Dusty Miller — Restaurant in England

Table booked for 2pm on Easter Sunday however arrived early at 1.50 and shown to the table. However it went downhill quickly from there and that was the only good point. It was 30 minutes before anyone came to the table to take our order (that was after asking if we ordered at the bar!). And another 30 minutes to get our starter (after asking where our starter was). The prawn cocktail was the worst I have ever had and was just frozen prawns out of a packet with no prawn marie sauce. Then after another extremely lengthy delay and again asking politely how long our main course would be it arrived (I would say and hour and 10 minutes after we arrived and it was only a party of 3). My dinner was just chicken and veg, I ordered a large chicken but it was just a chicken leg and a tiny bit of chicken breast, to be honest I hate to think what the small chicken would have been. At each point I mentioned how disappointed we were at the delay and the customer service, eventually the manager/owner arrived and explained they had only been there 6 days, there was a issue with the chef (apparently he was stressed) and there was a delay in staff taking out our food. The thing is at that time there were only two tables sat in the restaurant section it wasn’t even busy !!! When the female manager/owner arrived with the bill she sat down and with some pride exclaimed that the bill was £130.00. I quickly pointed out that wasn’t right and added up the bill which was actually £58.00!, her excuse was that she wasn’t “familiar” with the till !! There were no apologies and all she was interested in was if I was going to leave a review. In conclusion I would say that this was the worst experience from start to finish in every aspect of a restaurant meal and customer service I have ever had. I have been going to the Dusty Miller for a number of years now and they still after a succession of managers have not got a decent set up and I will confidently say I will never go back especially when there are other better and cheaper restaurants...

After having moored up on the canal we thought we'd have a look to see if the Dusty Miller was open and it was. Even though they were busy getting a delivery of beer supplies, we were welcomed with a smile by Sue and Emmie (?). It is a warm and relaxing atmosphere and good music was on in the background but at a low volume which didn't over power conversation or the ambiance. The social distancing was well marked and explained by the staff and there was hand gel to clean your hands at the entrance too. My other half had a lovely Sauvignon Blanc and I had a fantastic pint of Citra ale once it had been connected to the bar hand pump from the cellar and didn't have to wait more than a couple of minutes for this to be brought to our table by Sue, the manageress. A couple walked in whilst we were being served at the bar counter and even though Sue welcomed them whilst serving us and said to them that she'd be with them in a few minutes or so, they just looked around and walked out again without a word or a thank you to Sue, odd people and quite rude we felt but you do get all odd sorts of people about i guess!! We'll definitely be back again and next time we'll have a meal too most definitely. Thanks Sue, Scott and Emmie (hope I remembered correctly?) for making us feel welcomed, relaxed and totally at home during our visit to your lovely pub. Let's hope the canal boaters start to pop in frequently now the Dusty Miller is finally opened again after Covid19. Good luck to all the staff and here's hoping you have a great...

Booked a party here way back in January, had the special day planned with head chef Jay ,only for a day before event told of changes because of this most of my decorations I had brought were left in the staff toilet and never used kristina manager- incredibly rude went back on her word regarding plans for venue, made a bucket full of excuses when confronted day later. There's was no apology ..nothing ,instead she had barred my partner who now and again would pop in there for a coup he wasn't even there through the day after discussion ! honestly never seen a manager like her incredibly lazy and just dosnt give a toss about what had happened, all about the cash no enthusiasm or charisma . Couldn't even have my playlist played because that was a inconvenience! Just unbelievable, I gave a star for the service as the only two members of staff did there best, terrible wish I would of gone elsewhere but I know for next time,I am currently looking into taking this matter further as I'm truly disgusted (our guests even wanted to complain) how embarrassing. Food came out incredibly late we were all starving just put anywhere as I ordered a buffet style Sunday type lunch for everyone ,no utensils to pick food up with only forks to eat food with unitl 10 minutes later the knifes arrived . Felt as if it wasn't partyr ather we had just arrived off the street nothing organised . Terrible and...