Water Mill Brewers Fayre — Restaurant in Calderdale

Have been to this place many times prior to our visit . Upon arrival we were met with a sign on door saying find a table and order at bar ( cannot be bothered manning the door ) As we had booked and requested the table over looking the canal(and on a previous visit we were told even though you booked just pick any table) ,we went to the table which had reserved on it(we had reserved) The manager Stephen(new for male Karen as he called me)came over and was verbally attacking us "which table are you booked on " I replied we booked this table and without any other indication that we had not got it we sat down. "Just because you booked this table doesn't mean you have got it"STEPHEN barked at me ! We had no way of knowing that fact! Went to order food and was overcharged a large amount by a 15 year old that was unsupervised at the bar! When I questioned this I was told the bill was correct and she pointed to the vat column . I pointed out that that was the vat! (Obviously she was new but that did not mean she did not have to check . She had trouble getting someone over to help her ,Stephen came over and was at me again " you don't have to dine here" STEPHEN again barked at me . I replied I was thinking of going somewhere else,Steven was extremely keen to get rid of us and asked if he should cancel ,yet as we had travelled so far I decided to stay . Steven sorted out the discount,the 15 year old then asked "shall I tell the kitchen to cancel the food?" I replied "no he has only refunded the discount" Steven then shouted at me "She was talking to him" I said " It was a question about our food" so I had answered the 15 year old(as found out later her age ). He went on a right rant and should not be in a customer service capacity. We sat for our meals and the starters came out really fast, the bread on the prawn cocktail was turned upwards/stale and I would not have served to our dog ,We pointed this out to the waitress.who with attitude said she would replace it. The sharing starter was burnt and dry also. After the first altercation I had decided to start recording as Steven seemed to have an issue with us!(Apparently he had even watched us when we arrived.Grandma took a long time to walk to table,so he had the opportunity to tell us where we were sat instead of just staring at us). Steven came over and said it was private and I was not allowed to record ( I informed him It was open to public and I was within my rights to record his harrasment) He then went on a rant during which he confirmed the unsupervised girl behind the bar "was only 15" It is illegal for a 15 year old behind the bar unsupervised ( I have the video to prove which I am sending to the licence people) At this point I ask for my money back so we could leave,Steven went on another rant whilst during my refund during which Stephen called me a "KAREN " amongst other things . The water mill was quite empty and I can understand why brewers fayre are closing many of these establishments. They need a lesson in a:organisation and b: customer service and c: not serving rancid food. We then drove to a different restaurant that was quite busy and efficient. Stephen you need to find another job ( you may have to when they shut water mill down due to lack of customers) We eat out at least twice a week and don't need this attitude!Whilst the drive in my electric car was inconvenient to the new venue was not a high cost in fuel 30p ,but I would have paid extra £30 just for not to be...

I have been to this pub a couple of times for family birthdays and neither time has been particularly great, but the second (and last) time was the worst.

We had a group of 10 people for the meal and there were only a few other tables in (4 or 5) so it was pretty quiet for a teatime.

Our group ordered at the same time but my wife and I got our meals within 5 minutes even though the rest of the group had to wait a further 15 to 20 minutes.

My wife and I had the three-bean chilli (costing an incredible £9.79, which is quite expensive for a vegetarian meal at a pub serving food) and we got a relatively small amount of chilli (8-10 tablespoons) and some hard, obviously microwaved rice for that amount.

The chilli was bland, unseasoned and probably microwaved too as it didn't taste fresh at all. The rice was also bland and spoilt by being microwaved.

I didn't order pudding but some of the group did and the pudding arrived at a staggered pace of between 15 minutes and 35 minutes (they claimed they had forgotten two of the orders despite the pub being very quiet) and some of the warm puddings looked like they had been sat under a heat lamp, wilting away until somebody could be bothered to serve it.

The staff looked unmotivated and two of them were actually sat down doing nothing for most of our visit, even though they periodically made themselves look busy.

The entire group resolved never to go there again because of the experience and I honestly would advise others to not waste their money on this restaurant, especially when there are other better restaurants in the area (even Wetherspoons offers better food at lower prices and better service).

I would honestly give this zero stars if I could because I feel that paying around £20 for what amounted to a snack-sized portion of bland chilli "cooked" in a microwave is unacceptable. I honestly make a better chilli at home for a fraction of that price.

Save your money and visit one of the many other...

This is an extremely busy establishment. With queues at the bar almost reaching the external doors! I believe the allure of the £9.99 carvery which includes soup and bread rolls as a starter is quite possibly the reason.

Eventually the queue at the bar died down when a couple more members of staff finally joined the 1 staff member serving when I arrived.

The noise levels were quite high due to the volume of diners, so it's not a particularly relaxing environment, neither is it one where you can have a good conversation without shouting!

The whole service seemed a little manic with staff going at 100 mile an hour to cater for the fact that it was so busy. And although they appeared to be managing with the crowds it did all feel a little frantic and stressful.

The soup unfortunately lacked any va va voom...(it appeared to be trying to pass itself off as tomato) however, it blended itself more toward a watered down version of a cup-a-soup.

The carvery I'm pleased to say was polar opposite to the 'let down soup and had a good choice of vegetables and thick cuts of meat of which there was a choice of Beef, Turkey or Gannon, and each looked succulent and appealing.

The chef carving the meat is adorable and a real gent! And his pleasing nature should be mirrored by all as it makes a refreshing change to see someone (who may be tired, may have had a long day, may just want to go home and put his feet up) actually look like he enjoys his job and his good energy makes others smile and want to return, in my eyes he is the magic at The Water Mill!

Impressive Carvery! Would give the soup a miss next time, and there will definitely be a next time! Would have given a higher rating if the staff (particularly the manager) didn't look like a headless chicken giving off stress vibes!

Water Mill, if you can work on a more relaxing dining experience I think you will have a 'Winning Combination' of good food, value for money and pleasant...