was lovely, Steak & Chips with Garlic Cheese Mushrooms - perfect steak, Chicken Schnitzel & Chips with Side of Greens - greens were somewhat disappointing & dry, also the chips triple cooked were dry inside, maybe double cooked would have kept the moisture in but the Chicken Schnitzel was absolutely awesome. The Cloudy Lemonade with Passionfruit syrup was so delicious we could have guzzled a whole jug & the Californian Zinfandel Rose topped off a nice summer evening, as did our Latte coffees. Thanks Tara, great job,...

I think the venue itself and the staff are excellent, no complaints at all. The set up and appearance along with decor is fantastic. However, the quality of food we encountered was awful. This had nothing to do with the cooking hence we didn’t complain paid our bill and left a tip. But I won’t be recommending but suggesting alternative venues because of the food quality itself. I had the steak, ordered medium rare, it arrived medium / rare. However, the quality was so low I was chewing and even cutting was an effort!! I didn’t enjoy it and had nothing to do with how it was cooked. I have bought supermarket value pieces of steak which was nicer to eat. I regretted ordering the steak. My friend’s signature burger was not great he described it as cheap meat but thank god for the extras in the burger that made it better but yet the main item was poor. The crumble for desert, thankfully there was only one left and as my guest / friend let him have the last crumble and I had sticky toffee pudding. The crumble was horribly sharp and as for the crumble - there was none .. maybe a couple of teaspoons at most. So he had a bowl of sharp sour squashed juicy fruit berries.

The staff were great so hence feeling wrong to complain as it’s not their fault. I feel like I have overpayed and would have rather have gone to a supermarket cafe for food. Unless quality changes will not be recommending or returning m. It’s a shame as the venue is so close I would have used...