The Flower Pot Hotel — Restaurant in England

Please note that I am giving one star because it is not an option to give none.

My family and I decided we wanted to go for a nice Boxing Day walk along the river and stop into this pub on the way for a nice drink and a snack. It began by the already terrible service at the bar whereby the staff seemed irritated by us for asking what options they had for crisps and then proceeded to sell them to us 3 months out of date. They did refund us for these, however we felt like an annoyance, which is not exactly the pleasant pub trip we had in our minds.

However, nothing prepared us for what was to unfold after this. On the table next to us, a man and his son (I would say about 14 or 15), who clearly had autism, were having a drink. A staff member came over to clear up the glasses from the table and does something that triggers him. It seemed like she knocked over a glass towards him and he responded by throwing it at her. Up until this point, I am sympathic towards her as I do understand that it is not pleasant to have a glass thrown at you whilst you're at work. Despite the fact that this kid is clearly autistic and looks absolutely terrified of her, she starts shouting at him and getting really close to his face.

At this point, the boy is curled up on himself in a very defensive manner and reaches out a couple of times to grab anything that is near him and throw it at her, so it results in him throwing a couple of glasses at her again. She continues to be very aggressive towards him and the scene is now very distressing to watch as the child is very upset and his father looks devastated and is trying to physically restrain his child and remove him from the situation, but the woman is continuing to get aggressive at both the boy and his father, making everything worse.

Once the father removed the boy from the immediate area, I went over to try and help tidy up the glasses and stuff from the floor and tell the woman to calm down as the boy clearly is has special needs, to which she responds by pushing me. I am not sure what gives this woman the right to start pushing customers, but she at this point is squaring up to me because I am telling her to stop shouting at and being physically aggressive to children with autism.

She proceeds to then return inside the pub and bring out another man. This man comes out asking where the boy is and is also being very aggressive. I tell him that he should leave him alone as he is clearly autistic but both the man and the woman are having none of it and continue to threaten the boy.

I was shocked and disgusted in the at the appalling display of aggression and ignorance towards someone with special needs and then to physically assault a customer because they dared to say something about it. I have never witnessed such awful behaviour before and it brought me to tears afterwards. I am utterly disgusted and would never, ever bring anyone to this place ever again or ever recommend it.

After this, most people in the beer garden proceeded to leave and many came over to agree with me and my family over what had happened, so I know that it was not just us that felt this way. The service had already been atrocious, and this utterly repulsed me.

When you see these stories on social media, you think that there couldn't possibly be people with this mindset in the world, but what happened today proved that there are these sorts of people out there, and they apparently work in The Flower Pot. Avoid...

The pub by which all others will be judged. I'd run past this place on the Thames Path Ultra some years ago and thought what a charming place it looked. I finally made an excuse to book lunch as part of the beautiful National Trust Hambledon Lock to Henley River walk. The pub is beautiful: charming without falling into an 'Olde Worlde' cliche. The menu is short enough to allow the kitchen to focus on quality, but long enough to cater for all tastes, food intolerances and preferences. We skipped starters and went right to mains, having Cornish sea bass with a side salad and chips and a Nicoise salad. Each were exceptional, with my Nicoise's tuna steak still pink on the inside, beans and potatoes perfect done and eggs beautifully soft boiled. The localish Brakespeaks Gravity Drop was excellent and the impressive Dog Menu a first for me. In skipping the starters we'd made a conscious decision to leave room for puddings, which were were also exceptional. The warm flour-free brownie, with mandarin wedges, a reduced mandarin sauce and and vanilla ice cream was excellent. Even better was the playful and creative carrot cake, which came in a flowerpot with edible flowers, cinnamon infused baby carrots, and layers of sweetened marscarpone and gently spiced carrot cake. The garden was lovely and dog-friendly, the loos spotless and the service superb. In summary, flawless execution by a superb team. Expect London prices in these Shires, but the quality and value were...

We visited The Flower Pot Hotel expecting a pleasant afternoon meal but left feeling utterly frustrated. Upon arrival, we were informed that the full menu wouldn’t be available between 4 pm and 6 pm, but we could still order from the bar snacks menu or the outdoor barbecue stand. Fair enough – or so we thought.

When we went to order from the bar snacks menu, we were told that the kitchen had decided they were too busy and had stopped taking orders – despite being told minutes earlier that it was available. Confused, we headed to the barbecue stand, only to be informed that there was a one-hour wait – just for chips.

What made the experience even more frustrating was that the pub was barely a quarter full and clearly not busy. We ended up wasting 30 minutes going from one order point to another, only to leave without having ordered anything.

If the kitchen was unable to handle orders, that should have been clearly communicated upfront, rather than misleading customers and wasting their time. This was an incredibly disappointing experience, and given the lack of organization and poor service, we won’t be returning...