The Mucky Pup — Restaurant in England

My husband and I enjoyed a lovely dinner and drinks at the mucky pup and left feeling as though this was somewhere we would like to frequent.

The next morning, we attempted to have some breakfast/brunch with our two dogs. When we arrived, my husband went in ahead of myself to enquire after the menu whilst I stood outside with both of our dogs. To my surprise, he came out and told me we weren’t allowed in with “wet dogs”.

We were both taken aback because, whilst we had been on a walk with our dogs over an hour ago, neither were wet or dirty. They hadn’t even stepped foot (paw) inside the pub when it had been rudely implied to my husband that we shouldn’t even attempt to come in because of the dogs. Not only that, there was practically nobody in the pub. We had effectively been turned away from an empty pub because we had two dogs with us which was confusing because apparently dogs are welcome in this establishment.

Our first experience of “The Mucky Pup” (the name is somewhat ironic in this context), was about a month ago when we met with my parents for a drink. My parents arrived before us and had said we were bringing dogs and asked if this would be okay. They were told that it would be. When we arrived however, we were made to feel as though it would be a struggle to fit us in on account of the dogs, despite the fact the establishment was relatively quite and there were plenty of empty tables.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement. We have lived in Wilmslow for a long time and we were really looking forward to frequenting The Mucky Pup as it seemed to be an environment that we could enjoy.

I am a dog trainer and my dogs are impeccably behaved. They were clean and would have sat under a table with no disruption to anyone.

We were pleased to see that the pub is busy however, upon reflection I can’t help but think that a lot more dirt is brought in by peoples muddy shoes than my two clean and well behaved dogs would have done. We cannot understand why our business had been turned down during a quiet period on account of two well behaved dogs.

I had tried to email the pub privately about the issue as I didn't want to have to leave this review. In fact this is the first bad review I have ever left. However, the response to my email (below) has left me no choice:

"Thank you for your feedback.

We have had some incidents with wet and muddy dogs previously which has caused us cleaning issues. These are few and far between and that is why we keep the more dining right hand side, Dog free.

We appreciate you got mixed messages on seating and where you can sit. As a new business we are still trying to accommodate dogs as much as we can and I'm sure there will always be some issues while the Great British weather is wet.

I hope that we can welcome you back for a more positive experience in the future."

No where was there an apology or even clarification as to why we were turned away on that particular day. We were pretty much assured that it would happen again. We have been left feeling incredibly frustrated and as if our business is of no importance to the establishment.

Either you allow dogs or you don't. There are many dog friendly establishments around Wilmslow that do a brilliant job of welcoming people and their dogs.

The rudeness and dismissiveness of the man in question was pretty shocking. With this kind of attitude in such a small area, business will not thrive and it would be a shame for another establishment...

Well, tonight was a surprise meal for me from my missus for our 10th year anniversary, as I had seen some posts and said I really wanted to visit. The other option was alberts shed in manchester, guess what. We chose the wrong place!! 7pm came and We were sat down, initially, 3ft from the PA system from the entertainment, janines asked if there was anywhere else, and we were seated away from the entertainment , looking at the menu, there was plenty of starters. Not a great mains menu, and deserts sounded great. We ordered our starters and main 5/10 minutes from being sat. It was 7:35pm when they arrived, janine had the chicken wings which were nice and presented well, I ordered mac n cheese and lamb kofta, the lamb was £9.95, I was expecting something special. They turned up, I was Beyond disgusted at what I was served, (see picture), the mac and cheese was obviously heated in the microwave. While waiting for the mains, i ordered the burger and janine had the mushroom stroganoff, we were waiting that long we felt the need to order the deserts, creame brulè for janine, (her all time favourite).and apple crumble for me. Mains finally arrive at 7:55pm. My burger was tiny, and the bun was dripping wet with grease and blood, (see pictures) janines to be fair looked lovely. The plates were taken and we were asked when we are ready for desert. Just tell the girl. When ready, we said straight away, 8away. Janine had ordered the creame brulè, which ive seen her order for over 10 years now, and NEVER send it back, and I had ordered the apple crumble The creame brule was like slop, I had the crumble which was actually a pie. The apple pie was tasty with ice cream, and janines creame brule was like slop, and freezing cold. This was the first time i have ever seen her send a creame brule back, see pictures and video. There was a tall guy that looked like he was a manager/ owner, we told our thoughts to (as well as the server, Grace ) and he repeatedly said we're not usually like this, we have a new chef and to give them another go.

Conclusion. The atmosphere as I walked in was great, the guinness is superb the staff are lovely and helpful, Grace stood out hugely with her professionalism and drive to make our experience better than we were having. (If the owner reads this, Grace is an ASSET to your business) The 2 dishes that we had the main issue with, the kofta and creame brule was removed from the bill and we got a round of drinks on them.

Unfortunately, for me, the restaurant side of this business and I have met, and won't meet again. I was Beyond gutted and disappointed with our experience, especially for such a special evening for us, We should have went to alberts shed...

HOWEVER, The guinness was great and I'd look at returning for the craic but only when there was an...

Bit of a mixed review. Booked table for 7:30pm, when arrived it was very busy with customers just having a drink which was a great atmosphere, however - we were seated amongst all the standing customers drinking and was so loud we could barely hear each other which obviously isn’t a very relaxing dinner.

After 20 minutes of ordering food, I was told the chef had no scallops left, which is fine. However, two minutes later, a plate of scallops and food was put down in front of us, only to be told a minute later they’re for another table and so were taken back off us.

We ordered more drinks and were given an empty & used bottle of tonic, along with a used gin glass, which the waitress had mistook for the full one.

When the waitress put cutlery down for our main course, another came and took one off our table and gave it to another table. Subsequently we had to ask for more when food arrived.

When the bill was presented, the wrong items were on it also.

There were some really positive things about the venue and I will definitely be returning, the atmosphere was lovely, food amazing and for 50% off in January it was definitely worth the poor customer service. The waitresses were also very polite but I think due to the bar being new, they haven’t quite got the organisation right yet. I’d suggest having a separate area for dinner reservations to the bar area and perhaps don’t make our mistake and go for a meal on a Friday evening - choose earlier on the weekend or during the week.

That being said, music was lovely and will be...