Belvedere Arms — Restaurant in England

Normally very good service even when they are busy and being someone that does not leave reviews normally, I couldn’t not leave a review of my experience due to it absolutely ruining my wife’s Birthday.

Arrived at 1:55 with a reservation for 2pm for my wife’s birthday. Off the cuff, been told they need the table back at 4pm.

A little annoying especially considering the reason we were there. Seated at the back between a door way and given menus.

5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and finally 30 minutes hit and not a single waiter/waitress has observed us or taken a drinks order.

Finally having enough of waiting, my wife decided that she did not want to waste anymore time and she would like to go home rather than spend any more time waiting for someone to actually acknowledge us.

On the way out, the gentleman that seated us apologised and off me and my wife went back to the car. No attempts to stop us.

On exiting the car park in the car, the manager Nicole was walking towards the car and asked us to come back in and that she was very sorry for the bad experience.

Unfortunately, we now felt a little insulted that it’s taken them for us to leave, get back into our car and exit to then ask us to come back in.

The mood had been ruined and as regulars when having family time, we enjoyed the cosy atmosphere of the Belvedere. However, this experience has been left with a very bitter taste.

On returning home and once my wife was upstairs, I called the pub and spoke to Nicole to find out what actually went wrong. She apologised and said the two waiter/waitress’ THOUGHT we had been served.

Nicole apologised for the mistake but followed with “I don’t know what I can do, I begged you to come back in”. Ignoring that the mood has been ruined and my wife being upset.

I get 1 day a week with my wife to be a husband and having the Sunday off for her birthday was really important to me and her.

Begging us to come back in wasn’t solving anything. It’s embarrassing to have to get up amongst so many people after just 30min, who then realise that we’ve been sat there and we have nothing in front of us for drinks or food, leave the premises and then asked us to come back in to correct the mistake that was not noticed at all until i mentioned it. It’s embarrassing for us and the manager to walk back in and sit back down.

Thank you for such a horrible experience on such a special day. While we come home and eat...

We just had Christmas lunch here today. I chose this venue due to previous visits being very enjoyable. Sadly it was disappointing from start to finish. We arrived 5 minutes before our reservation and were told to wait max 5mins whilst they prepare our table. We then were taken to a table in the bar! I told the lady that I had booked a table in the restaurant, she advised that if I wanted that table I would need to wait 15 mins maybe more as the previous guests were still eating. This was quite annoying and not really my problem....they really should be more organised and maybe if they have booked seatings every two hours they need to inform the guests at the beginning then maybe 20 minutes before the table needs to be vacated so that the next guests are not sat waiting. I was also quite annoyed that we were taken to the table in the bar in hope that we would not notice.! It was only because I mentioned I had booked a restaurant table that we were told to wait. Very poor organisation and poor service! Customers should simply get what they have booked and not given something else in hope that they don't notice! When we got to the table it was just awful! The only sign of Christmas was two crackers...I noticed that some of the tables had Christmas runners and looked more festive. They should have done the same for all tables. I've been to normal pubs where it is more festive and inviting. The table was not clean. We had to wait for ages to get a wine list which when arrived was dirty and sticky. We finally received our started which was basic, the main was ok but no stuffing and a tiny amount of gravy. I saw some tables with a nice bread basket but we were just given two small pieces of toasted bread. Then to complete the disastrous Christmas lunch my dessert arrived and the presentation was so poor! I wouldn't serve this at home. The meal was expensive and the whole experience was disappointing. I will not be visiting this pub again and especially not for Christmas....they really need to smarten up the staff, the presentation of the food and the table decorations. Disappointed that I booked here, next year I will go to one...

Overall, this place deserves a high rating.

It’s strategically located in an excellent location - you can go for a walk at Virginia Water and then go for a Sunday Roast!

The car park seems to have lots of spaces and it’s easy to register your car with the Belvadere Arms.

The front staff were incredibly nice and helpful - this is really important to a place like this which will attract lots of tourists.

Ordering was straightforward and my attendee was very nice and helpful.

The Sunday menu was very good - lots of options and not just roasts.

We ordered the sirloin and pork belly roasts.

They arrived in under 5 minutes. And the waiter was so attentive and friendly.

The food quality brought the rating down. The food coming out so quickly is not an issue. But might explain some of the quality of the food.

The meat for both of us wasn’t great even thought he pork belly was meant to be slow cooked - should have been melt in mouth.

The crackling was beautifully presented but lacked depth of flavour.

The potato skins were chewy rather than crispy.

The carrots were lovely as were the onion.

The parsnip was inedible. The greens also lacked any flavour. The Yorkshire puddings were also too stiff to eat them completely.

We’re more than willing to come back and give it another go - but we’ll definitely steer clear of the roasts. Given how many they must get through on Sundays - I suspect their system is tailored for throughout but probably at the expense of quality. I’m no-one to tell a restaurant how to change its approach - but these were my and my...