The Red House — Restaurant in England

Please avoid.

Sadly it isn’t possible to give zero stars.

My partner booked a table for 7.30pm for my family to attend my birthday meal. I was very excited as I have previously loved this venue.

We arrived at 7.30 to be told our table was not yet ready, although the diners at our table were “paying their bill” and could we go to get a drink at the bar? We went to the bar, it was not possible to get a drink at the bar as the bar was 4 deep in people, and also trying to prepare drinks for diners, so we could not get served.

My family returned to the front desk and informed the female staff member of the situation at the bar, she shrugged and gestured towards the side of the restaurant. We then stood to the side of the restaurant waiting for our table.

Another staff member stopped by to ask what we were doing. We had already been waiting 10 minutes for our table. This staff member then proceeded to tell us that the diners currently on our table had arrived 20 minutes late and were “stringing it it out” so everything would be running later as a result. He was dismissive and rude in his manner.

We waited a further 10 minutes. My partner went over to discuss the situation with the 2 staff members we had spoken to since arriving. Again, they were dismissive. The male staff member said he is trying his best. This was not our perception.

We waited some more.

After 25 minutes of waiting, I once again approached the female staff member “greeting” diners and asked when she thought our table might be ready.

At no point did this person even look up at me. The “greeter”scrolled through the computer screen continuously while I was speaking.

I asked her if she could hear me, and if so, could she please acknowledge that I was speaking? She did then slightly glance in my direction and state that she was looking for available tables. I then felt it necessary to list several points of good customer service and manners that I am aware of to this person (as they did not appear to comprehend general speech or have had any basic training in customer service). Points I noted were; making eye contact with customers, listening (or pretending to be listening to customers) and apologising for delays and inconvenience to the customer, even if it is not directly your fault. (NB to Paragon Group, I am very happy to offer this training to your employees, and can even include sessions in “giving the illusion I care about your situation” at no extra charge)

Joking aside, I did also express my disappointment at the situation, as I stated earlier, I have previously enjoyed this restaurant. My family and I then left the restaurant without dining as it was made abundantly clear by both members of staff we interacted with that they literally could not care less about us as customers.

This was the most awful customer experience I have ever had in a restaurant in all of my life.

Unfortunately though, It is the second negative experience I have had from the Paragon Group in 2 weeks, which leads me to believe the group is directed by greed for money through numbers of covers rather than quality of service or a remotely positive customer experience.

I will never again knowingly visit a Paragon Group venue, and will endeavour to ensure none of my acquaintances are unfortunate enough...

Pre opening invite only but they allowed us in for drinks which was fab. Food coming out looked delicious. We had a pint of cider and a spritzer which cost £9 which is quite high but served in beautiful glasses. Staff were very attentive and polite. Definitely booking in for food when they open on the tenth to the public. Decor is tasteful and comfy. Originally gave 5 stars.

February 15th 2025 We were taken to our table and given menus to look at. Nobody came to ask if we would like a drink for over 15 minutes. My son used to work in The Redhouse and this included training new members of staff; I asked him about this and he said absolutely not. Drinks arrived but mine had to be returned but it was soon sorted out.

Our starters arrived. My partner had the popcorn chicken which looked vibrant and tasty which it was. I had the mozzarella balls in panko which were a little dull not only in looks but in taste too. The panko needs some seasoning and a little rocket to give it colour might be an idea. The pizzetta sauce was average, it lacked oomph.

We both had burgers. I had the chicken burger 😞. It was greasy and sloppy, can't really say much more than that. The chunky chips were fine but needed longer in the fryer as they looked anaemic. My partner's brisket burger had loads of flavour, he ate every mouthful. We had onion rings on the side, once again, very greasy. I ate one and it was quite unpleasant. The charger mayo was delicious.

I'm hoping it was just a bad night as we have eaten in The Redhouse many times and at many of the sister restaurants.

The staff are helpful and very pleasant. We had to ask for more drinks ourselves, we were not asked if we would like more. Upselling is key surely and attention to detail no matter how busy you are! There were plenty of staff on to cover their sections adequately so attention to detail should have been there.

The background music was questionable but it was not too loud, that's just personal taste. It was exceptionally busy, felt a bit chaotic.

Maybe I am being picky but my point is that we work hard so that we can go out and have good food and drink but to part with over £90 for a very average meal...

Not the best experience this time. We have been to The Red House on numerous occasions, however this time my battered fish was very overcooked.

The waiter asked if the food was ok, to which i stated that my fish wasn’t the best. He told me that the fish looked normal and it’s always like that. I did state that the batter was very hard and overcooked, however i would reserve judgement. He looked shocked at me, i wasn’t being rude, but please listen to your customers, that is the number 1 most important rule.

He didn’t want to take it back to the kitchen. He again reiterated to me that is the way they cook their fish, i then stated that i had been using The Red House for over 5 years and the fish used to be beautiful and a different batter. He didn’t know what to say after that. I feel the food started to go slightly sub standard about 3 years ago.

I started to eat it, to be honest it had been fried to a cinder. Another waiter came over and spoke to me and he took the fish back to the kitchen, he then brought out another fish in less than 2 minutes it was exactly the same i did try it, however not edible again therefore i left it in the end.

The other meals were edible, however my son’s pizza was over cooked and he didn’t enjoy it. The rest of my family enjoyed their meal though, so not all bad. I think the main thing was how the serving waiting staff speak to the customers, customer service is what makes a fantastic business. This is a very nice restaurant however we have had previous meals whereby food has been over cooked or very dry sitting under heat lamps for too long, hence why we have a break from eating here at times to hopefully think it will improve, however i feel they struggle with volume of diners at times, this compromises the quality of food being served.

My main meal was refunded off the bill although i didn’t ask for a refund. I left feeling...