The Alma — Restaurant in England

We were recommended the pub as a family friendly pub to take 7 children out for a meal and to play in a pub garden. The bar staff (a man and young girl) were really friendly and helpful and greeted us as we arrived. We ordered food and spent well over £200 on food and drinks. The food was lovely! There were strict signs all over the garden area about 'not running' if this is supposed to be a family friendly pub then surely you would expect children to have fun in the garden. The landlady (can only assume it was her) shouted at the 2 youngest children (3 and 4) who were playing hide and seek to 'stop running!' As they are only 3 and 4 it's not like they are athletes and running at high speed! More like an adults walking pace. We also had 2 teenagers 16 and 15 who wanted to sit inside after we had eaten, so maximum they were there for around 10minutes ,as they were cold sat in the garden. They also got told to 'leave and go back to your parents, as you have to be 18 to sit in here' by the same lady. I completely understand there are certain rules, however if you are trying to promote yourself as a family friendly pub then I'd suggest you learn how to let little things go and support larger families. The garden area is lovely and if you let parents be parents, we would have told the children to slow down and not be bellowed at by a stranger. There weren't many families in the garden at the time so them playing wasn't interrupting other families either. All in all, we definitely won't be returning here or recommending this as a 'family...

Really wanted to like the Alma but sadly it was one of the worst pub experiences I've ever had.

Arrived at 5.45pm after a trip to Legoland with the kids, everyone hungry. Bar staff told us we had to be out by 7.30 as no kids after that time - no problem I told them, we'll eat in ten minutes! Over an hour later no food had arrived, off pint of real ale had been returned and kids were just about reaching breaking point. Food finally turns up just before 7pm.

Kids mini roast was missing both peas and gravy - just a plain chicken breast and chips. Staff said the chef would rectify that. Started cutting up chicken for kids to eat to find both meals were completely raw inside - not just rare but translucent, raw chicken. Thank goodness that our kids are so young we still cut their food up or we wouldn't have noticed and could easily be staring down the barrel of double food poisoning. Staff again said the chef would rectify. Ten minutes later, still no food for kids. Our own meals were very average but at least cooked although had to share what we could with the children as they were famished by this point.

Eventually we gave up and decided to leave and go buy sandwiches from a service station. Despite the obviously terrible experience the manager only reluctantly refunded the cost of the children's meals and nothing to compensate for the overall terrible experience.

I can't believe this pub is always that bad but on this experience alone I would recommend everyone avoid...

Seated at short notice on mothers day because we hadnt booked and was told it was a set menu and we would have to sit outside which was fine as the weather was nice, however there were empty tables inside....ordered the tomato soup and the roast beef, the soup was very tasty but not very hot, it was clearly homemade by the texture a little more blending would of been nice and the chives that were randomly chopped and thrown on the top of the soup were neither needed or wanted and didnot in my opinion do anything to enhance the flavour or appearance....the bread was nice and fresh however didnt come with any butter....we waited anxiously for our main course which eventually arrived after i had gone inside to speak to the waitress....the roast beef was very tasty and a decent portion size....there was however only 3 small potatoes and we had to ask for extra gravy.....the vegetables came in a seperate dish which looked fresh but a bit green..perhaps a few carrots would of given the side dish some colour..the brocolli and cabbage was very aldente....i dont like mushy veg but i think a few more minutes cooking time would of been prefered. the staff were very friendly and clearly very busy. i would maybe try the food again in the future but would definately book in advance and not on...