Old Mill — Restaurant in Calderdale

Settle in, it’s a long one! Only rating a 2 due to the beautiful building and the one young man that served us. Upon arriving we were quite shocked that the building was quiet. We visited on a Sunday at 7:15, whilst we knew the majority of people would have visited earlier we thought it would be a lot busier after seeing the location and photos of food online. We were really looking forward to visiting and had come from Bolton so not a short journey! We ordered our food and were told that there was no roast turkey left - this was fine and we were told that they would put extra meat on the trio to make up for the unavailable meat. After a few minutes the waitress (I'm assuming manager for the way she was dressed compared to other staff) came over to say the iPad had died and could she retake our order. 25 minutes later our drinks still hadn’t arrived. I went to ask where they were to be told ‘oh he’s just making them now’ by the same waitress. I went back to my seat and she came over and asked what the drinks were (a small lie saying he was making them then) we told her our order and stated we didn’t want ice in our drinks. A young waiter came over with our drinks - all filled with ice - we commented that we asked for drinks without ice, the young waiter apologised and offered to change the drinks, we said it would be fine. I then heard the young waiter pass on to the original waitress that we’d asked for no ice and I heard her say ‘they didn’t tell me that’. A couple of minutes later she came over and said ‘sorry about the ice, I did write it on the order but the bar staff never read it’ ( another small lie) Our starters arrived and were fine, nothing to write home about but nothing to complain about either. Our mains arrived - the two roast dinners were lacking stuffing, when we asked, the waitress said they’d run out - she hadnt told us this when we ordered. She then went into the kitchen and came back out with some stuffing (another little lie, getting a bit repetitive these white lies now aren’t they?) the stuffing was described as sausage stuffing - it was clearly an Aunt Bessie’s stuffing slice and not sausage. The roast potatoes were clearly frozen too. I ordered the steak and ale pie, not homemade, the crust and lid were so thick that I couldn’t cut into them, my chips were oven chips. We also ordered the honey and mustard glazed chipolatas which looked microwaved and the sauce was extremely vinegary. The young waiter came to clear our plates and asked if everything was ok, I commented that I was a little disappointed and explained why, he showed empathy and apologised and said he would see what he could do. He returned and said that they could knock off the pie and the chipolatas. The waitress came over to apologise and repeated that she was going to take off the pie and chipolatas, she asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu, having been so disappointed up to now we obviously declined. Upon asking for the bill the waitress knocked off another 10% from the bill.

I hate writing negative reviews but we were so disappointed by this place, the waitress that served for the majority seemed completely unbothered by our dissatisfaction and the constant white lies about small things really wasn’t necessary. If you’re looking for expensive microwave food then this is your place but otherwise, I’d steer clear unless they sort the menu out, it’s a shame because the...

I hope this is seen as a balanced review. In short the food is great but the service Is not.

I ate at the Old Mill two nights in a row. The first night the food was amazing but the service was slow and mistake riddled. I was made to feel like they were doing me a favour by giving me a table.

I was, however, pleasantly surprised to see that the restaurant supported working mums by letting kids be in the restaurant while mum worked. This was a positive. However, mum was incredibly heavy footed and it felt like a freight train going passed all night. (This isn’t about someone’s weight - all other staff seemed to move about the restaurant without sounding like an elephant. It was simply distracting.)

It was evident that the manager and other staff were doing their best to keep people happy to make up for the shortfall of team members who simply were not pulling their weight.

I wanted to give the establishment the benefit of the doubt and thought I would try again the next night in case I had caught them on a bad night.

The second night, despite making a reservation, the restaurant wasn’t as busy but it was forty minutes before anyone came to ask for my order once I had been seated. I was placed in a corner and it was clear they had forgotten about me. On a busy night I could understand but it simply wasn’t that busy. Yes, I could have got up and found someone to take my order but I shouldn’t have to. So I waited and waited and waited even as staffed passed by me.

Once my order was taken the food arrived relatively quickly but the chips were cold or had been sitting waiting for some time. They didn’t taste like they had been just cooked. Having waited so long to have my order taken, I didn’t want to wait any longer for a replacement.

I noted that a table near me, one customer didn’t even receive their order and they gave up and ate what was left on their children’s plates.

Another table waited so long to get his bill and then pay, he got fed up and found someone to pay so he could leave.

The lesson here is that people are watching what is going on in a restaurant and they observe and listen.

I doubt I will be back which is a shame because the food is...

17.10.24 - Update to my review below and response to the reply from the Old Mill. Update. I called the Old Mill following the reply to my original review. I spoke to one of the managers (Craig). He was very pleasant and helpful. He noted the information I provided and confirmed he would get onto Britannia Parking to request a cancellation of the charges. We have now received a letter from Britannia Parking stating the charges are cancelled at the request of the Old Mill which is excellent and appreciated. Craig did promise me an email to confirm he had taken the action which unfortunately we never received. Response to the reply from the Old Mill - I was not impressed with this reply (from another manager, not Craig). My wife did take notice of the parking and on speaking to staff they accepted the responsibility to log my wife's car (witnessed at the time by other guests in the group). If that is not the normal procedure, then staff need some more training. It is interesting to note that other reviews comment on the lack of clarity with the signs. You can have as many signs as you like but if genuine customers are struggling then something is not working!

This has been a stressful week but we are glad it is now sorted.

Original review - My wife and her parents visited on 26 September 2024. Food was nice and atmosphere pleasant. As a family we have been several times...but NEVER again. While the evening went well a week later we were shocked to receive A £100 PENALTY PARKING CHARGE because the bar staff TOTALLY FAILED TO UPDATE THE CAR INFORMATION THAT WAS PROVIDED TO THEM. My wife even wrote the registration on a piece of paper for the bar staff as they were busy. They said they would sort it shortly...THEY NEVER DID! So now we are having to go through the process of challenging the parking fine. We have witnesses to confirm the car details were given to the bar staff, and a credit card statement proving the family had a meal that evening. So if you fancy a nice meal, in good company, and a pleasant atmosphere FOLLOWED BY A £100 PARKING FINE BECAUSE THE STAFF CANNOT DO THE ADMIN PROPERLY, come to the Old...