Riverside Inn Cheddar — Restaurant in England

My wife and I visited today with my brother and his wife and son for our birthday meal (my brother and I are twins of course). When we arrived we parked in the disabled parking spot in the car park and entered via the conservatory at the rear of the building.

The waiting staff were all wearing facemasks of course and were quite attentive before and during the meal. Our order was taken and after a wait of about 15-20 minutes, it arrived. The first thing I noticed was the eggs, which were presented in a triangle format rather than the traditional circular variety (what shape was the eggs?) The eggs had been fried and out of four eggs only one was runny when you "popped" it, the others were very well done.

There were 2 slices of medium thickness ham and along with a reasonable portion of what I call catering chips and peas on my plate. It was ok, average food, the ham was quite fatty we felt. We asked for some mayonnaise and ketchup and were presented with 3 pots of each (Chefs Larder it tasted like) between the 5 of us. I do not believe the food was worth £10 for Ham, Egg, Chips, and peas, it feels like it cost just about £2 in terms of ingredients.

During the meal we were asked 3 times how the meal was, this practice infuriates me, I like to enjoy something to eat and the company I am with, I don't expect to be interrupted by a member of staff.

I went to use the toilets and could not find a disabled one, so had to use the "Normal" Gentlemen's, only to find that someone had either missed the toilet or it was leaking as all around the pan was liquid. This makes it jolly difficult to use without dragging your trousers and braces through it, as you are unable to stand to use a toilet as an able-bodied might.

So to sum up, the food was average, the cost was a tad expensive, Staff needs to ease up on checking how the food is and the facilities could be...

When you occupy a great location right next to one of the biggest and busiest car parks in Cheddar you’d think this would be a better experience. The staff were really lovely… all very friendly and welcoming to both humans and dogs alike.

The rest was a bit mediocre at best. There were more tables that needed clearing than didn’t… It’s part of a chain so the menu was reflective of that, lots of pub standards with some strange sponsored choices (Doritos are available with some dishes 🤔) so we all played it safe - fish and chips, scampi and chips and burgers. The burgers were pretty good and tasted that way too… the scampi and fish were ok it nothing to get too excited about. Everything looked like it had been left under the lamps of the pass a little too long.

Then the discovery of no salt, no ketchup (only curry ketchup which tastes like cheap tomato sauce from the 70s), no vinegar but bottles of HP sauce aplenty. I scouted many tables and there was none of the required condiments hidden in the mess on any of the still uncleared tables.

When I asked I was directed to a corner table that was covered in empty wooden caddies that longed to have some use other than as a home for the aforementioned bottles of HP (and French’s Mustard 🤢)

We ate it because it was edible and we were really hungry… if you read this and go to Cheddar then avoid it if you’re hungry. There are other better looking places further...

Not impressed by the food or the service today. I ordered what promised to be a real treat for me being gluten free, a gluten free chicken burger in a gluten free bun with gluten free chips. For £10 you'd expect something a bit special. When it arrived I queried the bun as it looked identical to my husbands burger bun and it turned out that it wasn't gluten free at all, they had given me a standard brioche bun which could've made me very ill indeed. I also asked that they not just transfer the burger to another g/f bun as it would now be contaminated. The plate arrived back at the table looking very sorry for itself. Not only did the burger appear to have been swopped for a very overcooked piece of plain chicken, it was wrapped in 2 pieces of extremely stale gluten free bread without a hint of butter. I ended up with a very sad chicken sandwich with one limp piece of lettuce, a little pail of chips that claimed to be gluten free but at the same time it was stated on the menu they had been cooked in the same fat as breaded products which makes them not gluten free at all so I couldn't eat them either! I did get my money back as the chicken was so overcooked it was inedible but it didn't compensate for the fact that the food was dreadful and potentially dangerous for someone with a gluten allergy. For an establishment that prides itself on its food and service it was a very...