Hobsons Choice — Restaurant in England

We called here on a long journey from Shropshire to Suffolk two adults two kids on Friday 16 February around 18:00. We stood at the "please wait here" sign for some minutes while the staff completely ignored us. Not "won't keep you a minute" like literally ignored us. Eventually seated but not informed we needed to order at the bar so we sat like lemons waiting for the order to be taken until we realised.

Went to the bar, having seen the exceptional offer of two adults meals and two kids for £15 I placed the order and four lemonades and it came to £37. I pointed out the offer and established the drinks were around £10 so I explained politely I would expect the price to be around £25. The guy on the till asked a colleague who pointed out we hadn't ordered kids drinks for the meal deal, did that and it came down a little but not much. We ended up with a guy I think called Callum who I said to "if it's my fault then I just need to know what I've ordered wrong so I can change it" but was told the food order had already gone to the kitchen. He said it had taken offers off and proceeded to inform me of the various reductions. I stayed calm and again said "ok but this says £15 so it should be around £25 and it's not near that so if I've done something wrong can you explain what please?". He kept saying it was the till and the software and nothing he could do and was quite unhelpful. I got nowhere so in the end I said "Ok I'll pay and complain to head office and ask for a refund" to which he said "well it will come from them to here so we will be dealing with it anyway so...." in quite an aggressive manner giving the impression I'd be wasting my time as they would bin it off.

I was getting quite frustrated by the attitude because it was one of "we can't do anything and no idea what's gone wrong but that's the way it is so tough" basically. I was on the verge of saying "stick it then" and walking out which I think was sensed by other staff as In the end Callum disappeared and a manager came and sorted it out. I had ordered one pudding from the wrong side of the kids menu but also one child's pudding had been put in as an adult one. He was apologetic, I was apologetic, how it should have been from the off, but the damage had already been done really.

The problem is there are endless numbers of promotions here and it gets really complicated as if you order one thing wrong or they enter one thing wrong it can screw up the whole offer. To have staff who can't be bothered to work out why, blame "the software" and have a "tough" attitude when charging a customer way more than what they expected to pay, is...

This is the first time I have been to Hobson's choice, on arrival and ordering a drink I was served by a very nice polite member of staff, made feel very welcome. It was not until we sat down to eat that things were very bad, when we asked if there was a gluten free menu the waitress didn't seem to care, by good fortune one of family members saw a menu and grabbed it for me, this should of warned me. So we placed our order and a little while longer our food starter came, very delicious, this was the end of our good fortune, as when the main course came out they had mixed up my gluten free meal with my cousins normal meal as we were both eating off the mix it up menu, and both had salmon, so we quickly explained that the meals had been mixed up and because of my dietary needs my sides would need to be done again because of contamination, this was only sides, so I thought not a big deal. So the waitress went away came back with the side dishes exactly the same again, so I explained again the issue, so they went away came back with my cousins sides and said mine would follow shortly, I thought that's fine. So ten minutes past no sides, so I attracted the waitress to ask if she could check on my sides, the look of disgust I got from the waitress was unbelievable, I had to look at my partner to check that I had been polite, anyway she went away not to be seen for another ten minutes, then my sides came, put down in front of me without a word and she was gone, so with disbelief I just sat and ate my cold meal, even the fresh sides were cold, I wish I had complained at the restaurant, but I just ate it and got out of there, as I right this review I already have stomach pains, so I know that I have eaten some gluten. This is something I dont expect to be doing after a meal out with my family, actually this is a first, and its not a good experience. This is something I dont like doing, but in this...

Terrible. We were shown to a table by staff, chose our meals & then went to the bar to order them. I chose the large mixed grill & my partner chose chicken, We were seated in the raised area which has approximately 15 tables, only 1 other couple were in this area so obviously not busy. Staff were cleaning the tables & placing reserved signs on them so presumably they were expecting a large party. We waited over 20 minutes for our meals to arrive & when they did both meals were cold. We spoke to a staff member regarding this & asked her to touch the food on our plates to prove this. She did this & agreed they were cold, apologised & asked if we wanted replacements which we agreed to. Another 15 minutes later our 2nd meals arrived , this time the meals were still not hot but just warm but the fries/chips on both our plates were yet again cold. Due to the time we had waited already after the cold first meal, we eaten what was hot & left the rest. We proceeded to leave & a young man asked if we had enjoyed our meal. I told him NO I hadn't, explained why & would not be returning. Either the cook can't get everything hot & ready at the same time on a plate or the waiting staff had left our food on the pass. I use a restaurant from the same company in a different town every week & have never had a problem with them. Obviously Kettering staff need extra training or a new cook who can give you hot food. Waste of my money & I would not recommend or...