The Milk Churn — Restaurant in England

I have never sent food back in 40 years but when presented with a dark brown cricket ball on a wilted leaf or two, and realised that yes, this was indeed my main course of crab cake....I looked up at the server and actually said,... er it's burnt....... He really did reply..... Er no, that's what they look like! So picking up the very flat knife, I tried to insert it in to the top of the cricket ball crab cake... It wasn't having it! Rolling about the plate, because I had no stability, as I couldn't get the fork in to the cricket ball either. Gave up the fork. Grabbed the cricket ball crab cake in my left hand, much to the merriment of my family and stabbed it hard! Success I was in at last! I cut it in half and chipped a piece off.... On inspection we all decided..... Definitely burned. The server walked by and asked if everything was OK? I lifted up the cricket crab cake like a fielder in the out of bounds and passed it to him,... definitely burned,... I said.... I accidentally may have also uttered... Sorry...! I hate doing that, bad burnt food and I'm staying sorry!! So off he toddles to the kitchen, while the rest of the table tuck into.... Dry pork chop my old Dad not happy.... Son 17.95 steak that was a tiny square???? Looked like someone had cut a slice of steak directly in half! This pub is not cheap!! Chicken burger, sons friend and My old mum, fish and chips ( this looked very pretty and not burnt) so it was a shame that the blue paint from the little pot the mayo was in, was flaking off, on to the plate. Why would no one not notice this? The server comes back,.... The chef said the oil is nearly at the end of its life. Even if he cooks another (cricket ball) crab cake, it will be just the same.... Do you want to order something else? Er that would be a No. Just Gin. Stay safe! Table server was lovely, he put a candle in my Autistic sons pudding as he'd obviously heard us talking about his birthday, that was very kind. But for the prices, I really need to see much better quality food coming out of the kitchen. I once came here pre pandemic and it was sadly lacking then as well. But as my parents were staying in the hotel behind the Milk churn, I thought we'd give it a go. £100.00 for 5 only 4 eating. No...

I'd advise everyone to avoid this place. Appalling staff, unfriendly(apart from one young girl) Appalling food, terrible attitudes. Shame as pub is nice.

We were passing after a long day and not knowing the area, were looking for somewhere to eat as was getting late. We came across this pub, which looked nice from the outside. As we walked to the entrance we asked a member of staff outside, if they were still serving food as it was almost 8.30, although website states open until 9. She snapped back, yes until 8.30, with the sourest look. Hardly inviting or friendly.

We rushed inside, grabbed a menu and quickly ordered, two burgers. Nothing fancy or difficult.

Partner asked for no pickles/ sauce on the cheeseburger. It arrived with both! The chilli burger was a sloppy mess, oozing a pale yellow sauce. I took the bun off the top and it was smothered in it. There were no nachos, a few kidney beans- supposedly the chilli and pickle, which shouldnt be there.

My partner went to complain and they brought a bowl with a few nachos! Then the only nice waitress came over. She asked what was wrong, so we explained, it was smothered in a disgusting sauce. She apologised and took the meal back to be re done.

We waited and back it came. No chilli at all! It had 2 stands of lettuce, broken up burger and a couple of pieces of nacho. The fries had been left from previous plate of food and were cold and soggy. My partner took the plate straight back and said, no chilli at all. The chef argued he'd put it between the burger. Well as you can see in pics, nothing. They then brought a bowl with chilli out.

Why could they not have put the chilli on in first instance. The bun was rock solid, so left as did fries.

Was glad to leave and will not return and advise others to avoid. Judging by all the orher bad comments, I'm shocked Hall&Woodhouse haven't done something.

Also while there, I noticed when using the ladies toilets a hot tap was running. I tried to turn it off, but couldnt, so alerted staff. Was told oh yeah taps are stiff. So you're wasting water, by leaving a tap running constantly?!

Badly run,unpleasant staff, awful...

I was staying at the Travelodge just across the car park which has no bar or food offerings except the dreadful ‘Breakfast in a Box’, so The Milk Churn was a welcome sight on arrival. I enjoyed a full English breakfast the first morning and sat down to eat it after paying only to find out that if you want a coffee, you have to order and pay for it separately as it is not included with breakfast. Flaw number 1. Who eats breakfast and does not drink tea or coffee! Breakfast was good and service was prompt. I came back in the evening after eating a packed dinner a friend gave me. I was shocked that the bar closed at 10:00pm. I was there and there were 4 other guys who along with me would have jointly dropped another hundred quid in the till had it not been whipped away at the stroke of 10:00 with no last orders called. Flaw number 2. On night number two, Saturday, I ordered Chilli Con Carne, the presentation was great, but the beans were hard and need more cooking, plus it all needed seasoning, Flaw number 3. Sunday I was looking forward to a roast Sunday dinner, went to order it and ‘all sold out’. Flaw number 4. I had a re-think and ordered Sweet Potato and Aubergine Curry. I had missed the fact it was vegetarian but that’s okay for a change. Somehow it just mixed the mark, unseasoned Uncle Ben’s American rice rather than Basmati and braised cubes of Aubergine are horrible! Flaw number 5. It came with a Poppadum and the curry sauce itself wasn’t bad except that also needed seasoning. Flaw number 6. I am a trade chef with 50 years experience in hospitality management and have told many young chefs I have trained “you only get one chance to make a first impression and that should not be, this needs salt”. Having said all that, the ales were well kept and the staff were professional, prompt and friendly. The building and decor is great and there is an outside patio with heater. It is a busy place in the early evening. Nice place, corporate chain pub but the food just misses the mark on all counts and needs some fine tuning. Tell your chefs to taste the food...