The Falcon Inn — Restaurant in England

We are returning customers after friends introduced us to this pub previously. This time we returned with family and it all honesty our experience was less than satisfactory. I will start by saying the quality of food was lovely just as it was on previous visits but unfortunately that’s as far as my praise can stretch at this time.

I had prebooked our table and upon arrival was told ‘your table is over there in the corner’ no one showed us to the table which absolutely is not a problem, but it also meant no one asked us if we required a high chair for my 2 year old so my husband went and found one. It also meant no one took our drinks order until we went to the bar and asked. When the young gentleman did come over we ordered all of food at the same time as we knew what we wanted - worth mentioning our table was booked at 6pm so at the latest we probably ordered at 6:15 (or no one came to take our drinks orders for a considerable long time). Our drinks arrived a short while afterwards although two were wrong and had to be taken back to the bar to be rectified.

Some time later we got the starters 3 of us had ordered - at this time because we’d been waiting a while we asked for my toddlers meal to be brought out as she was very hungry. I can’t say for sure what time our starters were served, but according to a member of staff it’s not unusual for a 30-40 minute wait after starters for mains. This was communicated to me after I complained at the end. At no point prior to ordering were we told of any wait on food. Also worth mentioning a member of staff asked if everything was ok during our starters and as previously stated as the food was delicious we answered yes.

At this point despite waiting for starters we assumed now these had been served our mains wouldn’t be long, unfortunately we were wrong. Eventually at 7:27 my husband asked how long our mains would be, and decided if they weren’t there by 7:30pm we would leave. After we’d chased up the young gentleman our mains did then arrive - so for some of our party after arriving at 6pm this was their first food, and would have been for my toddler had we not requested it earlier. We then felt we had to rush our meals as my toddler had finished and we were keen to get her home to bed so as to not be a nuisance to anybody else (hence the early booking).

As we were finishing our food my husband asked for the bill and voiced our displeasure but was told a 40 minute wait was usual and he said it would be nice to be informed of that upon ordering. No real apology or gesture of goodwill. I wasn’t happy with this so I went up to pay and asked for my toddlers meal costing £7.50 to be taken off our roughly £136 bill. Again this wasn’t done immediately and I had to argue my point that it wasn’t really acceptable we had to chase staff for our mains. At this point the member of staff who had asked if our starters were ok did say well I did ask if everything was ok which I feel wasn’t really conducive or appropriate as at that point some of my issues hadn’t even happened and we did answer that everything was ok as the food was lovely.

All in all lovely food was spoilt by poor service, my issue wasn’t even really with the wait, it was the complete lack of communication. If we had been warned or even apologised for the wait we could have made the choice to take our custom elsewhere or wait and then that would have been our own decision to blame, however in this instance I feel there was very poor service and no real accountability taken. I hope the owner sees this and takes my praise of the excellent food, but could offer me assurances that if I were to ever return we would receive much...

This is the 2nd year running we have visited The Falcon whilst on holiday in Cornwall and after the first visit, had given them the benefit of the doubt and put their service down to being an off day however, after receiving the same unwelcoming response for a 2nd year running, I felt compelled to leave my thoughts here.||||I'll start with the positives; beautiful garden in a lovely setting. ||||Now the negatives; we arrived at the pub on foot around 3pm having walked 2 miles from our accommodation. On arrival, the garden was blocked off with garden furniture and we were told that it had been closed because of the rain. During our walk with 6 children, all under 10, the youngest being 3, we had seen no rain at all. We asked if we could use the garden and were hesitantly told ok, but would need to come inside if it started to rain because they didn't want people thinking the garden was open and trying to order food out there. Within minutes of the first of my friends going to the garden, a lady appeared at the end of the bar asking why there were people in the garden and reiterating that there would be no food served out there. I tried to explain that we were only there for drinks, but I was ignored.||||We had been in the garden for a while when a light shower started. No more than 5 minutes after the shower started, we were asked to move inside, despite the shower being almost over.||||Once inside we were constantly asked if we were eating there and despite saying we were there for drinks only, we felt that we were in the way as food service would start at 6 and we were taking up 2 tables (6 adults and 6 children).||||I would like to think that the welcome here is not always as frosty however I also witnessed another party of 10 get told that they were unable to book a table, not allowed to push tables together and would 'just have to find somewhere'. ||||Our first visit had been a very similar experience in that we had arrived mid afternoon, sat in the garden and had asked at around 5:50 if we could order food, only to be told that food was not served until 6 as the chef didn't start until then. We accepted that and asked if we could still order in preparation for the chef starting but were told that wasn't possible either. ||||On both visits we have been made to feel that customers are a bit of an inconvenience. I appreciate that the summer holidays are a challenge but a little bit of hospitality goes a long way. ||||We will be back in Cornwall in 2022, but I doubt we will be back for 3rd time lucky...

I stayed at the Falcon Inn for 1 night Saturday 14th March 2015, arrived about 4.30pm and was immediatley made welcome & shown to my room which was clean fresh and well equipped with tea & Quality coffee and Tierre. The spacious Double room had ensuite shower / toilet and a comfortable bed. The well stocked bar had a great range of Real Ales as the pub is a member of CAMRA. Over the evening I tried most of the bitters on offer - a great night, as there was a golf presentation and prior to that the local football club had enjoyed a few after their match. I ate in the restaurant and chose off the "daily special menu" fresh Plaice, new potatoes, fresh broccolli and green beans followed by Ginger sponge and custard, a satifying meal after a long drive down to Cornwall from Lancashire. The rest of the evening I was made welcome by the locals and the staff at the Falcon Inn. A liesurely Sunday started with the inclusive full cornish breakfast cooked by the Manager - all sourced locally tasted great and set me up for the day. I was sad to leave but will definately return, a great experience - all that you would ever want from a good pub, thanks for a great stay - John Taylor, ...