The Chequers — Restaurant in Cherwell District

Judging by the other reviews, we must have caught them having a bad day.

That bad day was last Sunday, when we arrived as a party of four for Sunday lunch. We were seated next to a side door which continually opened to admit other customers - as a cold and particularly windy day it wasn't the best spot. It would have made far more sense to keep it shut and encourage the use of the main, front door instead.

The service was brusque - not especially rude but by no means jovial or welcoming, either. Two of the party went for the carvery; both arrived back at the table with small plates of food, the meat sliced like parma ham. The lack of generosity at £16 per head was startling.

Having opted for the calf's liver, and asking for it pink, I was a bit disappointed to be presented with a pile of cremated sliced meat. When I pointed out the discrepancy between what was served and what had been ordered I was informed it was because '"the oven we use is really hot and it's hard to get it right". When I suggested the liver could have been cooked whole and sliced I was told "that's how we get it", ie. pre-sliced. Great. It was sent back but having seen the meanness of the carvery and experienced the 35-minute wait for the other mains I wasn't inclined to prolong the experience so didn't re-order.

The £16 price tag of my Dad's pie had us on tenterhooks. Unless the price of salt has shot up there's really no explanation for the price-point. There was a decent amount of meat filling, but so over-salted as to be actively unpleasant.

At the end we were presented with the bill, minus the liver main. I wasn't after a freebie but the offer of a coffee or something would have been nice. Frankly, though, it summed up nicely our experience here: no generosity, zero sense of hospitality and very little warmth.

Edit: the lack of response from this place tells me all I need to know. As a director of a business I reply to every single review; good or bad. I thank (and enjoy) good reviews but am always more interested in the bad ones: for sure sometimes you'll get one-starred because of something trivial ('took 13 seconds to answer the phone') but often they point out either systemic problems I wasn't aware of (mea culpa) or a particular issue that may or may not have been highlighted at the time. This means we can recalibrate processes to ensure the same problem is less likely to occur in the future. I also contact these reviewers and try to make it right - they've helped me improve the business and it's the least I can do.

I'm always wary of businesses who just ignore low-scoring reviews, especially if the writer has given a detailed and...

I ordered a scallop and mussel starter. Quite expensive but I love scallops and mussels. Unfortunately whilst the scallops were delicious, the mussels were non existent. When I queried this the waitress said the chef had put mussel sauce on the scallops. Well a) there was no sauce on the scallops and b) the menu said creamy mussels not creamy mussel sauce. When queried with the owner she said they would take it off the menu. I was grateful that she didn't charge me for my starter. However I would have preferred to pay and get what I was promised. My husband's chicken terrine was ok but barely more than a mouthful. The roast dinner was ok. Nothing special. The selection of seasonal veg turned out to be a dessertspoonful of cabbage. Very poor. We won't be returning. UPDATE: Today I see the pub have replied to my review. I did not lie. The menu said scallop and creamy mussels. Not scallops and creamy mussel sauce and no there was no mussel sauce. Why say she would remove it from the menu if I was incorrect. And yes I did eat the starter I said the scallops were delicious so why wouldn't I eat it. There were no leeks or kale on the dessertspoon of cabbage and the roasted carrot and parsnip were listed on menu not part of selection of seasonal veg. I am dumbfounded that the owner has lied saying we were offered a complimentary drink. Thst most certainly wasnt us. Lying about customers is not the way forward...

The steaks were ordered 1 rare, 1 medium, 1 well done. They all came medium-well. The person who ordered 'rare' was not happy, but not prepared to wait a further half an hour and eat a replacement steak alone, as we had a party of 8. One beefburger was lovely, 1 was dry and overcooked. The lamb burger was dry and overcooked, and had little flavour (no added herbs etc). The rosemary chips had no rosemary, and were the same as the other plain chips. When we ordered 3 special desserts, 1 wanted 'no cream'. We asked if the hot chocolate came with cream, and were told 'no, and it was not possible to add cream'. I asked if the cream that was unwanted from the 3rd dessert, could be added to the hot chocolate, and was told 'No, the cream is not whipped, it is pouring cream. When the desserts came, two had whipped cream!!!! If the third person had asked for cream as normal, we could have scooped it off, and onto the hot chocolate ourselves!!!! It seems small things like this should not be too much trouble, especially as we spent £160 in total. Even if the cream WAS pouring cream, (which it wasn't) the least the waitress should have done is asked in the kitchen if it could be whipped! The hot chocolate was watery, and weak. We have been there loads in the past, and loved it. Perhaps this was a one-off, but we won't go back...