The Forge & Fern — Restaurant in England

Wouldn’t normally write a bad review (just wouldn’t go back to the place) however in this instance I feel it necessary. Let’s start with the food which is overpriced for the quality you receive. If you like burgers then this may be the only thing that was okay from the menu. Fish and chips, a British staple, was not great! Not much fish and the chips are the same skin on fries served with most other meals. It would be nice to have a variety, may be some triple cooked chips? The pork belly is a no no. From reading the reviews I would take this off the menu as the ‘chefs’ can’t seem to cook it. A spoonful of cabbage was served with this. Not worth the prices they charge! Now let’s talk about the payment. THEY ONLY TAKE CARD PAYMENTS. Which, to most, is absolutely fine. However there are many reasons why a paying customer wants to pay by cash. Perhaps they had cash and didn’t bother bringing their card? Whatever the reason, a paying customer should be able to pay by cash or card. As we only had cash, the manager decided to come to our table and argue the fact that they only accept card payments. Not a great decision on his part. He then said they could pay it on their card but was still forcibly suggesting we pay by card. We didn’t have any cards on us at the time only cash! Considering this was probably a one off, as most people pay by card these days, he should have paid on their card and took our money and advised that if we come back (which we will not) we would have to pay by card. Oh and he also advised that they state card only on the booking confirmation. Well that’s great for the person making the reservation but not everyone will be made aware of that. Just a suggestion, when the waiter/waitress seats the customer to the table they could advise, at that point, that they only accept card payments. That way everyone is aware! Anything good to say about this place? Well… it looks nice and most of the staff are very polite and friendly. The management and the ‘chefs’ on the other hand need some...

Firstly the decor was really nice, great atmosphere and a great new location that is much needed in Staple Hill, on arrival we had a group of 11 however had two separate bookings (8 and 4), the staff were really helpful and moved tables together so the seating was no problem. I ordered a flavoured bottle of lemonade, £4.30 and a non alcoholic G and T was £7 compared to a £8.50 alcoholic really high price point but maybe to be expected, and with the decor probably just about justifiable. When we ordered the food came out all at different times, half the table had finished eating by the time some other got their meals. They also started clearing plates while some people were still eating (even leaning over me to grab a plate). The food would be average if it wasn’t so expensive, the price makes the food well below expected standard, with the pork being inedible. We complained and asked for it to be removed from the bill, it took three attempts of the manager sending over a waiter to offer different solutions other than it being taken off the bill. In the end they reluctantly agreed although by then it had felt like a bit of a battle. All in all the place looks great, and the price point is expected for how it looks however the quality and service is well below par. This could of been an off day (looking at reviews) and they have just opened so hopefully if they can get these problems sorted it has the potential...

Went for a dinner with my spouse to eventually check out the famous place. We knew from the start the menu is quite limited,but no problems with that. First impression - stylish interior, nice ambience. The waitress offered to sit us right opposite the open kitchen which we didn’t like so requested a different table which she managed to get for us. For starters we had small plates of hummus with pita bread and halloumi fries with jalapeño jam which were very tasty. Mains- husband had Finisher Burger with fries and coleslaw. Unfortunately, meat as dry as a bone, chips quite soggy. I had rigatoni with prawns with tomatoes,chilli,garlic,capers and wilted rocket. Decent amount of prawns, can’t complain,but the whole dish ruined completely by waaay overcooked pasta. I understand some people don’t like pasta aldente, prefer softer, but this rigatoni was unacceptable. Cherry on top was the fact that so called finely grated parmesan served in a small bowl so I could sprinkle it over my meal was not a real parmesan at all. Tasted just like grated mozzarella and looked like it. Made me laugh though.Nice beers and cocktails, some staff could have been more friendly and put a smile on their face as we have been served by few different people and some of them grumpy and so tense.Overall, in my opinion the whole experience was a triumph of form over the substance. At least...