Churchill — Restaurant in England

First reviewed in 2021: I blame the in-laws (😆) but apparently it was advertised that The Churchill was providing all-day breakfasts, to which upon arrival that was not the case. Gutted!

Staff were all over the place, and seemed to be hiding in the soft-play centre on a number of occasions to which I heard one saying to another: 'oh, you handing in your notice again this month mate?' Nice!

Food was OK. There wasn't an amazing choice for vegetarians...I've had enough of lentil and chickpea burgers...there's more variety out there!

Expensive soft-play pricing and service was alright. We just left feeling as though it could've been a lot better.

New review: September 2022

So after a grumble in my last review of The Churchill, I decided to give it another shot...on a Sunday.

The menu is looking great and The Churchill have really pulled it out of the bag with the varied choice of vegetarian foods - spot on!

However...

...some of the staff are still not what I would call "hospitable".

I'm not tarnishing them all with the one brush, as certain individuals that I engaged with were good and helped with my queries. However, when looking at the menu and being told pretty much everything I chose was not available - eg. Dr. Pepper Zero, Kopperburg, etc - it wasn't a good start.

I went with the Beyond Burger, which should've come with onion rings as well as fries - nope. Similar to my other family members - some of the additions to their meals did not come out either - eg. mash alongside a pie, roast potatoes with a steak...and so on.

Now, this matter was dealt with - granted...but it's what came next that flummoxed me and my partner!

As we paid for softplay, the closing time was 7pm and we had only used around 30 of the allotted 90 minutes of play for our son and nephew. As we ate, the front of house staff member began to shut it up and barricade the entrance with a chair...bit extreme, but there you go. It was barely even 4pm...on a Sunday!

As I finished my meal (to which I will say was delicious!), I decided to be a rebel and move the chair away from the softplay entrance - to which as I walked through, I was told by the front of house staff member that - "sorry, we're closed".

I challenged this, as the closing time was 7pm and the reply was "well, sorry but we're short staffed". It was barely even 4pm...on a Sunday!

I smiled and said, "these children are my responsibility. I am a good father and uncle to these little ones...please, have mercy and let me pass - for I am carrying the one ring to rule them all and - " - Ok, maybe that bit was fabricated - but I did explain my case. The staff member was of course uncomfortable but allowed me to remain.

Next, I'm told via my wife that the front of house staff member began being rude to our party, stating that we were all "barking orders" at her - to which I say false!

FALSE! Now, we all understand that in a busy environment, stress levels can rise, but...it was our table and two others...it wasn't incredibly busy and there should be a modicum of decorum when dealing with customers / end users.

Thankfully, money was taken off the meals and we enjoyed a free softplay - to which we say thank you, however...please can certain members of staff attend carefully - we were polite, we were understanding and we did not 'bark orders'.

Sadly, this will be my last time attending The Churchill. Twice now, situations have cropped up at this establishment - spread between over 18 months. Please rectify this - for the good of the...

After calling into the Churchill for a drink a few months back, we were very impressed with the food menu and friendly atmosphere, and despite food prices being a little over budget I decided to save up and treat my step mum for birthday dinner booked last night. Food come quick enough, but started bad, one of my children had a child’s steak and chips, this came out like a lump of rubber, and I struggled to cut it for him, he is autistic and has sensory issues and was very disappointed, he chocked on a piece of meat and had to drink to wash it down. I ordered a rare rump steak which again i could barely cut let alone chew, I sent the plate back barely touched and had lost my appetite completely. This set the tone for everyone else’s meals ( apart from the other kids who had a burger and kids Mac and cheese which they both enjoyed ) step mum barely ate any of hers and husband enjoyed his mixed grill until he also got to the steak which he couldn’t eat. Now, I’m not actually one to moan I get embarrassed and would rather just pretend I enjoyed it but I couldn’t, we were all so disappointed Nd a night we had. Even looking forward to for months felt ruined 😥 I will say though that staff and manager were extremely sorry, and went above and beyond to rectify the situation, the manager was disappointed by the standard of the food and I did truly believe that she was as disappointed as us. She knocked a considerable amount off of the bill and we would probably chance coming back again, just not for steak 🙈 I left 5 stars for service because front of house staff really were lovely as was the manager, atmosphere started off nice but unfortunately dampened by the food and I am awarding one star for food because 2 out of the 6 meals were cooked to perfection and 2 kids were happy we are just very disappointed with ours. I will say though don’t let our experience put you off, not sure what was going on i think we were jinxed, everyone else in the restaurant seemed pleased with there meals and some of the food coming out looked lovely especially the burgers, the staff were really lovely and still managed to smile at the “moany” table. I almost feel bad leaving the negative review on food because the manager made sure we were reimburst, I just think the chef needs to step it up and not drag this...

My partner and I took 2 kids to the Wacky Warehouse. Staff member (one) was pleasant enough, but the customer service was shocking once we ordered food.

Only us and one other family to be served. Despite us ordering first, theirs came out 15 minutes before ours. Weird.

My partner and I both ordered large cokes with no ice. Staff switched it to diet coke without asking because they didn't have any regular, we only knew because they took it to the wrong table, spilt it and were trying to work out whose it actually was. Eventually they went to get us 2 medium cokes (from a bottle, with ice), apologising for the inconvenience but not refunding the price difference or offering extra to top them up.

My double-patty burger was overcooked, and did not arrive with the advertised onion rings or coleslaw. Similarly, my partner's burger was also overcooked, the brioche bun was burnt and had no onion rings - but did have the coleslaw. Random.

We also ordered tex-mex corn on the cob and a side of chips, When it didn't turn up, we were informed that the corn isn't offered anymore and should have been removed from the website. The chips were provided, apologies were offered and a batch of corn was provided anyway. Not sure if what arrived is what's normally offered or it was rushed out, but I think I'd rather not have had it.

The kid's food was fine and arrived complete.

The total food bill was over £70.

We ate the very expensive, partially-delivered food we received with children's forks because there were no adult ones available. There were no napkins anywhere.

'Accessible' toilet in Wacky Warehouse is not accessible to a wheelchair, does not have any handles, and is unusably low. The one out in the pub was accessible but small, with a floor that was slippery and visibly wet, and we went in as a staff member went out so they were clearly aware and generally disgusting from a hygiene point of view.

Overall, we don't recommend and won't...