Merrie Gardens Farm — Restaurant in England

I didn't previously review although it was June I last visited but after receiving discount coupons in post it is painfully aware that the management don't quite get why pub is no longer popular .This pub used to be lovely , regular weekday offers ,helpful and friendly staff and so clean .This year it totally spoiled my birthday. We arrived to find rotisserie no longer available , OK, shame but never mind .First we were pointed to table there was food on floor and seats , staff were aware it was a birthday, previously a free cocktail was given to the person who had a birthday and table decorated beautifully. This birthday, decorations consisted of one cheap, very well used decoration stood on table, and of course no offer of a free drink, I appreciate money is tight now but a happy birthday would have been nice or even a smile ! Decided to order mixed grill as previous choice not available, barman just said they didn't have any ! Surely they know how many covers they have even if caused by no deliveries they could have offered another option, not even an apology.We should have left straight away but we had vouchers our daughter sent so we could treat ourselves and I didn't want to upset my husband.We ended up with two dried up burgers and ordered a sundae each , it was very small and looked pre made , they used to be huge and lovely .The previous managers were lovely and very ininvolved ,helping staff and chatting to customers. Never saw a manager this time. SAVE YOUR MONEY, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE !

IN REPLY TO THE REPLY RECEIVED, Firstly, do you seriously think we would return!! Secondly ,you don't do rotisserie chicken as it was previously , there was no choice of toppings etc as there was previously my visit was only a few weeks ago, the place was awful.I spoke to somebody who ate there last week, its still awful.! So thank you you for your reply ,it was very unhelpful. I hope it does improve, it certainly could not get worse.

This mediocre experience isime bad enough during holiday season but is dreadful when treating people like thos out of season I think this place is going to be empty over winter we used to visit every week .If no improvements are t made this place is on...

I went to Merrie Gardens today on the 26/08/25 for my son’s 21st birthday, after booking a table online. There were 6 adults and 2 children (one of which is under 2). We ordered our food at 6:30 at the bar. We were left waiting for an hour before someone came over to say that they had run out of desserts. Upon telling them we had not even received our mains, let alone ordered any desserts, she said she would investigate this for us. After a further wait, the youngest child became restless and began to cry so we went up to ask on an update and if we could get any bread rolls or his order (a child’s macaroni and cheese) first to tide him over until the family’s meals came over. They said they'd talk to the kitchen. after a few extra minutes, the server came back over and apologised saying that our food would be a minimum of a 15 minute wait, likely longer - no mention of any bread rolls or the macaroni cheese. We asked if we could just get a refund as that would meant waiting an hour and a half for food after ordering. she said she would ask her manager. When coming back she said everything would be refunded including drinks but we would have to go to the bar and have the manager process the refund. The manager, a small woman, was extremely rude and hostile towards us, stating “Im not cooking your food, so its not my fault” and that she had told us there would be a long wait when we ordered (which we were not told). She then tried to argue with us and refund us a completely different order which equated to less than half of what our order came to. Families in the table next to us, also With young children, were waiting just as long as us.

Despite the servers being nice, the wait without any updates and the the experience with the manager completely ruined my son’s 21st birthday and we will not be revisiting The merrie gardens. The managers need to be trained how to deal...

I would just like to pass comment with regards to our booking. Firstly we made a last minute booking with no problems. On arrival we were greeted nicely. And shown to our table. Unfortunately after about 15/20 minutes I had to request to be move for 2 reasons.

1. I was freezing cold from a draft of the out side door being left wide open.
2. the rude and offensive female on another table near by. She was constantly swearing and very loud talking. When I Approached the maître D , she was lovely and couldn’t be anymore helpful and very quickly re located my disabled husband and my self to a quieter area of the restaurant. Loads better and nothing was too much trouble for this one employee. 10/10. Our food arrived starters, mushrooms for my husband delightful really yummy. Myself I had crispy chicken strips. Main course then arrived I had scampi chips and peas and my husband opted for the lamb (rare) it was all well presented and served very good. Only 2 problems
3. The lamb was not cooked rare it was not even pink sadly but it tasted gorgeous!!
4. the pepper pot on the table had salt in it and there was not any other condiments on the table so we asked the lovely maître D and nothing was to much trouble she hurried off to find a correct pepper pot for my husband. Dessert came and wow it was big and delicious 😋

Our all over experience this evening has been really good thanks to the new maître D that it happens to be her first day working at this restaurant. She was kept exceptionally busy throughout our visit and we did not see her stop. Nothing was ever to much trouble for any customers she was brilliant. We rate the whole experience 9/10 but that is mainly because of her ! Her name is Gemma.

And we believe in credit where credit is due.

Thank you very much

Yours sincerely

Mr and Mrs Peter and...