Off The Rails — Restaurant in England

I had a nice experience of this place and don't want to leave a negative review.

I hadn't really looked into the complexity of finding a near by parking space ahead of travelling here, so I guess that's on me, but leaving that here to flag for anyone else. I had a table booking which I was already running late for as I got stuck in IOW traffic (tractor) so I dropped my partner and one kid off ahead of travelling around the place to find the local pay and display. On this mini trip I witnessed a little of the local area which is very quaint.

This place is very quirky and there is clearly a sense of the people who run the place really loving the whole theme. I'm perhaps a little negative on that front and am immediately suspicious of things being style over substance. Before ordering I popped to the toilet and witnessed a cloche being removed off a plate at lunch and rolled my eyes, but the family seemed to enjoy it so each to their own.

Back to the table and I was slightly overwhelmed by the layout of the menu, and all the themed names, to the point of being frustrated when ordering of having to wade through the pages to find the drinks, but again maybe I'm not the right audience.

I really commend the ethos and angle on the kids orders, where there isn't a segregated menu. But this is where I struggled though with wanting to leave a 3 star review here (but couldn't possibly be behind a low blow) as my partner and I decided to order all the same dish of the veggie burger. When it arrived the adults version came in a little box which I guess is novelty, but the kids just came on a plate, which I was confused by. Why if you go so bold with a statement on the kids being treated the same do you not put their burger in a novelty box? (Luckily my kids are pretty chilled out on this front, but they did question it themselves) they would have loved it, whilst I would rather a plate as I often cringe at a wooden board of that being a bit "try hard".

The veggie burger was nice, at £18 it's certainly the most expensive veggie burger if have had and if I'm critical at taking the cost into account it's not a veggie burger I would have again.

Service was fine, it's not table service which for the price of everything seemed strange.

Overall it was okay, can't really leave a well rounded review as we only ordered the one dish. Other customers seemed over joyed at their food coming in an assortment of boxes, so that's clearly a thing that...

This place used to be a rail station - that is very clear. Its down a quiet road and since there is no longer a railway station, its now a public footpath - very nice and serene.

The plus side, its a dog friendly place and they have a few snacks that is specifically for dogs.

The human food was nice - we had bacon rolls since it was between 11am and 12pm. It was very tasty as the rolls tasted like pretzel bread which was warm, buttered and lightly toasted on the inside.

The coffee was good too - unlike most places, it did not dry out my throat.

What did really rub me the extremely wrong way was the absolute LACK of service. There was our table and two other tables there - it wasn't super busy, no server came over to see if everything was okay or if we wanted anything else (which we did).

The staff passed our table at least three times and even made eye contact with me however, they chose to walk off.

After ten minutes of staff choosing to ignore us, I walked up to the counter near the front door to order more coffee and some sweets. The female staff member was sitting on another staff members' lap. Very very professional indeed.

They quickly served us and after we finished again, they ignored us. They didn't come to take our plates and cups, no asking if we wanted the bill.. nothing.

I again, had to walk up to the counter to pay. No other patron had to walk up to the counter - this includes the rude ones who walked in through the patio doors rather than the front door as they should! The staff promptly walked up to them to take their orders and even gave them water when they didn't ask for it and yet, my husband and I were not treated like that.

Is it because we're not locals? I'm not sure but regardless of whether we are or not shouldn't prevent them from doing their jobs properly.

It was also just over £16...

Dirty table and booth when we arrived.

We were disappointed to be told when we’d sat down that they were not serving a roast because of covid (??).

Given this is advertised on their website and is the sole reason we booked, we felt let down.

Menu choices were poor. Eventually I ordered a salad which I was told had ‘bits of everything’, when I asked what it contained (I was after a leafy salad maybe or similar).

When it arrived it was basically beetroot and tomato. I love both but couldn’t eat a plateful of just that.

Asked for the meal to be changed which they did graciously, and apologised for what happened. However the vegan chilli was bad - overly sweet, not great flavour, and served inside a fried tortilla ‘bowl’ which made it difficult to eat.

Kids dishes were very greasy and bland, they offered no vegetable options for the kids so basically a fish finger sandwich with greasy chips. Not the healthiest option!

The other adult main course was delicious - lamb tagine - positive reviews there.

They go on about their coffee but I didn’t understand the fuss - it was fine.

Overall I would not step back into this restaurant again.

Edit: based on the reply below - My review was balanced and fair, and we did not leave the restaurant in a ‘disgusting way’🤷🏻‍♀️ Not sure what is meant by that.

I left this review in order to provide honest and constructive feedback from my perspective, as is the point of these reviews. Shame the restaurant chose to take this so personally and throw insults my way, instead of acting on the feedback given. Shows what you should expect if you turn...