FatCap Smokehouse — Restaurant in England

Despite having been here many times before AND absolutely falling in love with this place and there food I will not return as they completely ruined my birthday.

We booked a table of 4 for a birthday treat, after telling my parents where we were going they then wanted to come along too so I then booked another table of 2 for them same time as us and added in the notes - please can we be sitted together as when I called on the contact number no-one answered the phone ( the was 6 of us in total)

I had a call the day before my booking to confirm our table which then I explained as per the notes that I had two booking and that I would cancel if we couldn't be next to each other she replied okay we will and so I said yes we will be there.

We arrived at the restaurant where the lady told me she couldn't put us on the same table! I go over to find that our tables where near each other but they were 2 tables of four facing away from each other - so for the first 30 mins my parents had they backs to us, we asked if we could simply turn them round sides ways and where told NO.... I was so upset and confused as I couldnt of been any clearer on the phone.

After 30 minutes no-one had greeted us as our waiter or waitress or taken a drinks order. Then the lady on the reception area asked the older gentleman if we could be seated together - who I belive is the manger but passing over the job role to another lady as he trying to retirer ( he told me this when I gave him some feedback on our experience with the seating issue later in the meal) so then the lady came over to tell u we could and we we're then taken of two tables of 4 and crammed onto a table of 4 with two chairs added to the end....DESPITE THERE BEING A MASSIVE ROUND TABLE OF 8 FREE!

Not long after this happened to tables where seated a seven and a nine which made me even more confused as we where told we couldn't be on a table of 6!

At this point all I wanted was to eat dinner with my family on my birthday so I said nothing and finally a waitress came to take our order..... food arrived but was served on trays that looked fit for the bin.. paint was missing all over the edges and in poor condition.

Once we finished our food we waited and waited then the older guy saw me and then sent the waitress ( who I might added was running around like a nutter while everyone else was not ) by this point I was so fed up and I belive they could see this so he sent her over with our bill and it was at this point I said about my daughters brownie dessert that comes with her kids menu, I asked if we she could please box it up to take it away to which she replied hold on I will asked of I am allowed to do that. She then appeared with a bowl of ice-cream !!! I said why can't it be boxed up and her reply was I wanted it to be served right.... I asked her were where the brownies and she replied with you said ice-cream but I did not. She then walked away and the older gentleman came back to tell me I had made her upset - this is something I would never want to do to anyone and of course I wanted to make sure she was okay and went over to the bar area to see if I could see her but I couldn't.

To be complety honest I really can't understand what I did wrong.... I ASKED FOR BROWNIES

I explained to the older gentleman what had happened and he's face was just blank......

At this point I was made to feel so un welcome and too leave - we were pushed along the whole way though our meal and wasn't even offered the dessert menu!

I paid our bill and left.

The service here was beyond poor AND the attitude of staff is awful... they are all on different pages with what is and isn't allowed and they need to be clearer. Its a real shame as I thought I had found...

Food was delicious, service mediocre, management rude.

We attended on a Sunday afternoon and my partner and I had 4 wings to start which were large and tasty, tender chicken with a crisp skin.

We enquired about their Sunday offer of ‘bottomless feast’ which had no price attached, and were told if we ordered the sharing platter we also got bottomless drinks from a limited range. We actually weren’t interested so much in the drinks as my partner does not drink so opted for the bottomless soft drinks instead, expecting these to be included.

Only once during the hour and a half we were there did anyone ask whether we needed another drink, then it transpired there was a drinks refill station and it was just no one had told us! If it had been busy I might understand this, but there were 3 wait staff including manager and only 6 tables!

The platter again was lovely, the cornbread was moist and sweet and the St. Louis ribs in particular were spectacular. Once the bill arrived I noticed we had been charged for 3 bottomless soft drinks so I queried this, and said I was under the impression they were included, but even if not, there was only 2 of us anyway so could they please correct it. The waitress was very apologetic and polite about it and went to correct it.

When the bill came back it was £20 more, as apparently the bottomless feast was a distinct menu item from the sharing platter m with a cost of £35 per head (as opposed to the £46 for the platter plus £3 each for our soft drinks). When I queried this, I told the manager I hadn’t been told this but clearly there was a mix up and I was happy to pay the original ticket minus the extra soft drink. To which he very rudely told me it was my fault for ordering incorrectly, and thst he told his staff it would cost more that way (no one ever thought to ask us?) and that if we don’t order correctly how can the ticket be right?

I was quite happy to just let the mix up slide and pay the original price, instead, the rudeness about the whole situation left a sour taste so despite the good food we won’t be returning.

If the offer is a distinct menu item, include the price for it and make sure your staff are giving out the...

I enjoyed the meal I had here, the reason for the visit was to take advantage of the eat out to help out menu. The service my group received was great, everyone was super nice and helpful - no complaints at all. For the price (£10 per head) I thoroughly enjoyed the food. I had smoked halloumi fries to start followed by a pulled pork burger with fries and coleslaw. The starter was a new experience for me and I thought it was great. The burger was great too if slightly smaller than expected and the drinks were unlimited refill, always a plus.

There were only 2 things for me that stopped me from giving a 5 star review:

The fries were far too salty for my taste and the tastes of my companions. The menu was very limited which on its own is no problem obviously with the current situation of this world it would be. However, there was only one option for vegetarians and none for vegans. Of course being a smokehouse you would expect this but with the number of vegetarians and vegans around nowadays I think this to be a flaw - one more option for people like that would be great. Something like a pulled jackfruit burger would be the obvious choice and I’m sure would be appreciated by any potential vegan patrons.

All in all my experience was really good - I really wish I was able to give this a 4.5 but google will not let me. I am however definitely going to visit again when the full menu is back and I’m sure my rating will go up when I do. Thank you to...