Swan at Aylestone Hill — Restaurant in England

Visited Hereford for a weekend trip and booked a table over the phone, ahead of time, for Sunday lunch at 3pm. Opening times unclear across FB & Google. Booking was taken, no issues. Arrived and the place was deserted. We were seated nonetheless but deduced they must be closing soon. Roast was a tiny, sad, carvery affair. ‘Cheesy’ leek consisted of thin water and flour mixture who forgot to invite cheddar to the party. Food tasted like it had never even heard of salt or seasoning, nevermind encountered it. Over-boiled carrots slumped sadly on our plates, begging for the end to come. And how one can mess up the humble potato to that extent was simply astounding. The only thing vaguely suggesting seasoning was the stuffing, which is just as well, as it likely came from a packet. The food had clearly been sat there for hours, marinading in its own despair. We looked forward to this as a weekend treat but left sorely disappointed. At £40+ for two people, it wasn’t just the food leaving a bitter taste. If you’d have just told us you were closing, or that we’d be thrown the sorry dregs of your remaining roast (heat lamps were turned off and bartender clocked off shortly after we arrived), we’d have happily gone elsewhere. In fact, we drove to Bunch of Carrots for dessert, in an attempt to salvage the remains of our Sunday, and almost cried when we saw their beautiful carvery on show....

Let me start by saying the staff are lovely, and so was the beef and gravy. However that's where it ends. I was taken there for Mothers day 25, yesterday. We were put on a table next to the kitchen door and in the way of the queue for the food, didn't work for 3. My daughter needed to ask somebody to move so she could sit down with here food. The food was poor, there was enough of it but all the vegetables were cooked to a millimetre of their lives and were full of water, the potato's were average. I asked for the dessert list as it was offered free for Mothers Day and was told it was a tray bake which was not on the dessert list. This is not want I wanted as I can do that at home, and this was not stated on the advertising that it was a specific dessert. My daughter was very disappointed as she wanted me to have a nice meal. We did go there a bit before Christmas for a Sunday lunch and it was not that good then but we hoped it would have improved. Sorry to say it is not for us and we will not be going...

Popped into The Swan at Atlestone Hill for a meal. A lovely atmosphere that made us feel warm. The bartender was welcoming and friendly and put us at ease, offering us a table and sorting drinks. The menu was super, including a "Pieminster" pie menu. We decided to go for the grill sharing platter. WOW! What a treat. The steak was handsdown one of the best that I have had for many years. It was cooked to perfection (M/R) and melted like butter in the mouth. A lovely piece of lamb, meaty sausages, skin on fries that were crisp, sweet vibe tomatoes, pork chop, onions rings and whopper mushrooms.The platter was huge, and was for 2 people - excellent value but we couldn't manage it all. They were happy to parcel what we couldn't manage so that we could take it away. We will definitely be coming back as we really did enjoy everything about the visit. We would absolutely...