Pecks Restaurant — Restaurant in England

Disappointing and Expensive.. We went to Pecks to celebrate my wife’s birthday and being Muslims, I had inquired ahead to establish if they can provide halal meat and was informed by the lady I spoke to that they do cater for Muslim patrons and can provide halal (she incidentally went away and double checked with the Chef!). This was all very good news as I had heard much about this restaurant and how food it was. To be perfectly honest, the good news ended there! We went for the ‘Dinner at Eight’ service, where sample dishes are brought out to you by the waiting staff and they describe the ingredients and how the dish is cooked. The starter was Ok, duck liver pate and haggis covered in crumbs and deep fried – both of these would not be our choice of starters! The appetiser of Beef broth was definitely good and we all enjoyed it. The first main that we wanted was the smoked chicken risotto but upon enquiry were told that it contained alcohol and that the risotto was already made and they could not make any without the alcohol. This came as a shock, to think that the dish if not all then certain extent was pre-made and could not be altered. The same issue occurred when we decided to choose the Lamb Shank as our second main, as it too had alcohol in the Jus that was again pre-made and couldn’t be changed to cater for us, so we had to miss out on this dish. In the end we were left with a Fried Feta Parcel and Salmon, both pretty standard affairs, bar the Fig compote! The best part of the meal for us was the desserts, with good selection and the quality of the dishes was really good. The bad points for us were as follows: I booked the table informing the restaurant that it was my wife’s birthday, and whilst acknowledging this, on the night not even the remotest recognition, whereas another party a table away from us had birthday balloons at their table, were presented with a bouquet – maybe it was because they were Caucasian and we weren’t! It is NOT enough to say that we can provide halal meat and then to use alcohol in preparing the dishes which then cannot be altered, as Muslims we cannot consume food that has alcohol content – I appreciate that there maybe Muslims out there that aren’t particularly bothered but that is the rule without exceptions, so if this restaurant is going to cater for Muslims then they need to be flexible in preparing dishes that do not contain alcohol. My impression of this restaurant was that they prepare the whole dish fresh upon order, and not that most of it is pre-made and cannot be altered upon customer request! In our party we had two 12 year olds that did not have the Cheese selection nor the Coffee with Petit Fours, and yet we had to pay for them the full adult price, which is fine, but the right gesturer would have been for the restaurant to have acknowledged this fact, but it wasn’t. So if you are an adhering to principles Muslim, then don’t bother going to...

Had a lovely 10th anniversary "dinner at 8" @pecks it was great being able to see the dishes before making a decision and I enjoyed every course. There's are lots of dessert options and if you can't decide you can have a half portion of 2 different ones, then you can opt for either a cheese course or ANOTHER DESSERT. That said we were throuroughly stuffed after our first dessert course so we opted to have our cheese/dessert to take away. There was also the option of tea/coffee to finish.

My only negative comment is that we were there over 20 minutes before being offered a drink, this would have been OK if there had been water on the table but we were served appetisers before any drinks were provided meaning that when I ate something I hadn't tried before there was nothing to wash away the taste...

Once we had our first drinks we were not offered another for a significant amount of time and my husband had to ask repeatedly if he could get another drink before they came to get his order. As others have said the interactions with servers are very scripted to the point that one nervously asked if we were celebrating a special occasion at which point my husband looked pointedly at the happy anniversary balloons above us 🙈

As we were leaving I asked what the "petit fours" we would have been served with the coffee were out of curiosity... none of them had any idea, went to ask the kitchen and never returned...

It would be better if each server had designated tables, checked you had enough water/drinks throughout the dinner service.

Overall though great food, great concept and I would definitley go again for a...

Pecks has always been known as 'the place' to go around our local area, but based upon our last visit, has had a bit of a decline. We were in for 3.30pm, but they didn't even take our drinks order until 3:50pm-ish, and only then because we asked if we could place an order. Understandable if they were busy, but we only saw three other tables than ourselves.

The food itself was mediocre (and again, we had to ask when it would be arriving as it seemed to take forever). Whilst none of it was bad per se, a lot of it was relatively bland (the quiche, the pork bon bons etc.), which was a bit disappointing. The sandwiches and the hedge berry tart were very nice however, it must be said.

In terms of atmosphere, there wasn't one really. We all left and remarked on how there was no music playing, only for one member of our party to point out that there was in fact music being played, albeit very quietly. It couldn't be said that the noise of people talking was covering the music, as everyone around us (and including us) was relatively quiet. Instead, we just heard the clash of cutlery and the like, being dropped again and again.

The lady that brought us our drinks order and the food, however, WAS very attentive and helpful, I feel it's only fair to point out.

I know some of this seems relatively nitpicky, but for a place that positions itself as the perfect dining experience, it just didn't hit that mark.

I can only hope this was all a one off - but either way, we won't be...