Harvester Old Castle Salisbury — Restaurant in England

Me and my partner decided to go to the harvester, as i hadn’t been for YEARS, and I remember it being quite nice. As we walked in, we waited by the desk for about 10/15 minutes. We were eventually seated, we waited another 20 minutes (if not more) for our orders to be taken, I asked for the rotisserie chicken and we were told they had run out (I work in the hospitality industry, we make it clear when seating customers, what we have run out of). We waited ages for drinks and salad bowls, when I had just started eating the salad, the mains came out. (May I also add, when looking round the salad bar, it was all mushy, all contaminated together, and the kitchens music was blaring/they were all shouting) Me and my partner both had steak. We both asked for medium rare. And I know medium rare-this-RAW. He’ll eat anything and everything, and he was very unhappy and complaining, WHICH SAYS SOMETHING. We could barely cut the steak, and when we did it was cold throughout the middle, it was completely raw inside. Extremely fatty too. The peas were almost grey, the tomato was cold, the onion rings were too oily. And we both opted for sweet potato fries, which were droopy and soggy. We don’t like to complain so tried to eat as much as we could. My partner ate most as he was starving, I barely ate any, literally just 2 mouthfuls of chewy cold steak and soggy fries. When it came to getting a waiter’s attention, they all kinda looked around and head down walked away. Me and my partner then “finished” it took another 20/30 minutes before they came over to collect plates, not even a “was everything alright for you” or even during service a quick mid meal check. Eventually when she came to collect plates, there was no point in complaining, we wanted to pay and leave. Since eating that, about 2/3 hours ago, I have since felt incredibly sick, and unwell. I will never be returning, it was...

I don’t often take the time to write reviews, but after my visit to the Old Castle Harvester in Salisbury, I felt I absolutely had to share my experience. My husband and I popped in for dinner last night, and from start to finish, it was just lovely. The food was delicious and fresh — my steak was cooked exactly as I asked, and the salad bar was beautifully stocked and tidy — but what really made the evening special was our wonderful server, Emily.

Emily was an absolute gem. From the moment we were seated, she made us feel welcome and relaxed. She had the perfect balance of friendliness and professionalism — attentive without ever hovering. She took the time to chat with us in such a natural, genuine way, and you could tell she truly cares about her customers. She recommended the perfect wine to go with our meal and even noticed when our glasses were getting low before we did! Little touches like that really make all the difference.

It’s rare these days to find someone in hospitality who takes such pride in what they do, but Emily clearly does. She made sure everything was just right throughout the meal, checking in at just the right moments and always with a warm smile. Nothing felt rushed or forced — just honest, thoughtful service.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was cosy and pleasant, the food was great value for money, and the staff all seemed happy and well-organised, which speaks volumes about the management. But truly, Emily was the highlight of our evening — she’s a credit to Harvester and the kind of person who makes you want to come back again soon.

So thank you, Emily, for such a wonderful experience. We’ll definitely be returning — and requesting your...

Not a great lunch at the harvester. We were informed on arrival that the soda and beer machines were down and we would only be able to order can or bottle drinks. This was just the start. It was my nieces birthday. Four adults and one child and we were not allowed to claim the £1. As the manager said that doesn’t work at our restaurant. We ordered our meals which took along time to arrive. When it did I had a half bowl of mac and cheese, fries had been sitting under hot lamps and had gone chewy, the only ring was like rubber near impossible to cut, don’t get me started on the dry crumbed chicken a soggy bread roll. We had to search for the waitress again to order drinks, when she took our plate and asked how the meal was I replied not great, I commented that I felt the standards and quality had dropped, too which we all heard her say under her breathe “like the rest of the place falling to pieces” The toilets were closed off and the whole restaurant had to use the disabled toilet(only one of them). Upon paying we could not find our waitress again and one of the other staff members just said we could pay at the bar as our waitress had gone on her break. While paying the bill we overheard the manager telling another customer that they understood that the food order was put in but they cannot serve them any drinks as the had to close the restaurant done as it was not fit to serve meals or drinks at this time. Guess we just made it out. Not the best time for my...