The Halfway Inn — Restaurant in England

What a shame. Lovely little place and has the potential to be amazing. Very very surprised from reviews. Over priced but that's probably due to the crazy portions. Camembert comes in a WHOLE loaf utterly ridiculous! Waited 45 minutes to order starters only after asking twice. The female polish owner wouldn't even raise her head to acknowledge my complaint. 2 hours in and no signs of mains. People walking past and kind of just ignoring until we asked prior to this even stacking starter plates up didn't get any attention. Camembert not fully melted garlic cloves not fully baked ad still firm. Mains arrive. ... eventually and pork dinner, 3 x burgers and lamb shoulder were all massively over cooked. So so so dry. Such a shame as the lamb shoulder was a beautiful cut of meat but way too cooked. Burgers were ridiculous again in size (but to be expected if paying 18 per burger) and again so so dry.so after 3 hours 5 out of 6 meals were awful due to over cooked meet. The Sunday roast (beef) I'm told was amazing. We asked for the manager who I had already been told twice was on way eventually she came and surprise surprise with her co owner husband. Almost ready for confrontation. Why would she need to bring her husband out from kitchen. He was ok ish and not as rude as her. She was awful. I explained im sure this isnt usual standard or all reviews would be awful. They said service was 2 hrs until mains as we arrived 10 minutes late. Argued about service times and lack of service and told me the lamb had been on the menu for 19 years.... That means the one he served me must be perfect.... nonsense. I was shocked. We still never got an apology. Crazily the male owner wiped the whole bill. We gave him 60 pound for what we had as we left as I mentioned we are not into freebies but the 75 % of the food had been awful and service non existent. His wife was a disgrace of a manager and clearly in the wrong role. He was amicable when I insisted on cash but through the whole thing no apology. I can just imagine Gordon Ramsey going in there and asking what the he'll with portion sizes and waste. And for how slow everything is I'd be guessing the owner pretty much single handedly runs kitchen. Lovely cosy pub and pianist lovely touch. Unfortunately we will not be back because of how rude the polish lady owner was and not one apology only arguments for why everything was or wasn't...

UPDATE:

Visited here again on 11/28 and I'm pleased to say that not only has the service expotentially improved, but with the food was (mostly) outstanding. The stars of the show without a doubt were my roast sirloin main and homemade donuts for dessert - both fresh, bursting with flavour and perfectly sized. Exceptional value for money too.

We will definitely be back for more!

My original review:

The Halfway Inn has a lot of potential, but definitely needs to work through some teething issues to reach its full potential. The new decor and refurbishment is a welcoming blend of contemporary and traditional, and the owners are convivial and helpful hosts. Unfortunately the food is a mixed bag. I had a topside of beef which was good and accompanied by some particularly well done roast potatoes and a light, fluffy, perfect Yorkshire pudding. My partner's fish by contrast was stodgy and had a distinctly coconut aftertaste. Desserts similarly were a mixed bag. An excellent sticky toffee pudding was contrasted by a peanut butter brownie, that didn't taste at all of peanut butter and had a mealy, almost floury texture. All of this was preceded by a glass of rosé being spilt over my trousers and mobile phone, with a very half-hearted apology being our only compensation.

I would definitely like to return in a couple of weeks' time to see how things have settled down. For now, I hope that our experience was typical of a great restaurant in the midst of finding its feet as opposed...

Great setting & fantastic food. Popped in for a first (lunch)time visit during a family half-term holiday day out. Loved the characterful layout which gives it a luxurious feel, tasteful music played at just the right volume etc. Noting it was a weekday, the table settings were "grown up" & not particularly child friendly; understandably the clientele were couples or the odd table of 4 adults. Any concerns about taking a 3 & 6 yo in there were quickly removed. Service was great; despite no children's menu to speak of, a meal was adjusted to make it child friendly & without us asking was divided into two proper servings (not just cut in half on a plate) complete with two lots of chips & salad. Quality was as good as any pub meal I've had; great ingredients. Relatively short but varied menu to cater for all tastes; traditional baguettes, tempura vegetables, burgers, etc. The Thai curry chicken burger with chilli Mayo was probably the tastiest burger I've ever had; amazing. Don't go there if you're after a cheap bite; approx £7 for a baguette, £14 for a gourmet burger, but the quality (& quantity!) was such that it was definitely value for money. Hopefully we controlled our girls well enough to avoid the ire of the other "2 star" reviewer who marked down the pub because of the actions of a nearby child & family! Definitely hope to go back, especially as part of a...