The Bellhouse — Restaurant in England

HORRIFIC, SHAMEFUL EXPERIENCE

I decided to treat my wife and son to a nice meal at The Bellhouse, I say ‘treat’ as usually the visits here are great and myself and my family usually enjoy the food and the service. However today was a total exception and a complete disgrace. It began after the 3 of us were seated upstairs on a table for 4 We were about to order when I received a phone call from my brother and his wife asking if they could join us. As my sister in law is disabled they have not ventured out of their own home since lockdown so this also should have been a nice treat for them and we were all obviously looking forward to catching up. To ensure my sister in laws safety and well being as she can’t climb stairs we asked if we could be seated downstairs on a table for 5 or alternatively outside if no space was available in the main dining area. This did not seem a problem for the assistant serving us, he said in his own words “that isn’t a problem” and he quickly arranged a table downstairs in the dining area for us and we began to move. My brother and sister in law arrived and we began to get comfortable. This is where the experience went appallingly downhill. The assistant serving us had said again “it was not a problem at all” putting a fifth chair around our table in the main dining area for us all to be seated, we didn’t mind sitting inside or outside as long as it was downstairs and could accommodate all 5 of us, however a rather rude, abrupt and very arrogant manageress appeared and told us this was against the rules and we can’t have 5 persons on the table. I kindly reminded her of the situation and that we had said that we did not mind either a table inside or outside and that the assistant serving us had told us this was not a problem. I was absolutely disgusted and dumbfounded when I heard her reply as she went on to call me “A LIAR” I asked her to repeat what she called me and she told me I was lying. I was totally humiliated in front of not only my own family which included my wife, my son, my brother and his disabled wife but I was also called “A LIAR” in front of the entire dining area by this shameful and rude manageress. What exactly I was supposed to be lying about I’m still not sure?? Was it that I hadn’t asked to be moved downstairs ?? Was I lying about my disabled sister in law ?? Was I supposed to be lying about the assistant who told us earlier “it wasn’t a problem” ?? I found the manageress to be rude, arrogant and aggressive in her approach to this situation and still cannot believe I was called “A LIAR” in front of everybody. I am appalled by her behaviour and disgusted to be called a liar by her. I will certainly never forget this experience and would kindly ask whoever it is that employs this person to take a serious look at her and review her situation, as based on her attitude towards me today I have to ask the question ‘why would you employ such a disgraceful, discriminative individual’ I hope someone takes note of this to ensure in the future another completely innocent person looking for a nice treat for their family don’t get called names when out for a supposedly enjoyable lunch. Such disgraceful behaviour does not belong in this usually lovely...

Our reservation changed a few times and the staff were pleasant and patient with the requests.

We went for the Christmas menu (had I have checked the main menu which includes most of the same foods we probably would have stuck to that), set menu £28.95 per head.

We were greeted by who appeared to be a manager and taken directly to our table which was already ready despite us being a bit early.

Food was lovely, view reflected around the table thoughwe had a steak go back as it was well done and not rare, but no fuss over that and it was changed over quickly.

Over all experience was positive and would definitely visit again.

Couple of things however dropped the 5* - When we got there the evening was visibly tense between some of the employees which was a little awkward.

No Yorkshire pudding for the vegetarian and there was noticeably less vegetables on the plate to that on the meat eaters roast.

Our deposit wasn't taken from the bill and we needed to ask for this to be redone, when it was returned to us (minus deposit) it held a compulsory service charge written on, and we were told it was for tables of six or more. Your website however states more than six (so shouldn't have been added on for us). No fuss made (other than someone couldn't work out 10% correctly which we had a chuckle about) as we would have tipped anyway, but might be worth rewording the website...

I just want to preface this review with the fact that I've been eating and drinking here for a long time, and I absolutely love the staff there, and the food. Their roasts have always been the best in the business as far as what you can get in the local area, and the service is second to none.

However, I went there for a roast recently with 5 other people, and whilst the food and service from Genevieve was awesome, the fact you've now removed cauliflower cheese and stuffing from some of the options, and charge an extra 3-4 quid for each, is disgusting.

The chefs or the owners need to take a look at their pricing strategy, because to now have to pay and extra 6-8 quid for something that usually came with the turkey option (now gone because it's seasonal, fair enough), when the price of the meal hasn't gone down (despite losing two components of it), is bang out of order.

I'll still eat here, because it's the best roast for a mile, but I think that's taking an absolute liberty and you should rethink your pricing strategy. The stuffing isn't worth the money you're charging, and 3 or 4 quid for a slice of a different meat is also too much. Once again, love this place and the people that work there, but there's a 'cost of living crisis' and these prices in line with these changes are just unacceptable and I would be embarrassed to communicate this if I were working...