Sam & Jak — Restaurant in Cotswold District

Both my wife & I had been looking forward to our post valentines night out for ages, yet I cannot even begin to comprehend on how to explain how disappointed we were with the service, prices & food. As locals, we’ve been to Sam & Jaks several times for just drinks, so decided to have a special night out here. I booked on-line & requested a quiet area to be seated as we both suffer with hearing difficulties. Upon arrival We were well greeted, however were then seated near shoulder to shoulder with another couple sat next to us…. As this was a special night for us, we decided to not cause a fuss and continue to struggle to hear each other.

My fiancée ordered the risotto & I ordered the lamb… both at approximately £26 each. When both dishes arrived we then discovered that any additional sides were at an extra cost, so I was in effect given a 4” circular slice of belt lamb approx 1/2” thick & nothing else… I though I was hard done by…. Yet my missus had a plate of something that looked as if it had been partially digested & then bought back up & placed on a plate….

The service was terrible…. The very young old girl serving us never checked in on us once, When I did finally get her attention for a round of drinks, she only bought me a beer, so I then again had to grab her attention again for a gin & tonic.

After taking the entire 3 mins to eat the scraps that were served up on our plates, we then hoped to find comfort in trying to get attention for the dessert menu….yet after 20 mins, failed miserably......

In the end we gave up. I paid the £96 bill, (which laughably included a 12.5% service charge!) we left & walked into Tesco opposite & I purchased an amazingly great tasting Ginsters pasty (Never thought I’d say that either) to supress my hunger & a tub of ice cream that we ate together when we got home. I very much doubt we’ll ever go back in there again, even for just drinks. Sadly, it was probably the worse eating out experience...

A somewhat mixed experience for this dinner. We were downstairs by the door and bar so perhaps that enhanced the feeling in some way. Felt like a lunch stop rather than quality dining experience. The ambience / atmosphere not being that great downstairs (can't comment upstairs). We all found the service patchy and not so welcoming as guests spending a lot of money for what we had. The quality / value mix didn't really add up for me. Very pricey and the food was not presented so well in parts, and was not as good as we expected. Particularly the plain, grissley schnitzel, the expensive lamb which was OK, but no more than that. The parfait / terrine was good to start with, but a few pounds more than we felt it should be cost-wise. Expectations are generally raised with the price... And reputation. Particularly as British lamb is in season. It was pretty tough in parts and inconsistently cooked over the two plates we had. As our hosts were paying, we didn't raise it then and there. Perhaps we should have. Maybe it was just one of those nights also? We heard breakfast particularly and lunch are very good, so we will do that to give it another chance. Must be honest that we felt short changed in the key departments we would expect more.. The food, the service, the atmosphere / decor and the pricing. I get that it is younger / modern in aesthetic but that is no excuse for not sharpening up the edges if it is being positioned and priced as it...

Had breakfast here based on the amount of incredible reviews.

Pros: The oat milk latte was really good! I find that the oat milk lattes can be quite a hit and miss with many places due to overheating of the milk and this was perfect. We made a reservation and brought our dog so we were very happy to see that they prepared a water bowl for him when we arrived.

Cons: The bread that came with the veggie breakfast and eggs florentine was burnt (photos). You can clearly see the eggs sitting on two black pieces of bread. Shocking that they thought it was ok to serve? The waitress came to ask how was the food and when we informed her that the bread was overly charred, her response was “oh okay” and then just left. Rather awkward - lack of training maybe? Nothing was done about it and the problem was ignored.

Summary: Would not recommend going for breakfast if they can’t prepare the bread as it is a staple bit of the meal. Staff also would benefit from training to deal with customer feedback and at least provide an update that this was fed back to the chefs instead of the abrupt behaviour we received. Might be why it was so empty in...