Falshaw's Farm Shop, Cafe, Butchers and Ice Cream Parlour — Restaurant in Bury

This was our first visit. We gave 2 stars purely for the facilities for small children, as my daughter loved playing outside for a good 2 hours.

In terms of service, I think there are a few training needs which I will break down next.

When we arrived, there was an elderly couple already waiting at the stand, so not sure how long they had waited before we arrived. It was busy inside, but there were free tables. We stood with them for at least 5 minutes before we saw them so much as acknowledged.

A young girl greeted them, asked them if they had a booking to which they said no and she took them to a table by the entrance with no menus, she then she ignored them for a futher 5 minutes (of which we were waiting to even be acknowledged) before the elderley couple got up and left to their car - for which I cannot blame them and I hope this wasn't their first experience.

Another 5 minutes passed before we watched the girl walk past us with still no acknowledgement and head to their now empty table. She sighed when she saw they were absent and went back to where menus were stored and slammed them down.

After 15 minutes of us waiting, without so much as a glance or a word in that time, we were eventually greeted, but it wasn't a warm greet, it was very apparent she didn't want to be there. For example, "I am really sorry, we are really busy, but I will be with you as soon as I can" would not have gone amiss, or even a smile.

We needed a table for 5 (3 adults and 2 toddlers) we hadnt booked, but were happy to wait as there were outdoor facilities our kids could enjoy. However, she wandered off, came back, said "I can't do 5, so unless you're willing to sit outside...." and tailed off.

I said we can sit outside if that's the only option, so she gave me 2 menus and then just walked off, no futher guidance, and we haven't visited before.

We made our own way outside to discover that it was a completely different and very basic menu which again was not explained. But we had already stood with two 3 year olds for a good 20 minutes and just wanted the kids to have a good time. Therefore we encouraged them to go play and made the best of the situation to ensure that happened. But the service was truly, truly awful and I don't think the outdoor facilites are good enough to warrant risking that again.

From the simplified menu, we queued to order coffees and a basic sandwich each. When the coffees arrived, they had been majorly burnt, but after queuing to sit outside then queue again to order, we didnt want to queue again and deal with any more bad attitude, so just powered through it.

The upside is that we were able to let the kids play outside for a good 2 hours, and they had a great time together. But, it quietened off indoors within 30m of us sitting outside, so if we had been given an option to wait for a table indoors we would have taken it, and it would have been possible, but we were not. Instead, we were very much made to feel like an inconvenience and not a...

"Shall I call you an ambulance or would you like an icecream?"

This was actually said to my friend who was having an allergic reaction to some pepper that was in her salad, despite explicitly telling them that she was allergic to peppers and asked if the salad would be made from fresh.

A mistake had obviously been made, however the response to this was as concerning as the mistake. They appeared to be completely unaware of the severity of this situation despite them telling me all about their family member with a nut allergy. They did not seem to understand that an allergy is an allergy, whatever the object. And that every time someone's allergy is triggered it gets worse. ( My friend now has to carry two epipens rather than one)

This stressful and distressing situation was made worse by defensive and clueless staff who made out that somehow it was my friends fault for not spelling out the consequences of her allergy to ensure that everyone understood that if she had a reaction she may need an ambulance. How they could have not known this with someone in the family with an allergy themselves is beyond belief. Luckily one of the 3 management seemed to understand the severity of the situation.

I have always liked Falshaws farm and cafe, however I am incredulous at how people that serve food do not understand the severe implications of an allergy. My friend was very ill and it will take her some time to recover due to this incompetence, although it could have been a lot worse. So if you do have an allergy or intolerance, I recommend that you go into the kitchen and make the food yourself to ensure...

Lovely little space to escape to for an hour or so. It's become one of our favourite family things to do to come here and relax with an ice cream - sit outside looking at the lovely view and the few animals, having a chat without feel pressured to leave, and our youngest can play in the little tractor area. Sadly it's sometimes a bit of a victim of its own success and gets a bit too full, but I think it would be a shame for it to change in any way to try and accommodate more people. Great ice creams, worth a trip out of your way to try their latest selections which never disappoint. Staff could do with being friendlier, they're not rude or anything awful, just not very welcoming and friendly despite the fact that we've been quite a few times now - it would just be nice if they smiled and engaged with their customers a little and even nicer if someone occasionally recognised you as a returning and...