Station Tavern — Restaurant in Cambridge

Really very disappointing. Myself & Partner have visited often for drinks and decided to come for lunch after always enjoying our time.

We ordered drinks through the app and all was fine. Then ordered food and was approached by a very confused employee telling us someone should have told us, but only drinks should be ordered through the app as they are running a reduced menu and the venison loin is not available. No problem, we requested the physical menu and changed it for the fish and chips. Not available. Ok, the venison boeuf bourguignon? Not available. Employee finally checked what was available on the physical menu and we settled on chicken burger. We asked the price difference to be applied to the next round of drinks, and asked us how much the venison cost so she could figure out the difference. When we said £25 she just looked at us blankly and said ‘really?’ So we showed her the price on the app. Said she would communicate with the bar to ensure they were aware, they weren’t. (Not the bars fault, the lady behind bar is great and has served us before, absolute no complaint in re to drinks or bar)

Food comes and the poached egg on my salmon nicoise was really over cooked. Then partner goes to munch the burger and there was a hair embedded in the chicken batter! We asked for a replacement and the same waitress from earlier apologised and immediately brought out a new one saying it was her lunch but we can have it. Not sure how I felt about that.

The final cherry on top, which you really couldn’t write - partner finishes his fries and at the bottom, was another hair! We waited for someone to come over to clear or ask how it was but no one approached (probably didn’t want to after the first hair). I mentioned to a waitress we found another hair and she just said ‘oh right’ and turned her back.

Partner & I both work in hospitality and never write complaints, but the lack of organisation, hair in food, plus the complete disregard when informed about the hairs was really shocking.

I’m glad this wasn’t an assignment for secret shopper as this would have yielded very...

Awful. One word to describe our experience here. I don't recommend eating here at all.

We came in and it was hardly busy in comparison to the other places nearby. 4 adults, 2 teenagers, a 8 year old and 6 year old. We all chose our food from the incredibly lacklustre menu and patiently waited for our food. 10 minutes past. 15 minutes past, and finally, one of the 8 meals we had ordered had arrived after 25 MINUTES. We weren't warned of a wait but we told the person who had their food to not wait.

We had ordered coffee when we came in and it had only just arrived by this point, after we asked for it as they had "forgotten it".

After another 25 minutes, the food for the teenagers arrived and one of the adults. One of the teenagers had requested no onion rings in their burger, and no tomato, the other, no pickle. Guess what happened?

The order was not followed as we requested, one of the burgers was far too hot, the other, lukewarm, both black from being burnt.

Again, after another 15 minutes, and half of the group with no food, we were told that there was no buttermilk chicken, the 8 year olds order. He then asked for a roast and after 5 minutes, we were told they couldn't do that either so we ordered a burger for him.

Then a salmon salad arrived, with a very sad bowl of lettuce and 2 pieces of salmon on top.

After now, an hour and no food, we had 2 burgers arrive, leaving the 6 YEAR OLD with no food still. We complained and eventually got a refund and free drinks, but the youngest only just got his food, AN HOUR AND 20 MINUTES later.

Turns out, half of the menu is unavailable, with no warning to the customers prior to ordering.

UPDATE

TURNS OUT THEY REFUNDED THE MONEY BUT THEN TOOK IT BACK WITHOUT AUTHORISATION...

If you want to go for a meal where everything you pick isn't available then this place is for you. For starters, the waitress who served us was useless and like a fish out of water. The vege roast come with meat gravy (apparently the chef doesn't know how to either make a vege gravy or even how to go to a shop and buy some. The below recipe is for him if he wishes to take note:

Recipes Make-ahead vegetarian gravy

Save recipe Vegetarian gravy By Good Food team A star rating of 4.1 out of 5. 46 ratings Rate 34 comments Magazine subscription – your first 5 issues for only £5! Preparation and cooking time Prep:10 mins Cook:35 mins Easy Serves 6 - 8 Make this vegetarian gravy ahead of time and k

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped 2 carrots, finely diced 2 celery sticks, finely chopped 2 bay leaves 1 large thyme sprig large knob of butter 1 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp plain flour 1 tsp Marmite (optional, but it does add colour and depth) 1 tbsp tomato purée 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 1l vegetable stock (or chicken or beef stock, if you prefer) soy sauce, to taste

Method STEP 1 Fry the veg and herbs in the butter for 10-12 mins until the vegetables start to brown. Scatter over the sugar and continue to cook until sticky and caramelised. STEP 2 Stir in the flour until sandy, then add the Marmite, if using, tomato purée and vinegar. Pour over the stock, then simmer everything together until you have a thickened sauce. STEP 3 Sieve, then add soy sauce to season and colour. Use straightaway or cool and freeze.

An absolute joke of...