Hops and Chops — Restaurant in England

We booked a table in advance and arrived at 5 pm when the restaurant wasn’t busy. We ordered our starter and main courses together, along with drinks. The starter arrived within 15 minutes, which was great, and we finished it in about 10 minutes. However, after the plates were cleared, we waited 40-45 minutes for our mains with no communication from staff.

During this time, no one came to check on us, offer more drinks, or even acknowledge the delay. I sat with an empty glass for about 25-30 minutes, and no explanation was given about why the food was taking so long. When the mains finally arrived, we still weren’t offered more drinks. My sister had to go and ask a member of staff to serve us, and even then, the apology we received was weak and didn’t feel genuine.

After finishing our mains (which were cleared away after another delay), we raised our concerns with the staff. They passed the message on to the manager, who offered a round of drinks as compensation. We declined, as we had already been there for two hours and didn’t want to wait any longer. Unfortunately, no further effort was made to address the issue—there was no discount on the bill or any other gesture of goodwill.

When the manager came over to process our payment, there was no acknowledgment of our complaint, no apology for the poor service, and no effort to make amends. As we left, the staff near the door didn’t even say goodbye or thank us for coming, which felt dismissive.

We’ve always had excellent experiences at their sister restaurant, The Smoke Pit, where the food and service are consistently amazing. Unfortunately, this visit was a huge disappointment, especially considering we live around the corner from this place. We sadly won’t...

Large portions, great food! I totally disagree with these comments. First time visit booked as a surprise by my wife so was really looking forward to it. 6.15pm we were one of 3 tables occupied but was early. I had lovely craft wheat beer in something that looks like a small plastic jam jar my wife ordered a cola. Food ordered x1 fillet medium, x1 rib eye medium plus fries. Both served medium rare so sent wife's back to be returned as a new one. (I wasn't as her knife cut was there). I ate mine as it was as was hungry. Now here is the reason I will never return - For £25+ you expect something above the average and these were okay steaks nothing exciting. A room temperature steak on a plate with no salad or mushrooms or much else is underwhelming and disappointing. Especially considering a steak with everything on a hot skillet is available 5 minutes away for £10. Total bill for 2 drinks, 2 fries and 2 steaks £57.50, no desserts everything else is extra. If they were amazing or we lived in London or was topped with an obscure ingredient that sounded exotic this would have a different tone completely but it was a just a steak. Considering it's location in the middle of a housing estate I imagine word of mouth is crucial. I couldn't fairly recommend it and our first visit will be our only visit which is a shame as hopes were high. If the aim was a once in a lifetime experience they succeeded, if it was returning customers I think they missed their...

I was really disappointed with my evening experience yesterday. As a local,I usually always come to Hops and Chops to celebrate with family and friends for special occasions. However the service yesterday was very slow and a disconnected service. Not only that but the attitude of the staff was unbothered and nothing like what I’ve preciously experienced. Another table were celebrating a 21st birthday and the waitress serving our table turned around and told us how annoying they were unprovoked whilst we were eating after coming from their table. Our first drinks took a long time. There was a substantial wait on the main course - after following up, despite being told our food was ready by a manager, it still took another additional 15mins to receive our food after notifying another member of staff that our food was ready. Certain aspects of our food were luke warm however I cannot fault the taste as it tasted great! The service really let the chefs hard work down. At the end of our visit, we explained to one of the staff how we felt our experience had gone after settling the bill and not making an issue as I frequent the restaurant. No apology was offered, just told that they were busy despite the restaurant not being full…The waitress then went to other staff without discretion to talk badly about our table. It was such an uncomfortable experience and has ruined the excitement of returning with friends and family after making such lovely...