The Horseshoe — Restaurant in England

Review based solely on customer service.

We arrived at the pub which is relatively local to us, looking forward to a nice bit of pub grub in the sunshine.

First things first, we ordered drinks. We have two young girls and ordered blackcurrant and sodas for both of them.

Straight away, I remarked that one of the drinks needed another dash of blackcurrant as there was no colour at the the top of the glass. The barmaid responded that it had just sunk to the bottom. I asked for a straw to stir it, she gave one and I did so for both drinks.

I then remarked that it still needed a dash, as the drink was still considerably weaker than the other one.

I was then told, if I wanted another dash I would have to pay for it. I remarked, that clearly the drink was weaker than the other and that I shouldn’t have to pay as it wasn’t right in the first place. The response I got, was that the dashes are measured and therefore can't be wrong.

The drinks were clearly different. They tasted different. They were more noticeable In person and you can’t deny the taste difference. How can you argue with staff, whose attitude is that they’re not wrong even when evidence says otherwise. Especially over a dash of cordial (for 80p)……… it’s not the cost, it’s the principle.

Perhaps it’s not the bar staff's fault, but management policy. I suspect that the manager was the older barmaid who shut down the argument pretty swiftly. Either way it leaves a figurative bad taste in the mouth.

I'm sure the pub does have its plus points, but customer service is not one of them.

Edit: added another image for clarity...

We booked for our Christmas meal 2024 here second year now and unfortunately again disappointed.

The first year we were rushed through our meal as well as this everyone crammed into a small side of the pub.

The second year, the lady behind the bar was very rude, when we first got there i felt again rushed when trying to order our drinks. As well as this the food that we paid £54.99 was no different to frozen cooked school dinner food very disappointing and i feel i should potentially involve my bank to ask for a partial refund for this horrible experience as i did not receive what was advertised to me. Also we heard many people as well as us upset with the food so it’s not just us that this pub disappointed on Christmas day.

The wait we had from when we finished our starters was extremely long, around 45 minutes for our mains to come and even then we noticed the lady serving forgot about us and we had to bring this to her attention, we watched many people finish there starters after us and get there main before us. (There tables were much larger then ours)

We will not be using this pub for Christmas dinner ever again and would recommend toby carvery or green king pub in longwell green which both specialise in roast dinners.

What an absolute waste of money and very disappointed on our Christmas dinner.

So sad our day was...

The staff weren't very patient at all when you first walk in it appears as though you are instantly meant to know what you would like to drink. Leaving you feeling rushed and unwelcome, then when waiting at the bar for the selected drinks to be poured you are faced with a rather peeved bar lady and a man to the side of the bar staring at you. The pub was advertised as having a children's play area which is why we came here in the first instance but that no longer exists. Luckily we were able to sit in a quiet and secluded area in the back garden so we could all have a more relaxed experience. We ordered food, which was brought out in a timely manner. The food was okay but not great, the chips seemed as if they were cheap chips purchased from the cheapest range you can get in the supermarket. We ordered a portion of fish and chips, the fish lacked any flavour or seasoning and had the texture of cardboard. Luckily we aren't local so our flippant decision to try this place out was a one time thing and we will not have to...