Forge Pensnett — Restaurant in Dudley

EDIT from reply: Firstly, let’s just allow you to breeze through the “frozen food” incident, and the fact you’ve now called us all children when the youngest person on the table was 25😂, and also not having half of the other food meant to be included on the mains. We were unable to book anything BUT the festive menu If you a restaurant that is not stocked on takeaway, at least be open and tell us you don’t have anything rather than handing over a slop bucket and a cleaning bucket, unlike one of the servers saying that using a bucket is usual behaviour. And unlike yourselves, we don’t base our servers tip on the whole experience, as if that’s the case they will get the brunt of your lack of organization. Overall, not satisfied and more appalled by the response given. Feel free to share your thoughts.

We booked a table for a friends birthday as we’ve heard good things from other individuals. On booking through the phone, we were only given the option of booking with the festive menu. There was 8 of us in total, and a day before we arrived they rang for a preorder. We weren’t expecting this but gave one anyway, except desserts as we weren’t told whether this was included. When they rang for the festive menu, they said the reason they needed to know what to defrost the food which rang alarm bells already.

When we arrived we were seated and there were probably only 3 or 4 other tables in at the same time. We had our starters which were lovely, then waited over an hour for the mains. Half way through waiting the waitress came over and said they’ve ran out of stuffing for us. No Yorkshire puddings either. The roast potatoes and carrots were all undercooked, and the pigs in blankets were very salty. One of our friends unfortunately had to leave for an evening work call, and although we left 2 hours for food we weren’t expecting to wait this long for the food. But, we asked if we could get one dinner to takeaway which the waitress said was perfectly fine. She brought out the meal on the plate and brought out a midsize blue shaped like bucket and said this is what we use for takeaways. I declined as from past waitress experiences this has been used for cleaning or scraps in the kitchen. I was just shocked they didn’t have anything else for takeaway meals.

When it was time for dessert they said that they only had two desserts left from the set menu which they didn’t know we had to pre order only mains. They only had two pieces of praline tart, a sticky toffee pudding and ice cream. They said they wouldn’t offer us anything on the main menu we would have to pay extra. Most of us ordered the sticky toffee pudding, and one of our friends ordered the ice cream sundae. The two scoops of ice cream came out with two wafers. We asked where the chocolate sauce and flake were and why it didn’t come out in a sundae bowl, and they said they didn’t have any left. Only 2 minutes later we see a customer with a sundae with everything on including chocolate sauce and flake. Just disappointed they lied to us.

Overall, just an adequate experience and gave a bad impression on...

I haven't been to The Forge for a while but decided to try it out after the refurbishment. Although it has been decorated to a high standard and it is in a lovely setting two things let it down for me. Firstly the poor customer service. On entering we were greeted by the member of bar staff and duly shown to our table, and given instructions to order our food and drinks at the bar. Three of us were seated at a table for six but there were only three menus, so there is the first let down. Looking around l could see there were only two menus on each table, but nevertheless l borrowed one so we all had a menu to make our choices. I proceeded to bar to order the drinks and meals, two drinks were apple and mango J20's, the barmaid was so busy listening into another colleagues conversation she selected the wrong drinks whereby, l alerted her to the error. She then asked if we just wanted to drink from the bottles or in glasses. I asked for the drinks in glasses one with ice and one without. She placed the glasses and drinks on the bar, and l now had to pour the drinks into the glasses so l didn't have to take the bottles to clutter up the table. When the meals arrived they were very disappointing, two of the orders were the chicken breast with bacon and barbecue sauce served with chips, and one fish and chips. The chips were awful, tasteless and hard, the chicken was tasteless and tough. After our meal l went back to the bar and ordered desserts, and asked to pay the bill. The same bar assistant took the order and processed my card payment, once the l swiped my card she proceeded to pick up some glasses and walk into the back room, whilst l stood waiting for my receipt. As she walked back through l asked for my receipt to which she replied "Oh they don't always print off" and then tore the receipt from the machine and handed it me. Is that really good customer service? Absolutely not, if l pay with my card or even cash l expect a receipt or at least to be asked if l want one, and as for it being hit and miss if they print off, then l suggest that you get that issue rectified. After waiting for 30 minutes our deserts eventually arrived. Why it took so long l cannot imagine as it wasn't exactly busy. The only saving grace was the lovely setting and the service we received at the table, the assistant was very polite and had a lovely smile as well as asking if we'd enjoyed our meal. So for me the first person who greeted us at the bar was a let down and as for the food what can l say other than it looked presentable but tasted awful. And it really would be nice to see something other than chips on the menu some of us do...

Our experience of an evening meal and drinks at the Forge, Lower Gornal. Having booked and requested a quiet table our party of four adults was shown to a table directly adjacent to the bar, with two birthday parties of adults and several young children shouting and running around. The table had been wiped, but not well, the cutlery was deposited unhygienically uncovered and touching the menu cards and serviettes for the whole table. Our order was taken and 20 minutes later we were informed that our order would be brought out after a party of 16 had been served. The food was delivered 40 minutes after the initial order. Some of the meals were not hot, and they were not well presented. The waiting staff was dressed in an unclean top and had a strong body odour. Towards the end of our meal, it became apparent that a funeral party had been holding a wake from the lunch time and were now clearly inebriated far beyond a level that would have warranted the refusal of any further alcohol. This resulted in a violent affray involving the vast majority of the party, which culminated in the management having to make a 999 emergency services call. Three police cars, an ambulance and six to eight officers including a police sergeant. During this time the children at the birthday parties were crying, screaming and frightened; the adults pushed their way through to get them out of the pub and to safety. The licensee/ staff commented, sorry about that, it’s ok I used to work in London. In summary: Bad service Poor food Unhygienic cutlery and table Noisy environment Failure to identify excessive levels of intoxication Untidy staff with personal hygiene issues Failure to maintain a safe environment for customers inadequate apologies and frivolous comments about a serious incident leading to a customer being treated for injuries which was still ongoing as we left. This has been our first and last time of visiting this establishment and would suggest that the Senior Management team undertake an urgent root and branch review of its staff and operational procedures, to ensure the delivery of a safe and satisfactory service to customers. I look forward to your response before I pass on my observations to the Dudley LA Licensing and Food...