The Royal Oak — Restaurant in England

I was looking forward to a nice lunch. Went in to order the drinks. Asked for a strawberry and lime rekorderlig and a prava. A non alcoholic rekorderlig emerged and I commented, “Said no point wasting it but could you please put a single shot of vodka in it?, obviously for the same price. “She said yes. Instead of reaching for the Smirnoff next to a bottle of grey goose she chose that and a shot was added. “Great I thought, how generous”. Upon the return to my table the bill flashed up on my phone. £15.80!!!!!! I went back in and asked how much the rekorderlig and pint were. About £10 which seemed about right. After returning to the bar I quizzed where did the rest of the bill come from it was the grey goose vodka

In my mind, and I’d have to check the law on this, if you ask for a usually alcoholic drink and they do a non alcoholic version this must be specified when ordering. Also if you give a customer a supposedly nice act of faith by putting a shot for free in I think it is in very poor taste to add the more expensive one and then charge them for it. Needless to say we left without eating with a sour taste in our mouths. Must have been that non requested, overpriced, grey goose. And it was the landlady. Check your change and statements from this pub as it would seem she likes a bit extra on top of the tips

After the landlady’s comments…

It was not clearly displayed “on the bar”, it was in a fridge at ground level behind the bar. If the bottles had been faced up correctly and I had my monocle with me perhaps I would have spotted the small label that said non alcoholic. I wasn’t even aware there was a non alcoholic version of rekorderlig. I only noticed when it was on the bar. At which point I pointed this out and suggested adding a shot of vodka to resolve the situation without wasting a drink. I asked for “strawberry and lime rekorderlig”. Not “non alcoholic strawberry and lime rekordorlig”. If I ask for a pint of Guinness do I get given a pint of guiness zero? Never happened to me yet. Who orders a kopperberg and expects it to be non alcoholic in a pub? Probably very few

After the duplicity I experienced we didn’t want to stay in your pub and my girlfriend was only half way though her drink but I wanted to go. I will gladly return you glasses for a refund of the vodka you so explicitly stated would be free

Also the Smirnoff was literally next to the bottle of grey goose and you purposely chose the more expensive option.

As for “being rude to your staff” I only spoke with you and I was polite until the point I that I figured out that I’d been fleeced and you were not prepared to try and remedy the situation. My only comment that could have been even considered to be rude was “bollox to eating here then”. The uncomfortable customers you speak of were probably doing a quick fiscal audit of their finances to compare it to their bill so they could more easily spot...

We visited The Royal Oak on the evening of saturday the 8th April for a friend's birthday meal, we was shown through our table which was in the back and led to a table which was not set in fact it still had some old knives and napkins left all over the table. 15 minutes had passed, and we were still sat waiting for someone to come and serve us, but that didn't happen, so we had to ask for someone to come and serve us.

Once we had given our drinks and food order which we felt, that would be easier as we didn't want to wait another 15 minutes before our food order was taken. Myself and another mate slightly asked for something different! However, the food appeared and was not what we asked for.. to be told we don't do that! (Not even able to come and make is aware that a fried egg could not be poached), also they had placed a salad on a warm plate!. Also before this we had to ask for clean cutlery as noone had been over to collect the old ones and replace them. They delivered the new cutlery but still left the old ones sat on the end of the table!.

The food was not too bad but definitely not gastro style, I would say it was on par with a wetherspoons meal, honestly.. you would think it couldn't actually get worse, but..... Yes, it did.. while one member of the table was still eating, one of the waiters came to clear the table, which we stopped and explained that this shouldn't be done until everyone had finished. Once we had all done the plates where collected and we then sat waiting again for 20 minutes to ask if desserts were wanted.. Guess what!!! They never did return, so we called it a night and decided that we would get the bill. However, due to the absolute poor service, we all felt a discount was needed, so we asked and was given a 20% discount.

I would recommend that the staff are actually trained to the service that they want to deliver as the poor waiters/waitresses as they absolutely had no clue what was expected or what to do with no direction at all and no manager or leadership at all and that shows through. Will not be returning and will pass on to friends...

Very disappointing experience. We booked for a table of 6 but unfortunately 1 was unable to make it. We arrived on time and were greeted and asked if we wanted to order drinks at the bar or go to the table. We opted for the table as we figured we’d get drinks and check out the menu. We were taken to our table out the back, and we quite literally felt forgotten from there on in. The table wasn’t cleaned from the previous people, there was no new cutlery or napkins either. We then waited 15 mins with nobody coming to take our drinks order so I went and asked for someone to come over. This took another 10 mins. We placed the food and drinks order at the same time as by this stage we figured it made sense going on the service so far. We eventually got drinks around 7.30 having arrived at 7. My friends ordered a slightly different variation to what was on the menu but the other 3 of us ordered straight forward meals. My friends didn’t mind the salmon but to be honest the pie wasn’t pleasant and if it hadn’t been for me being hungry I would’ve left it. They then tried to clear the plates whilst one member of the table was still eating and I had to explain that you don’t clear till everyone has finished. We would have ordered a desert, but again no one came to ask if we wanted anything. The manager did knock 20% off the bill, but I still wouldn’t go back. The staff are mainly very young and need some serious training, and if that happened I’m sure things would improve. Unfortunately for all involved we have all worked in restaurants over the years, in my case from the age of 16, and we know what good service is. This was...