The Old Butchers — Restaurant in Cotswold District

Shocking experience! Wouldn’t recommend!!

Me and my boyfriend went for our 5th year anniversary meal. They messed our booking up as we had to cancel our first booking but they were under different email addresses and we were told they had sorted it. We arrived to a woman who eventually gave us a table after we had tried to explain they had cancelled the wrong booking even though I had emailed from a different email address and they had confirmed the previous one has been cancelled the day before we made the second booking, she still told us it wasn’t the restaurant fault and we weren’t bothered as accidents happen…

The food was average at best, nothing special what so ever, I got the fish and chips and the fish was extremely greasy and I found some black plastic in my fish, however I did not complain as I have good manners and didn’t want to cause an issue as we were there for a celebration.

My boyfriend has allergies and could not eat coleslaw so we asked for it to be removed…his burger arrived with coleslaw inside!!! Luckily I had realised and warned him before something serious happened and we asked for a replacement which took 15 minutes! I had almost finished my meal by that point.

I ordered a sticky toffee pudding and it was completely dry inside, I was struggling to get my spoon through it and we did not finish it. The cocktail and beer was average and overpriced. Paid for a coke, came in a small glass with more ice than anything and wasn’t even half a can.

The most strange thing was that when we asked for the service charge of £8 to be removed…a very old woman with short hair and large glasses and clearly a temper issue came over and spoke to us horribly and questioned why we had asked for it to be removed. I told her the fish I got was very greasy and the cake was very dry, she did not like my honest reply and started to raise her voice which was very unprofessional, I was so shocked with her tone of voice and then she of all people asked us to leave when we refused to pay the service charge and I told her it was discretionary as it said on the menu.

Disgusting treatment from what I’m assuming is the manager (I have attached a picture) and I’ve seen other reviews now that have complained about the same woman. Honestly so disappointing as we went for a celebration and someone had to ruin a nice day for us, hope she gets some help with herself or finds a job more suited to her hopefully away from members of the public.

Any further questions please email me I will be happy to answer any...

Awesome food, awesome service. We were sat promptly and the manager was very understanding despite us arriving a tad late (we called ahead to inform of delay).

We were lucky enough to catch a last minute reservation and it was explained it would be on the terrace.

The menu here changes depending on the produce which is what makes it so interesting.

We started shared a Fritti platter of mixed tempura prawn, squid, sole and monkbeard accompanied by a garlic aioli. I believe the aioli was made with olive oil and was a lovely accompaniment for the perfectly battered tempura - crispy crunch but light and the proteins were just the right texture.

This was followed by a whole Dover Sole ala Meunière. Buttery fish topped with a generous amount of parsley and a hint of acidity from lemon shining throughout. Another perfectly cooked dish, fell of the bone like butter.

Then came the 900g T Bone accompanied by a green salad with shallot vinegarette, and possibly the best French Fries I've had in a long time - perfect golden brown with a lovely crunch. We chose the peppercorn sauce and couldn't fault it (I tasted a hint of mushroom in this). We ordered medium but in hind sight should have ordered it medium rare. They show the rested steak to you before sliced on to individual plates as it is meant for sharing.

Pudding came in the form of a Tonka Bean Pannacotta with strawberries (fresh and dehydrated) and a muesli-like mix. The 2nd pudding was a walnut and chocolate fondant with a salted caramel filling - this if I may say is to die for.

Prices are on the higher side but is definitely worth it for a special occasion.

Would not hesitate coming back (driving all the way just for it) when the occasion presents itself.

Kudos to all at the establishments for making it to the...

• THE BEST EVENING!!!* Me and my partner dined here on Thursday evening. It was our first time visiting the Cotswolds and we stumbled across the old butchers and wow what a find. The staff and food were just out of this world!! We had the fish and chips and sticky toffee pudding!! Thank you for a lovely evening! I must just add, it’s sad to see below the 4 comments of 1 star. Me and my partner have a feeling it was a table of 4 that were on the table next to us on the heated terrace. When we arrived they were at the bar in front of us, shouting at the staff about their table being cancelled.. we heard the staff member say it is our system that if you don’t put your credit card details in the table will automatically cancel.. which is also what we were told when we booked earlier in the day. They were seated in the end on the table next to us. They moaned and complained the whole time about the booking system and the restaurant. Seeing how busy the restaurant got I understand why they would have this system in place. As I stated earlier, we had the fish and chips and also the sticky toffee pudding which the last 4 reviews have also said they had. The batter and fish was perfectly cooked, crispy and NOT greasy! The sticky toffee was moist and delicious. I feel the last 4 reviews are unfair and just slandering this lovely restaurant. The personal attack on one member of staff is also disgusting and we were serviced by this member and had nothing but polite and fun service. I hope people go and make their own decisions on this...