Miller & Carter Taunton — Restaurant in England

8th May 2023. Fantastic food, once it all arrived, sadly the same cannot be said for the service or the waiting staff.

I arrive and am directed to a table where I am asked if this table is ok? I respond with what are the other choices of table? I'm told by the waitress, oh there are no other tables. Then why are you asking me if this table is ok?

I take my seat at the table. The waitress quickly asks do you know what you want to drink, can I take your order now?

I respond with "J2O please"

I anticipate the waitresses next question and say "yellow please" to which the waitress responds "oh great we have that."

As she starts to think about walking away I clarify my drink order in full by saying "yellow is apple and mango"

The waitress responds by saying "oh no we have orange and passion fruit." and I reply "that's orange not yellow, they are not the same." I thought the clue was in the name but apparently that's not obvious enough. Good start.

I ordered from the set meal menu, which consists of a starter, main and dessert.

Starter, prawn cocktail, main fancy steak, with side of wedge and fries. I ask what the wedge is because I'm having to choose a dressing, and am told its a salad. dessert is mango bomb.

The drinks arrive and finally after about 30 mins, my prawn cocktail arrives. It a large bowl of chopped lettuce with some prawns, no rose marie sauce. I try to get the waiting staffs attention but they all seem to be deliberately avoid any eye contact with customer so I have to go and find someone and ask for some prawn cocktail sauce to go with my lettuce and prawns. This is brought to me and I'm finally able to DIY assemble my starter, which was pleasant enough, if rather basic.

The starter is cleared away and after about 20 mins, I'm brought a bowl with an whole quarter wedge of lettuce in, with a small amount of dressing on it. This apparently constitutes a salad, a wedge of a single vegetable and about a teaspoons with of dressing. I thought the very word salad meant that it would consist of a variety (more than 1) of vegetables.

I try to catch the waiting staffs eye in vien, after a few minutes of trying, I decide that I wasn't going to eat my solid chunk of lettuce on its own, and elect to ask the waiting staff when they bring my main meal.

Another 20 mins passes, and I'm brought my steak which is absolutely stunning and cooked to perfection. I ask for some (more) vinegarette and it is brought fairly quickly.

I enjoy my meal. After I finish my meal, I wait about 20 mins for the staff to clear my table. I then wait another 25 mins for my dessert to be brought. The table staff bring a spoon and fresh napkin and I assume my dessert is not far behind. How wrong I was. I wait a further 15 mins before deciding to go and find a member of staff to enquire as to the whereabouts of my dessert. I find 3 members of the waiting staff huddled behind the bar in a corner, chatting and generally doing there very best to avoid doing any work. I ask where my dessert is, one of the table staff says she'll go and find out. Almost instantaneously, my dessert appears and arrives at my table, looking a lot like a sorbet dessert that has been sitting melting for an unreasonable amount of time. (think slush puppy) The member of staff apologises and before she has a chance to scurry away, I politely ask "what they delay has been, and are they short staffed?"

The member of staff (the same one that thinks yellow is orange) says "yes they don't have enough staff to keep up." I respectfully tell her that there were 3 members of staff hiding behind the bar, chatting and laughing, oblivious to any customers, not long ago, perhaps she might find some additional help there.

Of course, as she was one of those very members of staff hiding behind the bar, you can imagine the ground couldn't open up and swallow her quick enough.

I eat my slushy dessert and wait another 20 mins for the bill to be brought. After 20 mins, I get up, put my coat on, and start to slowly walk towards the...

I had a reservation at Miller & Carter Sunday 19th January at 7 PM, and I can confidently say it was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever encountered. The entire evening was a complete disaster from the moment we stepped through the door, and I am utterly baffled by how a supposedly premium steakhouse could get things so wrong.

Upon arrival, we were informed that they were out of their signature sharing experience and, astonishingly, out of lettuce for the steaks. For those familiar with Miller & Carter, you’ll understand just how important these elements are to their core offering. However, we decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and be seated. Unfortunately, what followed only made matters worse.

As we sat at our table, we overheard staff apologizing to other diners for being out of most steaks, burgers, wedges, sauces, and even drinks. The menu was essentially non-existent at this point. A steakhouse with no steaks, no sides, and limited drinks is not just disappointing—it’s completely unacceptable. It became clear this wasn’t just bad luck but rather a shocking lack of management and preparation.

Adding insult to injury, we weren’t warned about any of these issues ahead of time—not when we made the booking, nor when we arrived. Had we known, we wouldn’t have wasted our time driving there, only to leave empty-handed. The lack of communication was as frustrating as the absence of food.

This wasn’t a simple inconvenience; it was an embarrassing failure on the restaurant’s part. Miller & Carter positions itself as a premium dining experience, yet tonight’s visit fell embarrassingly short of even the most basic standards.

To say this experience has damaged our trust in the brand is an understatement. We left feeling frustrated, disappointed, and as though we had completely wasted our evening. It’s going to take more than an apology to restore any confidence in Miller & Carter after such an appalling experience. At this point, I would question whether this restaurant even deserves to bear the Miller &...

We visited Miller and Carter this weekend to celebrate my brother's and my birthday with our wives. When we arrived we were so used to the old Blackbrook tavern layout, we parked out the front in the disabled bay (which is on such an angle, it really shouldn't be a disabled bay), only to find the entrance is now around the back, this place has really undergone a makeover of epic proportions (the invite to the pre-launch event seems to be still lost in the post!)

We were very warmly greeted at the entrance and shown to the booked table where my brother was waiting, nice and quiet in the old carvery serving area, very nice. I recently had covid and have yet to regain my appetite, so I asked for a children's meal (fish fingers), my wife ordered the bacon cheeseburger and my brother and his wife ordered half a cow it seems on a butcher's block.

There was a bit of a wait for the food (about an hour) while it was prepared but when it arrived it looked very nice indeed. I had 3 fish things, not fingers, more like Zoidberg's claws from the cartoon futurama in a crunchy batter, fries and peas. This was more than enough for me and it was very tasty indeed.

There was so much meat on my brother's side, and a mac and cheese brisket and scallops, where it all went is still a mystery to me!!

It was delightful to see staff members from the Blackbrook tavern days still in attendance (pre-Toby carvery), Bertrand was our server on this occasion and it was lovely to see him still providing such great customer service.

If you are looking for a high-quality meal out, and you love steak this is the place for you, personally, I'd have loved to have seen scampi on the menu but you can't have everything...