The Brache Beefeater — Restaurant in England

I booked a table for a group of us to celebrate our brother's 40th birthday over the phone. I thought I was going to be able to talk to a human, unfortunately it was a booking bot who couldn't answer my questions and got my name wrong.

I had to amend the info on the confirmation email I received. Having said that when I did send an email to the Brache, apart from their email system going down, they didn't answer my questions when they replied back to me. Bear this in mind, you may as well just book online rather than calling or go and see them.

Anyway regarding the evening of the booking. my sis and I got there early to find out if the table was ready so I could add some balloons and I also handed them the cake for later. We also met our server, Lauren for the evening.

The venue was packed, great atmosphere and many celebrating birthdays. The food took longer to come out than usual. This was due to them being down on chefs. A BIG shout out to Lauren, she was great, she was so transparent and told us what was going on. As we had one child in the group, she made sure food was gven to him first and she kept checking on us in case we needed anything else in the mean time.

I gave the 'food' 4 stars as the first plate of mains for my sister and I was overcooked, and we struggled cutting into it, everyone one else's food was good. I showed Lauren and she said it was unacceptable so she took the plates away and we got round 2 which was so much better.

Lauren brought the cake to the table along with a few other servers who then sang 'Happy Birthday'. It was quite late into the evening but she did everything for us to have a lovely time. I hope Lauren's manager acknowledges her and how she handled things on Saturday (6.4.24). Thanks for taking the group pics too.

Thank you Lauren, we had such a fab time and we hope you didn't get home too late!

Please remember, instead of having a go at the server, they can only do what they can in the given circumstances, instead be patient, kind and grateful, it...

One evening in the UK and I can't wait to leave again. 1st time I've ever complained at a restaurant. 8.30pm, ordered at the bar, 3rd choice lucky as they didn't have the first 2 items (fish and chips). About 35 mins later, a dessert arrived for us, we informed the waitress we didn't get mains yet. All fine. 30 mins later again (now 1hr since order on quiet evening) the mains arrived. Noticed they looked bare and realised 1. Sloppy joe burger was missing - cheese, coleslaw, bbq sauce, sloppy joe chilli!, 2. Mixed grill was missing - corn, coleslaw, bbq sauce. Waited 10 mins at empty bar to check if we got the right thing as the sloppy joe burger literally had no sloppy joe. Was told the kitchen will be grilled for the mistake... 20 mins later the plate returned now freezing cold, with sauce added. Was told they don't have the other 6 missing items as the factory burnt down... Fine but couldn't that have been mentioned when ordering? Was offered an extra mushroom to make up for it (surprise surprise it didn't arrive). After 40 mins of waiting, asked it the dessert would arrive. 20 mins later it did, now with a lumpy custard instead of the ice cream ordered. Quietly spoke to waiter and asked is there and part refund for all the missing items, was told no sorry because you ate some. He could not grasp that we didn't eat the items that were never there in the first place! He saidnhe would ask the manager who was sat in an empty area around the corner. Manager wouldn't come and I followed up with the waiter who kept going over to ask but nope, she would not move. Another 20 mins and I was called to the bar to say you can have £2 back. All I wanted was to have been told half plates would arrive, or even to have been able to speak to someone! 2.5 hours later we could finally leave this godforsaken place.

I can tell this restaurant must rely on being near the airport and knowing that people...

Absolutely dreadful. Despite being about 25% full, the service is terrible. The member of staff who took our very simple order for mains and soft drinks behaved like he'd never seen a till before. Needless to say the order was incorrect, so my wife had to correct it and get a partial refund. NO APOLOGY OFFERED..

Customer ahead of us also had her order taken wrongly and was also served with wine in a dirty glass. Drink swapped but absolutely NO APOLOGY OFFERED.

Mains arrived and were still wrong. NO APOLOGY OFFERED.

Ordered deserts (with some trepidation, given the shambles experienced thusfar). Forty minutes later, no deserts so gave up and asked for a refund. Guess what....NO APOLOGY OFFERED.

It's not just that the staff are not managing diners' expectations by explaining there is a delay (despite the place still being far under capacity), but the staff themselves simply do not care, certainly none of the four we had the misfortune to encounter.

Two hours and 20 minutes to receive main course, and for our patience to run out with missing deserts.

If you're thinking of eating here, feed your pets and tell your neignbours not to worry if they don't see you again for some time.

In the words of Captain Lawrence Edward Grace "Titus" Oates, Antarctic explorer “I am just going outside and may be some time”!

Personal Observation: I honestly don't understand why anyone chooses to work in the hospitality industry if they don't want to provide even the most basic level of courtesy and service?

At this time of year, it can be difficult to come up with a new year's resolution, but thank you Beefeater - you've definitely given me one.

It's only a shame there's no option to...