Hollybush Cafe — Restaurant in England

Our first ever visit to Church Stretton, we chose this cafe out of five or so in the town as they had outdoor seating. We'd popped into the book shop next door and seen the outside seating area didn't have chairs as Google photos shows, but stools, which isn't ideal to lean back and relax in after a walk, but we were hot and sweaty and one of us had dog doodoo on our shoe, hence wanting to sit outside. After leaving the bookshop, the stools had been taken in! Take away it was then. The young man at the counter was ready to take our order literally as soon as we entered, and stood looking on us while we browsed the small and sticky menu from one of the tables. We went with paninis and one each of the three cakes on the counter. The cakes were given to us in a brown paper bag but the paninis were just placed on the table we were waiting at - just three cardboard containers, no bag and not a single word from the chap who just went off to do something else. Given we were taking away, a bag wouldn't have been too much trouble. I mean, a "thanks" and "bye" also wouldn't have been too much trouble.

I carefully carried these containers through town to a bench we found and the paninis weren't very good anyway. One was bacon, brie and cranberry and the brie tasted awful, couldn't have been fresh. They'd cut the panini in half and placed one half with the open side facing down, so the melted brie had all but dribbled out into the container. The other two were bacon, chicken and cheese with hardly any chicken. The missus swore she didn't have any chicken at all. On all three the bacon had a big fat rind that was hard to bite through and we each struggled to stop the whole slice of bacon being pulled out with every bite. On top of that, the coleslaw included was very supermarket-value-brand-like and the salad was awful - lettuce was limp, two tiny halves of a cucumber slice and one half of a cherry tomato which wasn't ripe. All three cakes had to be peeled from their paper bags, making such a mess and couldn't really be enjoyed - the plastic forks provided were pointless without a harder base to press onto, such as the same container the paninis came in - does no one ever take cakes away, so you didn't bother purchasing suitable containers? The kid did enjoy her rice crispy cake but she'd have been perfectly happy with a Wagon Wheel.

TL:DR/Overall, the quality of the food was terrible and the welcome/service was lacking, especially considering the exorbitant prices. This happens far too often to us when visiting new places, for it to be bad luck, where Google reviews are fantastic but we don't get the same experience. I imagine it happens a lot and people just don't want to leave...

How to get it so wrong. When we arrived a group of people were leaving. Cafe was quite, we selected a table then went to the counter. The menu looked good and the prices, very reasonable. As I approached the counter a young, vacant looking girl turned her back to me. A few moments later a lady from the kitchen took my order. I returned to our table and coffee duly arrived. As we waited for our sandwich, a tourist came in to order and then asked if he could take a chair to sit outside. The person serving him said yes so he selected a chair and when out side. A few minutes later, the lady from the kitchen came out and told the tourist to bring the chair back, there were stools for out side. (Rude). We sat a little long and my partner noticed that other people, who had arrived in the cafe after us, were being served their food and we had not had ours. He went over to enquire where our food was, only to be told that our order had not been sent to the kitchen, and we would have to wait. We asked for a refund and left. If it had been busy when we ordered, I may have accepted a problem. But when it was quite, there was no excuse. Too bad really, it looked a nice cafe. Needles to say we wil...

We popped in for a cuppa yes I admit it was 330 on a Sunday afternoon but we checked it was ok to come in which we was greeted to go in. The young girl who took put order was very quietly spoken almost shy. Cash only as machine was down so tried to make it easier by offering her £21.00 so to sav¹e her change for the payment of £9.70 she was unable to work out what the change was. We didn't say anything even tho wrong change given as she was so shy. We sat down for our cuppa and beautiful piece of lemon drizzle which was amazing thank you. What spoilt it for us was the way another member of staff was treating the "shy" girl. ... you can do the bins, you can collect the pots from outside, those bottles need fresh water, not a single please or thank you towards her. The "shy" girl was willing to do all the jobs she was TOLD to do not ASKED to do. The only thing the "shy girl did wrong was when emptying the bins from behind the counter and then from the bathroom as well as flushing the toilet was after doing that job she came out and started putting away the clean crockery. Should really be wearing gloves for the toilet. Basic hygiene...