Smiths Arms — Restaurant in England

I meet my daughter here for a late Sunday lunch, at 4pm. We were greeted cheerfully enough when we first arrived but when I went to the bar to order, the conversation went... "one Chicken Kiev please"..."we dont do it" .... "it's on the menu" ......" we're taking it off". A second choice was made and I ordered a steak, medium rare. When the meals came the steak was clearly over done, accompanied by some shriveled up water cress, half a tomato that looked like it was cooked hours ago, two onion rings and some half decent chips. No one came to check if everything was ok, and rather than going to stand at the bar to complain I ate most of the steak. When the table was cleared the waiter asked if everything had been ok, and seemed taken aback when I said the steak was overcooked. He asked how I had ordered it, and walked over the the bar and asked the manager (?) who checked and said yes, it was ordered medium rare. And that was it. No one came back to me, no apology was offered, nothing. No one came to the table to see if we wanted dessert so I ordered at the bar: Desserts came, were eaten and I went back to the bar to pay. No comment was made about the steak, and the waiter taking payment didn't ask if we had enjoyed the meal or if everything was alright. The moral seems to be, don't go here at the end of a busy shift, when staff and management can't be bothered to give decent service, or admit a mistake has been made. A simple apology would have been sufficient for me to have put this down to an unfortunate mistake, but after today I won't go back and I will not...

When we arrived we thought all looks really nice. The setting a nice quaint country pub. But, the service from the outset was poor, we had a trainee for part of it who was trying his best but between him and his colleagues the service was really slow. When we asked how long it would be the waiter just explained how busy the pub was and how many people they had in the beer garden, in the pub and so on??. The food quality was poor. Starter of scallops and chorizo had three tiny scallops and two quarters of chorizo. We ordered two Waldorfs salads within the group of which one of us wanted no blue cheese and a salmon topping and the other chicken as it comes. The salmon came with cheese but the chicken alternative didn't. When questioned they didn't ask if if we wanted the cheese it was just like 'tough'. The lettuce was had brown ends, the pea shoots were brown, there wasn't Harley any apple, nuts and the chicken was small. My 7 year old went for the pasta of the childrens menu and even he looked at the dish as it arrived late due to lack of any sauce. It literally had one tablespoon of sauce plopped into the middle. Will find it hard to return to be honest. Oh and then coming to pay we split the bill between the group we placed both our cards on the table and the waiter then wanted to take them away with him behind the bar to do a contactless transaction until we pointed out to him that he can't take out cards it of it site and also contactless wouldn't work over £30....

For £16.50, that is probably the worst value meal I've had in a long time. I know pub fish and chips can be hit and miss. But this was verging on pathetic. Tiny flat piece of the tail which I honestly finished in about 6 mouthfuls. Lukewarm, semi underdone chips. Worrying when the mushy peas are the highlight.

I appreciate that the waiter, whose good service was the only reason I didn't give 1 star, asked why I didn't say anything when he came up part way through the meal. That's understandable. But the only way to resolve it was to bring a proper meal and I was with Dad and Uncle after a good day golfing in Harrogate. They were half way through their meal and I had a 70 mile drive to undertake afterwards. I didn't want to be eating by myself.

Shame as their BBQ chicken looked good (despite more lukewarm oven style chips), as did the shepherd's pie on another table when I walked past. That just highlights how unacceptable mine was.

I always like to tip but couldn't bring myself even though it's not the waiter fault. I did mention my disappointment when he cleared the plates so he was aware. Surprised that there wasn't a gesture to give my drink for free. I'm not sure how a meal that looks that sad is allowed to leave...