Five Miles From Anywhere No Hurry Inn — Restaurant in East Cambridgeshire

We always used to go here as a family, for my grandparents birthdays every year also. The last time however, my partner who is allergic to mushrooms, asked what the curry of the day was and what was in it, we were told it was a lamb curry - sounds good; he ordered that as he often does get curries when we go out (they’ve never had mushrooms in when meat curries). When it arrived I saw it had mushrooms in it - luckily. So he went up to the bar as no staff around to call over; and he apologised but said he didn’t realise the meal had mushrooms and he’s allergic, the bartender (a male) said no problem I’ll remove the meal for you and choose another option - he chose a burger (no mushrooms) we waited and the burger came out he ate that - I was pregnant and struggling to eat anything due to nausea at the time so left most of my lasagna. Our daughter ate her fish and chips. I went up to pay at the bar again as no staff around to ask for the bill, and the woman came over to me (turned out to be the manager) and printed my bill - it had the 3 meals we ate on it and drinks - I said thank you and held out my card - she said hold on! You had the curry too didn’t you? I said oh no it had mushrooms so couldn’t eat that we wernt told it had mushrooms on asking what was in it. She said ‘it’s up to you to inform allergies not us to ask’ and she put it back on the bill and printed it - I explained we asked what was in it and we didn’t eat it and the kind bar man was understanding and removed it so that was unkind to re add it on - she held the card machine out and I paid it explaining we will never be back again. And we won’t. We’ve found new places to go instead. She was rude, and not understanding. I worked in restaurants over 10 years before becoming a health professional and whenever anything like this happened the meal was always removed - we want the customer to leave happy was the main thing. It’s been on my mind on and off so I thought I’d share the experience. What made it worse was one staff member removed it with understanding of our issue, if they’d stuck to the same rule of it’s your mistake we won’t remove it at all I might not have been so angry when leaving for her adding it BACK on, how unprofessional of a place to not stick to what the already done. I don’t miss it there and my family also now go to a new place for my grandparents birthdays in Ely 🙂 look after your customers better. After this event last summer all of the restaurants we’ve gone to since - I have noticed now ALL not just most but every single place ask if the table has any allergies - so yes it would appear that the server should ask as all others do - to the manager: go somewhere and see it yourself they really do ask everywhere else. Im not saying it wasn’t our fault but I’m saying because it was removed out of good will to put it back was awful service and just unkind everyone I’ve told has agreed 👍 we used to leave customers happy by removing anything they’re not happy with or couldn’t eat because people talk and bad press goes way...

We decided on a spur-of-the-moment visit on Friday lunchtime, as the weather was hot and sunny, and we live locally. We have visited previously, but in the evenings - and our last visit would have been some months ago. We decided to sit outside on one of the benches, overlooking the river, and one of the trees provided a bit of welcome shade. There are quite a few very friendly ducks that wander around, and we enjoyed their company as they are always on the look out for friendly patrons who can spare a few scraps. The first downside occurred shortly after we sat down and had ordered drinks - someone obviously thought that Friday lunchtime (12.30 - 1.30) was the perfect time to start the ride-on mower, and they then drove it up and down, mowing the grass area that the pub tables were located in whilst everyone was outside trying to enjoy their food and drink, and the peaceful surroundings. Part of the reason for our visit was to enjoy the tranquility of the river in a nice remote location, so having to talk loudly to each other above the engine noise wasn't great. I would hope they don't get the Henry vacuum cleaner out and vacuum the seating area inside during the middle of lunch service, and this is no different. How about doing doing the grass a couple of hours earlier, before the customers turn up? We ordered the beer-battered fish and chips which I had seen during a previous visit, and which looked nice. The fish itself was lovely and crispy, the chips were rather oily and not crispy, and I had hoped that £4.50 for a side portion of onion rings might result in some freshly beer-battered onion rings (like the fish) but unfortunately they were 'supermarket versions' which weren't that nice - I wouldn't bother with them were I to do it again. The tartare sauce could have been amazing too, but I presume it came out of the bottle and was served in a tiny disposable plastic container like you sometimes get from the Indian takeaway for mango chutney. The tartare sauce from Tesco is better. We had a very average lunch experience and won't be quick to return. To summarise, good points: Location, friendly ducks, lovely bar staff who couldn't have been more helpful, and nice beer-battered fish. Bad points: noisy lawnmower being driven around the guests at the height of lunch service; chips, onion rings and tartare sauce was nowhere near the standard of the fish - and was therefore...

Great location but very average food and a lack of business sense. They are literally 5 miles from anywhere with a stunning garden and river views from literally everywhere. Unfortunately they do not take reservations or have a queuing system and the official statement is 'if we are full and you are not prepared to find a spot on the grass and hunt for a table you are welcome to turn around and go somewhere else'. We took a chance and got there to find at least 10 empty tables (after being told that they are very busy 20 minutes prior to getting there). Another incredible waste was that at 30 degrees day they had at least 50% of their outside tables in direct sun and empty while at least half of those could have met all Covid rules and fitted in shady areas. So we settled inside which had a very poor airflow so it was hot and humid but at least not in the direct sun. We ordered Halumi and Breads with olive oil and balsamic starters which was the best part of the meal. For mains I had a pizza (chicken bbq) which was at best 2/10 (literally 12 pieces of chicken on a margarita which were all just bunched in the middle). My wife and son had a Sunday roast which was perfect if you wanted your grannies cooking (nothing contemporary about it) and my daughter had chicken breast with leaks which was actually nice. We asked the waiter for take aways for leftovers but my daughter's never arrived (and she hardly finished half of her meal) and we got a 'sorry about that' message). Deserts sound great on paper but you would think that a restaurant surrounded by farms would serve fresh fruits, instead we got frozen rubbish which was extremely disappointing. All in all a great location but settle for average cooking and service and you will be fine. Prices are...