The Angel — Restaurant in England

Email below sent the same evening on 27/07 once we got home & exactly a week later we’ve heard nothing! Good Evening, I telephoned this evening at 5pm to check what meats were on the carvery today & if the restaurant was fully booked or if we needed to book a table. A man answered the phone & told me what meats were available on the carvery today & informed me that the restaurant wasn’t busy, so based on that we decided to leave home in Thatcham & make our way to the Pub. We arrived to be greeted by a lady who asked us if we had a table booked, we said no & she then said “Just drinks then?”…..it was as if the pub was full which it wasn’t, we said no we want food & phoned earlier to check, the reply we got was “so you have booked then?!” to which we replied that we hadn’t but the lady promptly seated us at table 13 so we thought all was well. The taller of the 2 waitresses came & took our drinks order, we informed her that we’d be going up to the carvery for which she replied the carvery was closed today but they were still serving the carvery…..slightly puzzled as nobody informed us of this on the phone we decided to stay for which was essentially a plated meal & not a carvery. The plated carvery arrived & straight away I said to the shorter waitress who brought the meal to our table that it would have to go back as I didn’t eat any of the mixed veg that was on my plate, a mixture of cauliflower, carrots, & cabbage…..had we been able to go up to the carvery I wouldn’t have chosen these, had we been informed what the veg was or even asked I would have also said but there was no communication. The waitress promptly took my plate back to the kitchen & returned with the veg replaced on my plate for mixed carrots & peas which I was ok. We weren’t asked if we wanted any sauces or condiments so my partner asked for some mustard for myself & the waitress just charged off without asking if we wanted anything else so when she returned my partner asked for some Cranberry sauce & she huffed & stormed off! The table behind asked for the bill & when she brought it to the table the lady offered her card but the same waitress wasn’t listening & just stormed off again! No attention to detail or customer service at all! The taller waitress came over & asked if everything was ok & we advised her that no it wasn’t & explained about the waitress etc, she then had the audacity to stand at the serving station with the other waitress talking about us! The quality of the food was extremely poor hence we both left over half a plate each, my beef was dry & tasted like it was out of a packet, our potatoes were hard on the outside like they had been refried in the deep fat fryer, peas were like bullets & carrots wilted with no flavour, my partners veg was over cooked, to then be asked by the taller waitress was everything ok & we said no not really she then asked if we wanted desserts to which we replied no we’d rather stop off at Sainsbury’s & get something! She then tried to persuade us again & we said no. We decided to leave & pay the bill only to be insulted with no offer of a discount, free drinks or an apology for the service & quality of food, £35.20 for 2 carvery meals (which were plated & not a carvery meal) & 2 drinks seemed extremely poor value for money when we could have & have had better at the Toby Carvery for the same money! The Angel has always produced a good quality & value for money Carvery with good service to which we’ve always recommended to family, friends & colleagues & the fact that it’s local with local produce compared to a standard chain has always been a preference for us, today’s quality & service was extremely disappointing & below the standard we have come to expect from the Angel. We really felt cheated & left hungry! Neither of us will be in a hurry to rush back if at all & we certainly will not be recommending you. I hope you can take our feedback on board & turn it into something...

As I have a Tastecard, which gives me discount on food, I tend to look for restaurants that are part of this scheme. My sister and I live 40 mins apart so I searched for a restaurant about mid-way and came up with The Angel Inn at Woolhampton. The Tastecard website stated that I was eligible for 50% discount on the food consumed, however, when the bill came there wasn’t any discount shown at all. When I pointed this out the waitress came back with a revised bill, it did not show the full discount. I questioned this and was told that they only gave discount on the main course, not on the starters. After considerable discussion I paid and planned to take this up further in writing once home.

The bill was not the only thing we were unhappy with. There was only one other table occupied in the whole of the pub and my sister and I were sat at an adjoining table. We started with scallops which were nice, my sister ordered risotto for her main course and I chose the salmon primarily because it came with dauphinoise potatoes which I love. The risotto was a very small portion and, considering the price of the ingredients, it was very over priced. My salmon was over seasoned but the dauphinoise potatoes had to be seen to be believed. Dauphinoise potatoes should have a crust on the top but the potatoes themselves should be soft and creamy. I was served a block of fried dauphinoise, each side was crispy so I presume the pre-cooked potatoes had been fried in order to reheat them.

Once home I e-mailed The Angel Inn, quoted the terms of the Tastecard membership and requested a refund on the food as I had been overcharged. Unknown to them I had tracked my e-mail so I know when it was received as well as when, and how often, it had been opened. I did not get a reply. I sent a second e-mail with the same result. I then contacted Tastecard and gave them all the details, they subsequently contacted The Angel and reported back to me. The Angel Inn did not like having to give the discount and have now decided to withdraw from the scheme, however, under the terms of the agreement they could not do this for 30 days and during that time were told by Tastecard to honour the 50% discount. The Angel had answered every e-mail from Tastecard but still refused to acknowledge mine. A final e-mail was sent by me with the subject “Please have the Courtesy of Replying”. Silence again. I think it is unacceptable that a business should behave in such a manner. I will never cross their threshold again nor will I recommend it. These days there is stiff competition for business and I cannot see The Angel Inn flourishing in these difficult times if they treat their customers as they treated me. My rating for this...

For a birthday celebration my friend and I went for lunch here as a change from our usual venue. My starter came and the bread was so burnt it was charcoaled on the underside (sneaky hidden I feel - cannot believe anyone thought it was ok to serve like that!!), when I tried to get the waitresses attention it took three attempts. They all raced about with an agenda NOT to offer an attentive service. No one gives you eye contact. I was greeted with hostility when I tried to be jokey about it being a little too burnt for my pallet - it was black. It was replaced with an untoasted piece of bread - Hohum! My friend’s starter, clearly heated in the microwave, meant the pasty was like trying to chew soggy cardboard. Pictures of the mains attached, the served plated carvery; the gammon was chewy with a lot of fat on the edge. Both Gammon and turkey were cold. The gravy thin and luke warm. The Yorkshire looked promising but was soggy. The roast potatoes were reheated (the inside potato had come away from the outer. The veg was two over cooked carrot battens, two Brussels (cooked perfectly) and a piece of crunchy parsnip. One tiny ball of stuffing which was rock hard. Aside the Brussels all very disappointing - worth £14.95 for two perfectly cooked Brussels? Good value? You decide. My friend’s meal was the pork belly or should I say pork fat with about a strip of actual meat about a 1cm along the length of the fat. The fat hadn’t been rendered and clearly not prepared by an experienced chef - the photos are of just the fat. Just looking at the lump of fat on my friend’s plate ruined any appetite for both of us! Her roasted root veg comprised of one parsnip, a few pieces of carrot and the mash was dry and lumpy. Clearly in the photos you can see it’s not mash. Did we try desert - we couldn’t face it. We mentioned the poor quality of the food when trying to pay, which took 25 minutes, the food so vile we moved to the bar lied about a taxi coming so we could get fresh air and rid our nostrils of the grim fat smell. The Waitress was rather unconcerned about the poor quality of food & went to speak with the manager, he looked over at us. No apology or offer to make anything right about the food, but the cost of the pork belly ‘fat’ was removed from the bill together with the charcoaled bread. Would I eat here again? No. We are blessed with so many other local restaurants in West Berks all which great you with good vibes, attentive staff and...