Harry Cook Freehouse — Restaurant in Cheltenham

This is a large and busy pub, at which we have eaten a few times in the past. It’s something like one of the better Wetherspoons pubs. It’s very well-placed when attending jazz festival concerts. We had reserved a table which was vacated for us.

We had fish and chips which were quite acceptable although some people might find the helping a little under-sized.

We then decided to share what the menu describes as “Churros - Dusted in cinnamon sugar – with… Belgian chocolate sauce”. After my first two dips, my mouth was on fire. There is nothing wrong with adding chili to your chocolate sauce, but it should not be a surprise ingredient in a restaurant’s desserts. I react badly to chili and I was quite unwell the next morning, although I can’t say definitively whether the small amount I ate here was the issue. We returned the rest of the churros to the bar and they were taken off the bill, but my trust in this establishment has dropped. I also think that churros should be like a doughnut: a fried, crispy exterior but a soft, fluffy interior. These were crispy and oily throughout. Perhaps the oil was the wrong temperature or they were cooked for too long.

UPDATE: The pub has replied saying it was plain chocolate sauce. Calling your customers liars isn't a good response - we both tasted it and had same immediate, taste sensation. Furthermore, when my partner asked for a refund, the waiter/bar person and the house manager who was called, both tasted it and agreed, the latter with a comment along the lines of " That's definitely hot isn't it?". I can accept that it wasn't intended to be spicy, but if that wasn't intended, Harry Cook Free House should be investigating how chilli or similar was added into what should have been a a plain chocolate sauce. Aggrieved employee? Accident? Whatever, an apology would be more...

Positives and negatives from our visit yesterday. The door staff were very helpful in squeezing 2 of us in for a limited time, we only wanted a cocktail or two. Ordered via the QR code on the table, all very efficient and delivered promptly. The first two were delicious. 2nd round followed with two gin cocktails, again delivered promptly. However, these tasted very much like 'mocktails' with zero, or very little, alcohol. We complained and a gentleman came and explained that they were made to a recipe and that was that. When questioned further his answer was to turn on his heel and just walk away... I think some customer service training is required. Dissatisfied I returned both drinks to the bar, we'd only had a sip from each, and asked for a refund. The staff at the bar were very understanding and helpful refunding back onto my card. For two cocktails, at a cost of £20, our expectations were not met and we left disappointed with our experience of Harry Cooks. However, this was from the attitude of one member of staff. The explanation given but half a measure of gin in each glass would have likely solved the problem in a positive manner. Tempting to give a lower star rating but was otherwise a positive visit and lovely to be out in town on...

We (a group that all live in Cheltenham) made a booking for the races on Friday for the entire event starting from 12, about two hours in got told the member of staff hadn’t booked our table properly - a group of ten. The table was initially booked and triple checked via phone calls and were told we didn’t need a booking confirmation. When later asked where was our booking confirmation we didn’t have one to show. Kicked off our table as a group of 10 so a group of 4 could sit down. Staff which can’t make bookings properly, TERRIBLE booking system and a manager which refused to help as well as what seems like a very poor business decision kicking off a group of ten for a group of 4 people. Won’t be returning. Will not recommend. What a joke! The best thing was the two security guys who tried their hardest to help us and agreed that the establishment had made a massive error / mess of...