So where do I start… Booked a table for 8 at 7.30pm. So many things on the menus were not available which was actually started to get funny as pretty much everything we asked for initially wasn’t available. In the end we all managed to order something. The food actually wasn’t bad at all. We were then asked at about 8.30 if we would like to order dessert which we all did. Bearing in mind half the mains menu wasn’t available we suggested he found out what wasn’t available on the sweet menus before we ordered. He came back saying everything was available so we all ordered. 10 mins after ordering the lad came back and said the kitchen was closed and we could have no desserts!!! We were then told that as we had a child with us that we had to leave by 9pm. This was a few mins before 9pm. Bear in mind we had booked a table in the restaurant not a pub or bar so the 9pm law is irrelevant. We explained this and also politely let them know that we were not going anywhere until we had finished our drinks that we had paid for. So then the manageress with the blonde hair turns up and gets really moody and asks us to leave reiterating that it’s the law as we have a child with us. Clearly she wanted to go home. This girl has clearly no idea of what good customer service is. The other staff were embarrassed by the way she spoke to us. Then from the other side of the room a lovely lady who overheard the conversation told the manageress that the Nelson was once the best place to eat and drink in Oakham and that it’s been ruined but the current owners/group and the only reason she and her husband went there in that night was to watch the rugby as they knew it would be quiet. She went on to say that she could not believe the waiter took out order off us and 10 mins later said the kitchen was closed. The local lady then said she was embarrassed that us out of town visitors had experienced this and suggested we should have gone to the wheatsheaf instead.

Just in case the owners read this. The lad with the curly hair was very pleasant, as was the slim girl with dark brown hair. The blonde manageress needs to be replaced.