Just had hour annual Christmas roast as usual here at the volley. Unfortunately seems to have gone quite downhill particularly in terms of service but the food was also average.

We were a big group, which admittedly can be tricky to accommodate however we we felt they portrayed having to serve us was a huge chore. Is asking for an additional cauliflower cheese or whether custard is served with a crumble unusual at a Sunday roast?

Despite booking in advance we were asked the just evening before to contact all of the group and preorder, which we did. The food arrived but none of us had any cutlery at took a good 5 minutes to arrive while all our food was sat there getting cold. Food was ok but nothing special. Was a smallish portion.. half a carrot and some sauces on the side. Meat tasted good but the whole meal was definitely better in previous years and the veg option was not as my friend who ordered it expected at all. Beer and wine were nice.

Dirty plates were sat there well after food was finished and dessert had been ordered and brought to the table. We had to move the dirty plates to the table next to us for space for the dessert.

Despite all of the above we had still had a good night with pleasant company until the end when we asked for the bill, which they said they’d bring over. 15minutes passed and nothing arrived and the place was not busy in any stretch of the imagination. We went up to the bar and the staff were just chatting anyway. Requested the bill again politely and the barmaid who looked visibly irritated informed us that it would be brought to the table. Then the male barman looked at us and said with a sarcastic manner, ‘nice’. With a roll of the eyes… unsure of exactly we were supposed to have done wrong at this point (potentially it was annoying having to serve a big group of people?… surely this is part of the job particularly at Christmas time? I stress we were nothing but polite and courteous the whole time, just trying to have a pleasant meal with friends we’d not seen in ages).

We asked if we had done something wrong to warrant their reaction which we explained after he asked what reaction. He immediately responded very defensively said we were trying to ‘gaslight’ him.

I’ve honestly never experienced such an unusual response from someone who is meant to be working in hospitality. Bar staff who appear visibly hostile to (who had been returning) friendly paying customers. If there had been something we were missing he could have explained in a polite way (or even not… having worked in hospitality myself you are there to provide a good experience particularly to normal courteous customers!).

We will not be returning for next years meal or any time in between.