Brewhouse & Kitchen - Chester — Restaurant in England

We booked a table for here for my wife's birthday on a Saturday for 5pm. We tried to book it for earlier but the website said they had no availability. Once we arrived the bar was empty and we waited 5 minutes to get seated in an empty pub while staff just looked at us from behind the bar. Once we got seated we were asked immediately what we wanted to drink but the menu is all craft ales that only brewhouse sell so we needed time to look at the drinks menu. The server took 10 minutes to come back after we asked for 1 minute. We ordered the bbq pulled pork burger x2 and the beer bq 1/2 chicken. The food was definitely above average for a chain and it was very nice. The ale was terrible. I ordered the tropical IPA thinking it would be like a clwb tropica but it was horrible. I actually left 1/3 of a pint and that is not me. After our meal we were not brought the bill so I had to go up and ask at the cash register. I just said I would settle the bill here and it was £72 for 3 mains and 3 drinks including a gin and tonic, a coke and a beer. I thought this was excessive but I just tapped my card. I give the waiter a tip and he replied "are you sure" which I found strange. Upon leaving and checking the receipt, the brewhouse charged us a 10% fee for a tip automatically which is unheard of for 3 people. I was absolutely disgusted and this should have been made clear to us as I would not have paid this. Why should customers foot a bill for the staff employed here? Now I can see why the staff were so lazy and poor because they have a free one with a sneaky charge put on a bill. It's obvious to see why the place was empty and we won't be back. Make staff work for their tips and you will see proper service. First impressions last...

We booked a table for 4, we were seated ordered drinks that was the good part. Then we ordered 4 Sunday lunches and 2 side orders of cauliflower cheese's, we were them informed no side dishes available nothing else offered in place, a few minutes later waiter back not enough meat for you dinners we had ordered the 3 meat selection so he offered more of the meat available by this time i was disappointed not as much though as when the meals arrived. On the menu it states 3 meats with all the trimmings, we did not receive any trimmings , lukewarm food, i was missing the extra meat, did not taste very nice, roast potatoes no colour on them looked like boiled, we had pale chips on our plates??? it said you would receive half a chicken a breast we got 18 pounds each meal my 9 year old granddaughter could of made better. We were asked if we wanted dessert i said can i have just ice-cream to be told only 1 scoop i declined, the other 2 in our party had dessert one was not eaten not nice to dry. At no time during the whole disappointing experience were we asked if our meals were satisfactory or did we require any compliments. And just to make sure we don't forget the meal one of our party paid it went through on his bank as he has mobile banking the waitress ran after us in the street shouting we hadn't paid he went back in and showed the payment had gone through while she was insisting she waned him to pay again. Who would pay twice??? As for ambiance i obviously...

I was attending a connoisseur's whisky & beer tasting evening with a meal thrown in on the night I came. It was a birthday present from my friend's wife to him, but as she isn't fond of whisky I had to nobly take one for the team & go in her place! The pub was crowded with England playing Wales in the Six Nations on the pub's big screen TV's, but there was a great atmosphere. All the staff were friendly & efficient, our tasting evening was interesting, fun & informative, with Michael (the bar manager, I think) as our jovial & very knowledgeable tutor. The pub brew their own beers in-house & we got to enjoy a brief, very informative tour of the micro-brewery with their head brewer. I think Michael told us the pub was originally a wealthy merchant's 17th century town house, so the building was rich with character features to enjoy. We were introduced to the idea of pairing beers with whiskies, & how long ago when by law beer strengths were very low it was common practice to boost the strength by adding whisky to make a 'boilermaker'. The food was lovely too. Had a great evening. Highly recommended if you're in the area & looking for something to eat washed down with some very nice hand...