The Chequers — Restaurant in Bath

Last Thursday myself and my partner booked a table at the Chequers, this is not unusual as its our favourite restaurant. What a disappointment, to start with as we arrived it was clear the place was grossly understaffed with whom I assume was the manageress running the bar, and a very young girl waitressing. We took our table and eventually got served, we decided to share a starter, ravioli which on arrival was one single ravioli drowned in what appeared to be water and crushed tomatoes, Ok not to our liking and at £9.50 was appalling vale for money. We then waited and waited for our main coarse; my partner had ordered the lamb and being a marrow fan had to have the sirloin steak with the marrow bone filled crocket and a side order of peppercorn sauce, chips and greens. Having seen the restaurant fill up to capacity and seeing even the chef doubling up as a waiter we knew we were in for a long wait. Eventually after 25 minutes my partners basic meal appeared and I received two small slices of steak. We then spent the next 15-20 minutes trying to catch the attention of the non existent waiter who when eventually attending us we requested the rest of our meal; by then it was stone cold. The coupe de grace was being told that they had sold out of the much anticipated marrow bone crocket. At this juncture it was time to call it a day, I collared the manageress and paid for my wine and begrudgingly my starter left a good tip and walked. The manageress was most apologetic and assured me someone from the management would contact me. I'm still waiting, maybe this once great restaurant has run its course and complacency has now taken over as it does with so many restaurants who have had rave reviews, so sad. My partner and I eat out at least three nights a week and know most restaurants in Bath, we never complain and when friends outside Bath ask me what the best restaurant in Bath, I always said without hesitation The Chequers, that will not be happening again. Couldn't even be bothered to pick up the phone, an apology for ruining our evening would have averted this review. P.S. This is the first negative review I have...

This was a real shame. The venue is great. However, the food did take a while to come which was actually fine but a little frustrating. It all went wrong when the fish dish came out cold and seemingly raw. My wife actually spat it back on the plate it was so disgusting. The waiter was initially great about it and offered to take it off the bill which we accepted as our appetite had been lost. Mistakes happen and we were willing to accept this with no problems. However the waiter then returned to say that the chef disagreed and became irate and defensive. He then said they would not take it off the bill and insinuated we were causing trouble. At this point I tried to diffuse the situation but the waiter (turns out to be the senior manager for the night) would not let it go and was really quite unpleasant. He accused me of escalating the situation but really he was the one who was escalating. I was absolutely shocked at such a terrible display of hospitality; the other staff were clearly embarrassed.

This resulted in us deciding to leave mid meal, offering to pay for what we had eaten but he demanded full payment or he would call the police! Thankfully we were saved by a lovely waitress who suggested we be allowed to leave. The sad thing is that we were very much happy to pay for what was acceptable but the manager’s approach fell so far below what could be seen as good hospitality that we felt like criminals. We will certainly never return again and suggest that you will receive poor reception if any questions are raised about standards. Very sad and disappointed, we were looking forward to a good date night but was ruined by an inexperienced manager with no head for customer service. I can see lots of positive reviews so I think our experience was likely just one of those things where there was a perfect storm of being too busy to cope, a chef who doesn’t like feedback and a manager on the night unable to...

Beware of their very strict and misleading cancellation policy and be warned, they will keep your deposit regardless! Unfortunately I had to cancel a table the day before (I gave them more than 24 hours notice). Their cancellation policy says £10/person within 48 hrs or £20/person on the day or no show. I have sent them a photo of my phone log to prove I cancelled the day before ie. At the very most I should have been charged £10/person but they have taken £20/person and have refused to refund any of it. BE WARNED: They will enforce this policy without telling you. There will be no courtesy call or email to remind you of your reservation. And they will even take MORE money than is owed. Having called and taken this up with The Manager, when I asked for his name 3 times he replied, ‘I’m sorry I can’t hear you’ (even though he obviously could, because he replied)! Very surprising behaviour from a Michelin guide restaurant.

Update: Regarding the incredibly sarcastic response to this post from the restaurant; this is absolute nonsense, factually incorrect and deceiving! The reservation was NOT for a Friday it was for Sunday 24th Nov at 4pm and cancelled over 24hrs in advance on 23rd Nov at 1:19pm. This cancellation procedure was in line with the advice on the Opentable FAQs and so the restaurant should have partially refunded my initial deposit but have instead sent me rude replies and fraudulently kept ALL of my deposit! As evidence, I’ve attached the Opentable reservation that automatically appeared in my diary when I booked the table and also a screenshot of the call log when I cancelled the table. It’s indisputable evidence that has also been sent to The Chequers but they have sent rude replies to my emails and ignored others!

I regularly frequent fine dining establishments and would never have expected this level of unprofessionalism from a reputable Michelin guide restaurant. It’s been shocking...