The Nelson Tavern — Restaurant in England

This being our local pub we have eaten here many times and have had fantastic meals. However on this occasion I was very disappointed. The restaurant was not very busy for a Friday night. 4 tables of people, but the waitress service was very poor. Took time to come over to us, and when she did come over, she was chewing gum and talking to us at the same time. We had to get up twice and order our drinks from the bar and carry back ourselves. The real problem we had, though, was our food. My friend and I ordered from the special board the minted lamb kebabs, barbecue chicken wings, and sweet potato fries. It looked delicious when it came, so we all tucked in. We commented on the chicken wings as some were huge and others were small started on the smaller ones, which were fine, but when we went on to the bigger ones, they were raw and uncooked in the middle. We immediately found the waitress and asked to speak to the chef or management, who eventually came over, and we explained the problem. It was the chef, and all he said was well they are pronged with a gauge before they came out and were fine. You could see blood coming out of the middle of the chicken. We refused to pay for the two main meals which they took of our bill and they did offer us 2 free desserts as well which was a nice jester but I am sorry a professional kitchen sending out raw chicken is not good. The waitress was very arrogant, rude, and chewing gum and we did notice another table while we were there having problems as well of ordering desserts and coffee then the waitress came back to them 20 minutes later and said to them sorry I forgot. The thing which really annoyed me was they allow well behaved dogs in their pub and restaurant which I have not got a problem with but when you see the waitress sat on the floor with the dog all over them licking her face and hands jumping all over her then she gets up goes into the kitchen comes out straight away with plates of food for other people that...

We've visited here in the past and had a wonderful experience. However, this visit was a bit disappointing. We had booked a table for 5 people for 6 pm. On arrival, it took us 10 minutes to find someone to show us to a table. We had been seated for at least 15 minutes before our drinks order was taken. Then, another 15 minutes until the drinks arrived. Our food was ordered and delivered in a timely manner. I ordered the beef burger, and I requested mine with no chilli jam. When it arrived, it had the chilli jam on it. I immediately summoned the waitress who took it away and bought a fresh one. Also, the slaw that came with the meal had an odd taste. Several other diners agreed and could not eat theirs. In addition to this, they had a female singer performing there, who had a really good voice, but she was so loud that we couldn't hold a conversation. Her song choices were very good, and we would have enjoyed it if it hadn't been so loud. I think that we would visit again, but I would choose a different meal and ensure that there will not be any...

Positives first: food was amazing, freshly cooked, piping hot, plenty of it and reasonably priced....except the cheese board which was £8.50 (maybe this is a standard price but does seem a bit steep). My cup of tea came in a full pot and was piping hot. The place was very clean.

Now negatives (and why it only got a 3 stars): I had to ask for condiments and was given just a teaspoon of mayonnaise!!! We were the only people in the restaurant so no atmosphere. It was very cold in there and despite saying something it still remained on the chilly side. The staff were very pleasant, though not very attentive, which left us to seek them out on a couple of occasions. The black coffee came as only half a cup.

All in all a pleasant experience although would not rush back to eat in the restaurant but will definitely be using...