Maypole Farm - Dining & Carvery — Restaurant in England

been twice , first time was mediocre, 2nd time was awful myself and my daughter along with my best friend and her 2 young children visited on monday (11th may 2025)

We had breakfast which was okay, , whilst we were watching the kids play, a gentleman started doing repairs around the area we sat at which was right next to the children’s play area now while i understand jobs need doing, I don't however appreciate how unsafe the area became for the 3 children during this time. I accept that the children are 100% our responsibility whilst in your premises, I was not expecting however to have to keep them away from super glue or exposed metal framing for the booth seating , especially as the work was being done right next to a kids soft play area. the work should be done out of opening hours especially as it’s a huge safety risk! along with this the man opened the back door (that’s in the children’s soft play) that stated it had an alarm and was a fire exit after he did this the children were super excited about the outside and kept trying the door (baring in mind the children at 2&3 year olds so didn’t understand why the couldn’t go out when this man just did in front of them)

while our children were playing we decided to treat ourselves to some dessert before nursery drop off , my friend ordered 2 fruit shoots for her children and a cheesecake for herself along with a coke and i ordered a chocolate sundae , the drinks came along after 20 minutes of ordering , after that we waited 10 minutes and were saying its taking quit a while so i decided to go up and ask how long it would be i got told my the young girl she’d find out 10 minutes after that (now been waiting 40 minutes for our desserts) we had to leave otherwise i’d be late taking my daughter to nursery

after making the decision to leave my friend went up and spoke to the same young girl who informed my friend to at a staff meeting was taking place , they were short stabbed and they were having a change over which i’m assuming from breakfast to carvery, i can understand this but there was our table and maybe 2 / 3 other tables so not a whole load of people so not exactly busy. and if this meeting was already known then maybe closing the door for couple hours would have been better instead of having poor service!

whilst we was both at the front counter the girl gave us a refund for our cakes but then offered cakes to take home as an apology, which made no sense to us and surely if there’s cake ready to offer we should have received ours

we were very upset by this experience as we drove 20 minutes to come to this place

i can’t speak for my friend but i for one will not...

I booked a table for 4 adults and 2 children. I requested high chairs in the booking and requested to be close to the play area. When we arrived we were shown to a table for 6 up some stairs (I was pushing a pram) and miles away from the play area. We asked to be relocated but were told no tables were available. My brother-in-law checked and there were at least 6 tables which had been cleared and no one was sitting at. I was told fine sit at table 10. No one showed us which one was table 10 we had to find it ourselves. My daughter then immediately saw the play area and ran in. There was minimal play equipment, the push along baby walker was black with dirt, the sit in baby walker was cracked with a sharp plastic edge, the floor tiles were few, filthy and broken, the wall apparatus was poorly maintained parts missing, parts exposed and dangerous as were the activity tables. The only usable play equipment were some megablocks. If any of the staff took £20 to some charity shops they could easily restock this with working usable toys. Then came the carvery, my goodness what a palava! They had run out of beef as they were down to 1 oven. Ok, not their fault. However, there was only 1 member of staff on the carvery who was having to find the manager to deal with complaints, restock the carvery from the kitchen and try and be courteous to customers - which he managed but at a detriment to timely service. The gammon while just cooked had bits of white unrendered fat all over it which was very unappetising. Despite having run out of pigs in blankets the staff member did send some to the table for me when they were ready. Next, the toilets. If I had gone in before ordering we'd have left. They were dirty, there was used sanitary wear on the floor. The accessible sink is fine but the other one produced no water and the faucet isn't connected to the basin and there's nothing indicating it's out of order. The hole left by the faucet is a health and safety risk. Finally, my daughter asked for ice cream and if it were up to me I'd have said no... After half an hour with no appearance my husband asked a member of staff who made the order appear as quick as humanly possible. The atmosphere was dreary as you could feel how downtrodden the staff were and all we could hear around us was complaints and the manager running around comping meals. I would've complained too but I didn't think the staff could take any more. We will not...

The visit to this place is one of the most awful experiences I've ever had dining out. First and last visit! No one to greet you at the door, I asked a lady walking by with a tray of drinks, but she didn't work there and couldn't help. Eventually a man, dishevelled looking came, no aplogies for being kept waiting, no chat at all actually,,, we were shown to a rickety, well used table on a filthy carpet in the middle of a characterless area. Once shown where we were sitting the server walked away, no conversation at all, "this is your table", walked away. I went to the bar eventually as that's what other people were doing. Nothing I can say about it is good. The staff, older members rude.. younger members inexperienced. Food, well Carvery, was in a disgusting state presentation wise. Veg hadn't been replenished for some time, roast potatoes were hard on outside and cold inside, cauliflower cheese was grey. Even though we had bought larger plate, the meat sliced was thinly sliced, 3 slices,, we were there at 5pm the choice of 2 meats surprised me and they had been there for some time. When I booked the man, who gave no name, said I could book from 5 as that's when food could be ordered from. The whole meal looked and tasted like warm up. I left mine, my husband ate what he could but neither of us enjoyed food or place. It was my husbands birthday and he loves carvery and I wanted to try somewhere near to Milton Keynes as we had another event booked that night. If it wasn't for the fact I didn't know anywhere else at short notice I would of got up and left. You pay when you queue at the bar for ages to place your order. Didn't see name badges on staff. Furnished poorly, tired and worn. Noisy children running around didn't make for pleasant dining out. I did ask to sit away from family area when I booked, Thankfully we didn't have to wait to pay so we just walked out and left. No one spoke to us to ask about our experience,,, so there you are,, hope that my negative observations don't put you off going. It looks nothing like the website presents it to be, cozy it's not, clean it's not, friendly it's not, good value for money it's not,,, I'm stopping now, you get the picture, it's not a place I'd recommend...