The Dundas Arms — Restaurant in England

Ok so this place looked lovely... It wasnt good at all and in fact really weird and badly run. Now I will tell you the events as they happened. 😳 We booked a table for 6 via email and said there was one gluten free and they said they could cater for that so all seemed well. When we arrive we were shown to a table inside on a lovely sunny day when there were lots of lovely tables outside in the shade that would have been much nicer. We asked if we could eat outside (other people were and there were plenty of tables) and were told no because they only served to a few of the tables and they were taken. We asked if we could be served inside and then take out food outside to eat and then bring all the plates back inside and were told no like this "no, please don't do that... There would be riots, literally this place is weird there would be riots."

So we moved table to a different and nicer indoor one and we're given menus. The gluten free menu looked great, plenty of selection. Then I came across giant cous cous on the menu which seemed a bit weird as cous cous isn't normally gluten free but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. We all ordered starters and mains and after a long time a waitress came over to tell me they didn't have any meatballs to give me the starter I'd chosen... So I chose the mackerel instead. Then a period of time passes and the starters comes out missing mine (the gluten free mackerel) and everyone has nearly finished theirs when a waitress comes to the table and says 'the mackerel' and I say yes and then she gives me a prawn cocktail... I am very confused. I call the lady back as she dropped of the dish and legged it. I ask why did they say mackerel and give me prawns and she said 'sorry but we don't have any mackerel but this is gluten free'. Now I have never been to a restaurant where they chose your food for you but I told them that I don't eat prawns (they don't agree with me) and so they asked me what I would like instead and I said I'd just skip starter as everyone had finished theirs now and they went away... Sometime later they came out to tell me they didn't have any of the main I had ordered and what would I like, so I rechose. Then they came out to tell me that the menu they had given me had been replaced and they didn't have any of the things on it now and gave me the normal menu for a couple of dashes on it. One thing came with fries so I asked 'are your fries cooked with other things that have gluten like fish or onion rings?' and was told yes... Meaning that when they say their fries were gluten free, they mean they are definitely not gluten free. So I ordered something that should not have gluten in it (that I wasn't super keen on but seemed the only option) and at least now my food came out with the rest. A very very salt duck with salty cabbage and salty mash. It was edible.

We then looked at their pudding menus which they brought and we ordered and were told that they'd closed the kitchen for 30mins as they had a lot of orders (this place was way less than 50% full) so we ordered drinks and were told they'd closed the bar for 20mins so they could wash some glasses. 😳😑

They then added 15% service to the bill which we asked to be removed as it had been laughably bad. We had tried to speak to them and tell them we'd been waiting and had been rebuffed. Soooooo weird. Have never experienced a place like it.

We paid, left and won't be back. They say they have a gluten free menu but the place seems to be so chaotically run that I wouldn't go back. Mental! Decide for. Yourself... Here is a picture of what they gave me saying...

I met a friend for lunch at the pub at the weekend. We booked our table for 1 o'clock. The pub is very nicely situated by the canal and there are many varied areas to sit outside as well as inside. Since it was a bit cool we sat inside. We ordered our meals (salad x 2) in the expected time frame. When we sat down the inside eating areas were not overly busy and in our area there was one other occupied table and 2 unoccupied. After 35 minutes my friend enquired about the progress of our meal to be told by a nice young man that for some reason there was an error in their system meaning it had slipped down the orders but it was now back at the top. He did offer us a drink to make up for it which was nice although we declined. In the meantime another couple had sat down at the table near to us and had just had their meal served.. A further 25 minutes later and my friend asked again (politely but firmly) about the meals and was told the same thing to which she replied that that was what we had been told 25 minutes ago. We had now been waiting an hour for 2 salads. He (the under manager) explained that it was a Saturday, which we knew, and that they were very busy and that they had many seats outside. We also knew that. What he didn't know was that my friend and her husband (a chef) had owned and run several highly successful restaurants for 40 years and she was fully conversant with how things work and also how not to be defensive about poor service (I doubt she ever had to deal with that to be honest). The point was, which he missed, was that we had been there longer than many other people who had come in since and were already eating their meals. The point of the booking service is that we would've liked to have eaten around that time give or take the usual waiting time, say by 1.30. Once the meal arrived it was very nice (and appreciated - by the time it arrived we were rather hungry) but the overall restaurant experience wasn't. I'm sure everyone there enjoyed themselves and didn't have our experience but we rarely get the chance to see one another, had made long journeys to meet there having visited quite some years ago and enjoyed it, and the experience was definitely marred by late food and an under manager who was defensive rather...

We came for 2 nights for our 35th wedding anniversary and stayed in the Moorhen room, nice not to have to lug our baggage up loads of stairs. Room was very nice and spacious, with patio doors out onto our own patio overlooking the canal, it was lovely to see the ducks. The shower was very powerful, so much so it kept turning around so was a bit of work to actually enjoy it! Not a complaint though, especially as the bathroom shampoo, handwash and bodywash was made by Bramley.. Dinner was lovely but we were sat on a table almost in the corridor but was able to move. Food delicious and wine lovely too. Particularly enjoyed the Affogato desert. On the Sunday we went for a nice walk along the canal and enjoyed hearing the ducks shouting to each other and the walk was pretty much just us. Had the Sunday lunch which was delicious but again we were sat in the cold corridor with staff rushing backwards and forwards and the window which was wide open, had to be shut, and also by the till and coffee maker so it was a bit disappointing. In the evening because we’d had the very filling lunch, we went to the cinema. On our return with the thought of a nightcap, we got back at 9.55 to find everything in darkness, to our horror our door-key did not open the front door, in fact did not even fit the lock properly, not knowing what to do we rang but got an answerphone. One of the other guest heard us but he was upstairs in the main building which meant he couldn’t let us in. Eventually scrambling around the bin store we got to the patios and had to disturb one of our neighbours in The Mallard room further up from us, must have nearly given them a heart attack, but he kindly let us in, so disaster averted. In the morning it transpired that the key was not even the front door key. Too many guests taking the keys off or even losing them. Despite all of this the stay was very pleasant and the staff were all really nice and helpful, especially Fanny who went above and beyond. They all seem to work extremely hard and the key wouldn’t put us off staying again. Apologies for the length of...