The Carnarvon — Restaurant in Ashfield

A spontaneous visit after visiting Pleasley Country Park with our toddler. It was our first visit as we found them on google with high reviews.

Having arrived, we were impressed by the well presented building and the interior decor which was high class, modern and clean - very much so that we felt somewhat underdressed. We were then shown to our table, whereby we weren't offered a high chair despite having a young toddler and therefore had to ask for one.

I ordered the Sunday roast and opted to go large which included two extra meats. My partner ordered the wholetail scampi and our toddler had the twisted pizza from the children's menu. My partner requested a pint of fresh orange juice, a pint of draught coke.

Before our meals arrived, we were both considering bringing family on a separate occasion. However, upon receiving our meals we were disheartened. The quality of the meals didn't match that of the price and we expected a much higher standard given the atmosphere of the place and menu.

My mashed potato tasted similar to instant mash and the meat wasn't what was to be expected and also seemed like a small portion for the price. Yorkshire puddings were homemade and tasted nice. My partners wholetail scampi wasn't anything to really brag about, considering the price of £11+ and my toddlers twisted pizza lacked flavour and had a cheap taste to it. When my partner ordered her drink, she was asked whether she wanted it as a pint, to which she responded with yes, but with this in mind when she got her drink it was not and having checked the receipt it was in fact a Britvic Orange meaning it probably came from a bottle and therefore couldn't have been a pint regardless. The filtered water, which was complimentary so we can't really complain about but I will say it however, was warm and tasted like the tap water from our kitchen.

I don't think we will be returning, which is a shame because we were looking forward to bringing family up until our...

First of all the food was really nice and service was fast and friendly. My problem was started before we arrived. We booked a table for 12 people to celebrate my daughter's birthday on the morning of my booking I phoned to say there would be 13 and not 12 just ONE extra person to add but I was told that this was not possible that they could not take bookings of more then 12 people. I was very taken back by this so asked if I could speak to someone higher. A gentleman then came to the phone and confirmed that I could not add one extra person on my booking .I explained this was a special occasion and asked if they could just squeeze an extra chair round the table .This was again a firm no and I was told I could cancel the booking and go elsewhere !!! Extremely strange customer service in my opinion. As it was too late to try and book somewhere else at such short notice and I didn't want to ruin my daughter's birthday we kept the booking but had to leave the family member out . This totally ruined the whole meal especially when the whole time we were there the restaurant was only half full . I would never visit this place again due to the unhelpfulness and disrespectful man I spoke to on the phone . Maybe if it was his business he would have been more accommodating at the end of the day it was one extra person in a half full...

Its my "local" so I suppose this review might be slightly biased. Having said that, if it was rubbish I simply wouldn't go, and I'd be a hell of lot richer if I didn't go so they must be doing something right.

So the drinks....they are cold, and poured well, they arrive promptly. The glassware is clean and so are the lines, so what more could you want...? There's no "happy hour" or "pound-a-pint" stuff happening here so if you want cheap drinks and shots try Wetherspoons or something.

The food - the menu is "gastro-pub". And they do it very well. Its not Michelin star, nor is it "curry-and-a-pint-for-a-fiver". The portions are more than adequate, and again, its not cheap, so if you want cheap food the co-op nearby does meal deals for 3 quid.

Other items of note. The entire place is very well kept, always clean and tidy. The gardens are nice and there's shelter should the weather be all, well you know, english! And the staff are extremely friendly and helpful with great service throughout...

There's also "the ship room" which is of some historical value. I'll not spoil it, I'll let you visit and see for yourselves. But I'll give you a clue and say its very very old.....even older than Andrew the Manager looks!!!

Overall I can strongly recommend. ...