Old Hall Farm — Restaurant in England

We had booked online as we were a party of 9 (5 adults and 4 children) for my wife’s birthday. We usually go to Marstons Sweet Chesnut in Dunfermline which is our local restaurant but were down at Cheshire oaks for a holiday for my wife’s birthday so thought we would go to a carvery as we normally enjoy this.

Booking online was simple, £5 per head deposit paid. I emailed as per the email link around lunchtime of our visit to advise we would not make the 6:15pm booking and would be there for 7:00pm. I received a very “straight to the point” voicemail at 6:38pm to advise we were late and would lose our deposit. I called back at 6:49pm to advise I had emailed and we were just in Cheshire oaks and walking over so would be there for 7:00pm. The “manager” Kirsty was very abrupt, questioning if I had actually emailed as she had not received it and advising we would lose our deposit again. I advised we would be there at 7pm as per my email.

We arrived to no welcome, Kirsty pointed to our table and we asked if we could move to the Garden Room/Conservatory section. She advised that she would check and then came back to say we could only fit 8 people, not 9. We asked to put a chair at the end of the table for the 9th person (child) and eventually agreed to this but said the tables around were booked so we would have to make sure people could get past……. 3 of the large tables around us were indeed Reserved, as per the sign on the table. However when we left at 8:45ish they were still reserved and only one other family had been in the whole conservatory area all night with all other tables empty!!! - I have pictures of this.

The carvery was as expected apart from running out of potatoes but these were brought to our table for one person in 5 mins which was fine. However the Side of Macaroni we ordered, for my daughter, came covered in bbq sauce which was strange for a side. We made the female member of staff, who had just started that day, aware of this and she took it to the kitchen to have changed. After 15/20 mins it still wasn’t back at our table, so my wife went up to the bar and it was Kirsty again who met with her and was incredibly abrupt!! Advising that we should have stated we wanted it plain and not with bbq sauce - even though how would you know it came with that when it was just simply a side????

We are certainly not people to complain and there was no point in discussing on the night with the “manager” but I am happy to discuss this further if required.

As previously noted we knew what to expect food wise etc as we go occasionally to a Marstons near us but areas here at Old Hall Farm were simply unacceptable. This was also my wife’s birthday, as noted on the booking and not an enjoyable experience or how you expect to be spoken too, on a number of...

Food not brilliant. It’s ok but not great. Passable. The serving staff are nice. But they don’t know how to deal with a situation when they’ve made a mistake. So I ordered my food and asked for the kids desserts I ordered. Never got them. I was then told I had to queue up and order the desserts again. Then got told I was a liar I didn’t order the ice cream the first time around. The manager got argumentative told my mother and I to let the children eat their desserts and leave. At the end of the day we challenged the way they treat their customers as they handled everything in the wrong way. Unfortunately, that will cause tempers to flare. I had to ask the manager to stop shouting and to stop being rude as he knew he was wrong. To be honest I really think some major retraining needs to be done here. The managers can’t manage and don’t know how to handle awkward situations or rectify problems they encounter. I believe this pub was caught serving raw pork 2 months ago (see reviews) Might be wise to avoid this pub. Also the turkey tasted off…..

In response to the general manager: I think you may have the wrong reviewer. I did not claim to be a ‘EHO’ nor was I abusive to your staff. Your general manager started to shout at me and I had to ask him to stop. By all means stick up for your staff when they are in the right. However, when mistakes get made they need to take ownership of it and rectify it. Not shout at customers when they are challenged. Your response just shows your infantile attitude to your job and your poor approach to taking responsibility and ownership when you’ve made a mistake. Instead you argue like a teenager that didn’t get his way. I ask why we as paying customers should accept it. I’d strongly recommend for people to avoid this place until the staff here can readjust their attitude. It all starts...

On first impressions the pub is clean and the staff are really friendly. On arrival we hadn’t booked but we’re advised we could choose where to sit then order at the bar. There were plenty of seats available and all the tables were clean and set ready. Again at the bar the staff were really friendly and helpful we were asked about allergies and they all seemed really on the ball.

We ordered the carvery the food its self looked nice but sparse I had the turkey which I have to say looked lovely and moist when being cut, we filled our plate and tucked in. I can’t say I was either impressed or not impressed with the food it was alright the turkey as I said was cooked lovely although it wasn’t very warm, the mashed potatoes (my favourite) I was really looking forward to but they were cold. The carrots were Luke warm but covered in pepper a little bit would have been nice but I couldn’t quite finish them as it was a tad overpowering. The roast potatoes I have to say were the best part but I think these has just come from the kitchen and we’re still hot. The Stuffing ….the stuffing …..well ….. it was cut in to square cubes which I have never seen before as they are normally in a ball although shape doesn’t matter. I can’t comment on the taste as I couldn’t actually cut through it to beable to eat it not sure if it was home made or not but I think paxo is probably the way forward on this.

It’s such a shame as it could have been such a lovely meal with just a little bit more attention to detail apart from the stuffing which I don’t think is salvageable, I could have quite easily finished the plate if it were a bit warmer.

The apple crumble and custard...