Heron Inn — Restaurant in England

Inedible steak and pathetic and condescending response. I went here for a special occasion lunch with a dear friend who had suggested the venue. The arrival of the wine we ordered was slow and the waiter apologised, which was fine. The water we ordered was very slow to arrive and the waiter said he thought it had been forgotten, which was not a big deal. I ordered a flat iron steak and asked for it to be cooked medium-rare. The waiter said medium-rare was my only option anyway; 'That's the way its's cooked'. The steak was so tough and full of sinews. Even with a steak knife most of it was impossible to cut through. When a waiter came to check if it was ok, I said yes; naively in hindsight, but I had only just started the meal. Also I didn't want to embarrass my friend who had suggested the venue, by making any big deal of it. Anyway, it became apparent and my friend realised the steak (£25) was genuine inedible so I called over a waiter to discuss it. I showed him how impossible it was to cut through the meat and he said 'Gosh! Yes!' and immediately took it away. Another member of staff came to the table and said he would remove the price of a glass of wine from the bill (!). I explained I felt this totally inadequate, but he said that was the best I was going to get because I had said the food was alright, and that I had eaten most of the meal. As you can see from the photo I had to leave at least three-quarters of it, because I couldn't cut through it. So, I had an inedible meal, a paltry offer of recompense, a response from the waiter that was not true, embarrassment because of this, and a 'meal' consisting of one-quarter of the toughest steak I have ever been offered, and about one-third of a portion of fries. Oh, and some lettuce. I would have accepted the situation with the food if the response had been handled properly. It definitely was not; far from it. I emailed the venue to explain the situation and my disappointment. I received no reply. I must make it clear that I did not ask for another meal (who would?!) and the price of the glass of wine which was deducted was for a medium size glass. I believe this and all other review sites are there for honest comment, good or bad. I believe the owner and staff would do well to accept...

Not at all value for money, taste or portion size! VERY Disappointing! Warning: do not order the crab sandwich at £19 - total scam!

We don’t go out much as life is expensive these days. Despite the prices being steeper than other quality places, we wanted to give this place a go!

The CRAB SANDWICH £19 !! Now that better be one hell of a crab sandwich I thought. Had some wonderful fresh door stopper crab sandwiches before at sea front restaurants at the prices of £12-16 and the quality has been amazing. Thick fresh farm bread with perfect dry white crab meat falling out of it! So at a whopping £19 we were expecting some to be happy and full !

NO - 2 THIN slices of bread, you know that soft floppy perfectly cut slice that comes out of a bag from Asda? Yeah like that! And inside was this…. Sauce??? It was a TINY portion of crab meat mixed in to a sauce/paste so it was just a spreadable condiment thinly placed in between two thin slices of bread.

SO DISAPPOINTING And honestly, a huge scam charging someone £19 for that! It looked like something you pick up from a petrol station! I would never have served that and charged someone that price with a straight face!

So safe to say I was sad that I ordered this for my partner, who was hungry again an hour later (and she is a small woman).

Myself wanted to try the roast, read good things on here. Obviously from people who lack tastebuds perhaps? As it had NO TASTE!

I asked if the roast beef was rare. I was informed it was medium rare. Which affected my decision in choosing said meat! It was a pale brown.. Fine not the end of the world! Beef is still good on any day! But it had no flavour! Not even that taste of meat when the juices run out..

The meat was tasteless, the gravy was so weak in flavour and everything just tasted dull, like a shadow of what a flavour should be! Never mind, £15 and it filled my stomach up at least but not my tastebuds.

Still not as bad as our £19 crab sandwich..

I thought it’s okay, we pay for the location, the atmosphere and the view at least. But my view wasn’t even worth the money as we sat in a corner staring at the wall…

And the worst thing is I still gave them a decent tip because I’m too embarrassed not too…

Now I’m broke again until next time and not...

I recently had a truly disappointing experience at the Heron Inn Restaurant, and I feel compelled to share my negative review. The service at this establishment was abysmal, to say the least. One of the most glaring issues was the complete lack of attention given to our table. After finishing our meal, our plates were left uncleared for a staggering 30 minutes. This level of neglect is simply unacceptable in any restaurant, let alone one that prides itself on providing a pleasant dining experience.

To make matters worse, our waiter managed to spill a tray of moules and cream all over my friend's shirt. Not only did this incident ruin his clothing, but it also left him absolutely covered in the mess. Despite the obvious fault lying with the waiter, no action was taken to rectify the situation. No items were removed from our bill, nor were any gestures made to make up for the inconvenience and embarrassment caused.

The lack of professionalism displayed by the staff at the Heron Inn Restaurant is disheartening. In addition to the poor service and the incident with the spilled tray, the overall attitude of the waitstaff was indifferent and apathetic. It seemed as though they were more interested in chatting amongst themselves than tending to the needs of the customers.

Based on my experience, I cannot in good conscience recommend the Heron Inn Restaurant. The combination of bad service, prolonged plate clearing time, and the lack of compensation or apology for the mishap with the spilled food is simply unacceptable. There are plenty of other dining options available that prioritize customer satisfaction and provide a pleasant atmosphere, and I would suggest exploring those...