Smugglers Haunt Beefeater — Restaurant in England

Booked a table for a big birthday on 1 December 2024 we had a small dog with us. We have dined here before and although the furnishing and carpets are old and worn we were happy with the food and being able to dine with our dog was a bonus.

It took some ten minutes for us to be noticed waiting to be seated. The staff member was just staring at a computer screen which was evidently more important than customers. We were told that we had to dine in the bar as we had a dog with us. This hadn't been the case before but we went with it. We walked through and found a table with an empty glass on it and spilled beer. We had been told we would have to go to the bar and order our food. Not ideal for a special birthday but we went along.

Husband went to the bar through groups of customers who evidently had been drinking for a while. The language was a little ripe but again we're in a bar so we went along. He got to the bar and the second member of staff was again staring at the computer screen and ignoring four customers waiting to order drinks. He ascertained that they had been waiting for 20 minutes to be served.

This was enough. He said we should go elsewhere. We were expected to put up with the complete disinterest from the staff; a lack of information if perhaps there was a problem with the computer system. The fact that dog owners pay the same but are expected to order their own food and have to ask for a table to be cleaned and cleared so we could sit. Also it was chilly and the fire door was being opened so that smokers could go in and out. No. Not good enough.

We ended up in Miller and Carter who had a £33 three course Sunday menu including steaks. Treated with respect and care and looked after well. The downside we had to take our small dog home and leave her which wasn't great. However much better than being taken for a ride by this Beefeater in Ferndown. Beefeater this is not acceptable. We may try another one in case this is a one off poor manager, but you've got one more chance. Smarten this place up and put a rocket...

Our visit was made in early March 2023, so it would be best to check if it the pub has had a refurb if you plan to visit.

We made a distress visit to this pub as we were staying in the next door Premier Inn, we were very tired and just wanted to have a drink and some food before going to bed before getting up early the following morning for a six hour drive home.

Our visit was made on a Friday teatime and the experience was pretty grim!

It is hard to fathom why there were people in there who were not staying at the Premier Inn, so had actually chosen to go there! Why? What is the competition like in the area that anyone in the know would visit here twice?

The initial service was abysmal in that we waited 20 minutes for our drinks to arrive and we only got those owing to a second waitress coming to take our food order. We explained to her that we had ordered drinks, which had not arrived and would like those before we trusted them to bring us some food.

To be fair to her, she went off and came back a few minutes later with our drinks. At which point we ordered some food. This too arrived quickly.

There was nothing wrong with the food though they had apparently run out of coleslaw! We only had a main course.

At the start of a weekend service this was a bit odd and it is not a huge task to make a batch of coleslaw. They did provide a small salad garnish as an alternative, which was fine.

But the pub is really tired to the point of being dirty. The carpet is so grubby it is hard to tell what it might have looked like originally. The whole pub looks tired and neglected.

There were a few families in the pub with young children, so for me, it would have been a much better experience had we been offered seating that was away from the mewling children.

While I am not a vegetarian the menu did appear to have an excessive choice of vegetarian dishes.

I would not recommend entering this pub until it has had a full...

Went to this beefeater today for breakfast and it was one of the worst experiences ever. They favour hotel guests from the premier inn next door over anyone else and if you don't have a booking regardless of whether you are a hotel guest or from the local area, you're treated like the don't want your business. The only redeeming feature of the food is the sausages and black pudding. The rest of the items have stuff wrong with them whether it is overcooked, too crispy, or cold. Plus it's supposed to be unlimited continental and cooked breakfast if you pay for the cooked option yet you cannot go up and take the items for yourself so it's not unlimited because trying to get the waitress attention to order anything more you are just plainly ignored. The waitress in there that has been there for a while, Jane, clearly needs some training in how to attend to customers and retraining on service skills as she is outright rude and has not got any patience for the customers who indirectly pay her wages. You are rushed to make a decision on what you want to have for cooked breakfast and then after a long while it's slammed on the table. The atmosphere in the place is not great and could do with some serious investment in all areas and it looks grubby and unkept. If it wasn't for the fact that this is one of the only restaurants near me that offers breakfast, I would clearly go elsewhere. Will definitely think again about...