The Pantry — Restaurant in England

I have been a regular visitor to the Pantry over the last year as always keen to support local businesses where I can. I’m always impressed with their gluten free offering.

However, having been three times in the last two weeks and had negative experiences each time I feel it’s now time to actually post a review. I would like to note that I have always tried to feed mback directly to the staff there and I did try to give the benefit of the doubt.

On the first visit I asked for some tap water half an hour before closing after my coffee and cake for some tablets. This was clearly a huge inconvenience from the visible huffing and puffing in the response.

Earlier this week we visited and our drinks ticket was lost which resulted in them coming during our food following several times asking for them. Oh this visit the only saving grace was a lovely waitress who was new and was clearly trying her best. She was not responsible for the issue. I chose not to review this time. Our table was also next to a gas pipe from the boiler which was very strong smelling. We mentioned but weren’t offered to move.

Sadly, today we had an even worse experience. The waitresses were again polite. However, our food arrived and drinks again didn’t. We asked where they were and they said they were coming. Unfortunately, by the time we finished the food they still hadn’t arrived even after a further 5 minutes. As a result, I went to the front counter to politely ask a waitress to cancel them then joined the queue outside to pay our bill. When informed, the person behind the counter then very loudly and vocally to other customers and staff, without realising I was there, complained about us and that we had unrealistic expectations for drinks to be out before and that it wasn’t her fault. When I got to the counter I did say it was me who had cancelled the drinks very politely and received a very sharp and rude response. I paid for our food then left.

It’s really disappointing as the Pantry has so much potential with good value food and a lovely outdoor space. As you can see, I have tried to feedback to the business themselves to no avail. Unfortunately, their processes and customer service need a lot of work. Sadly, we won’t be returning until we hear of improvements. I’ve posted this so others aren’t disappointed. If you are to visit, I would strongly recommend ordering drinks quite a bit of time...

Revisited The Pantry this morning and this time was way worse than the previous visit. We seated outside and we ordered breakfast and drinks. When the drinks came (5-6min) they were different than what we ordered. The nice waitress agreed to replace them with the desired ones and apologised for the inconvenience. About 15 minutes after ordering the same waitress came and asked my wife to change her order because the kitchen informed her that what my wife ordered will not be ready anytime soon. Not nice... but she changed her order. Of course what I've ordered was automatically delayed. Don't really know what happened to me, usually I am not this patient but after about 40 minutes in total we asked what happened with our food and apparently they forgot about us. Anyway after another 5 minutes the food was brought to our table without the toast for my English breakfast. After about 7 minutes of waiting for my toast and when my food went completely cold I've decided to discuss my problem with the manager. I've kindly asked the waitress to inform the manager that we would like to have a chat but he/she didn't care to join us. Apparently, since you are patient enough to wait for your food more than 45 minutes you also need to wait for the manager at least the same amount of time. No offence to the manager but he/she should find a different job and let a competent person to take over. Don't recommend this place, the food might be good as many before me have said but our experience was...

I am coeliac and am always wary about eating out as can get quite ill if food is not done separately, not gluten free etc. The staff explained exactly how they cook the food, how they keep all separate, that there is a choice of gluten free sausages, bread etc. and I had my first "fry up" outside of my home since I was diagnosed 4 years ago! What a treat! I can honestly say I absolutely loved it, food was cooked to perfection, eggs exactly how I asked for them, lovely size portions and it was so nice to not have to cook it myself, to just sit and enjoy without being worried. The restaurant was quite busy, it was lunch time, but food and drink was served in a very reasonable time. The staff couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. I was quite full, but the gluten free cake did look lovely, as did all the cakes on offer! An added bonus, for me, is its dog friendly, lovely decorated, clean and great food and service. Lastly, the bill was actually a shock, most restaurants charge an awful lot more for gluten free food, which I do understand as it can be expensive, but my lunch was the same price as my husbands, which I thought was such a perfect end to a lovely lunch. I cannot recommend this restaurant...