County Arms, Truro — Restaurant in England

I dropped in for lunch at just after 2pm yesterday whilst my vehicle was worked on at the Kwick Fit next door.

I came away with three distinct impressions.  The service staff didn't want me in the venue on my own, the venue management are only interested in having larger group bookings and I think I was in time for a carvery meal but as I was ignored when I arrived it had become too late and they didn't want to do anything about that.

I had the following experience:

I was offered a table right by the main entrance.  Perhaps this was to enjoy blasts of refreshing December air every time people came and left.  Also, I felt the general activity and commotion of people arriving and leaving close by was intrusive and not conducive to a peaceful meal.

I asked for a different table but was told there was nothing available and the table for two by the entrance was the only one of that size laid up ready.  This was despite the venue being rather quiet and having a number of free tables, about ten from my memory.  In the end I took the offer and was told it was table service.

I sat at my table for fifteen minutes before making my way to the bar to enquire how to order some food.  Found two waiting staff, one on a mobile apparently texting.  The other greeted me and turned out to be the waiter for my table. I informed him of my wait and and asked if they actually did food and what I needed to do to have some.  I admit this was not my finest moment and I apologise for my attitude, but I was somewhat frustrated by this time and building a head of steam.  Feeling ignored in restaurants and pubs is a pet hate of mine; however, after that I made sure I remained calm civil and friendly.  My overriding motivation was to get past this and my lunch back on track. I was asked what I'd like to eat.  I requested a small carvery and was told I couldn't have that as it was considered a festive meal and only for groups. This comment had a lack of credibility to me, especially as it was looking like staff were just starting to clear the carvery away and didn't want the bother of serving it now.  Perhaps I could have had this, say ten minutes before.  Anyway I tried for a steak and ale pie and was told it was off. By this time I felt like I was in an episode of Fawlty Towers and enquired what I could do to get a meal please.  I was quite sincere at this point as I was genuinely interested.  We went through the rest of the menu together and found something. I enquired what I should do in future (not very likely) to prevent being ignored in this way.  The waiter said that he hadn't been told I'd arrived so didn't know I was there.  Not big on checking tables then.  It was at this point that he finally said 'sorry about that'.

The food was typical pub fare, at least no worse than...

Oh dear, what a difference a week makes.

Same lovely place, lots of room, accomodating dogs and families so ticks in a couple of boxes right away.

The table reservation went well, we arrived slightly early and were seated quickly. The menu was brought over and the orders were placed - three meals, a couple of drinks.

There were some changes to one of the dishes - which after a couple of explanations the host eventually got right - "plain burger, no salad or sauce, just bread, and meat" - they even read the request back to us which was reassuring.

Sadly, then the tone starts to slip.

Some of the drinks were flat, a neighbouring table had a similar problem and left

The explicitly explained (and written) food order was wrong - but, this was picked up and taken back to the kitchen and eventually fixed.

Another meal was missing a part of the dish - but presumably out of embarrassment the host didn't return to the table to check how our food was - so we had to go and find a member of the wait staff to let them know - this was also eventually fixed.

This meant that our table of three people had largely separate meals, split over quite an extended period of time.

We then sat and waited for some time for the table to be cleared and during this time we speculated on how they would manage to mess up the dessert choices and how long it would take for everyone to get pudding.

Sadly, we weren't able to find out, as when one of our party went to enquire about getting the table cleared and the possibility of apple, peach, and raspberry crumble (which sounds amazing right?) we were told that the kitchen was closed...

So we asked for the bill and got ready to leave - still, no real apology for anything that had happened, thankfully the credit card machine...

Been to The County Arms a few times and have always been satisfied. Can't comment on the beer or wine as I'm not much of a connoisseur on those. But they do have a couple of good ciders on tap and your average, but well stocked, selection of soft drinks.

Food is great pub grub. Reasonably priced and always of very good quality. They also have a few good "meal deals" - good, I would imagine, if you were taking a family.

Staff always very polite and service prompt and friendly. Nice atmosphere, good decor in the pub/restaurant - relaxed but modern. Lovely outside seating and views out the back of the pub. Can't comment on the accommodation though as have never stayed.

Overall, a very nice place for a yummy, well priced meal. It's a frequent of mine and my partner's and will continue to be. I would recommend this place highly, especially if you want somewhere to get a good meal without breaking the bank.

Update April 2019: still fantastic, and looking really good since their refurb. Haven't used the hotel bit personally, but the staff have been very accommodating to myself and future husband - setting up a discount code for our guests to use when they come down for our wedding! Food still great, started drinking wine since i originally wrote this and wine has possibly even improved on what it was! County Arms still an old favourite and somewhere I would...