The Stirling Arms Pub & Rooms — Restaurant in England

So decided to visit this newly opened community pub in Hove. Refurbed from The Foragers.

Booking a table was easy the day before online and on arrival the pub was quiet and not to busy. Indoor seating well arranged and covid safe setup.

After having a drink we ordered our Sunday Roasts (something The Foragers was great for) I ordered the beef and my friend ordered the chicken which looked good value at £13 for mine and £16 for theirs

It was clear the roast would be a bit different from the menu with them talking up the chicken being cooked in a tandoori oven and the beef being described as a kebab.

The server did ask if we wanted sides and explained that we needed to ordered sides which included options for potato’s and some parsnips and spinach - I ordered some potatoes as it is one of my favourite things to have with a Sunday roast.

The food took an appropriate amount of time to arrive. However it really was just the meat of you hadn’t ordered anything else. The photo attached is the £13 beef kebab.

The chicken did include potatoes in its price.

Both meals looked great, and we both commented that the roasties looked good, then we tried them and were disappointed with the texture and temperature as it was clear that they had rested for a while. My beef was also like warm rather than hot.

We didn’t have anyone come back to the table until we made it clear we had finished by me moving my half eaten dinner to the side

I shared that I was disappointed when they asked if everything had been ok. This is where The Stirling then excelled. We were quickly visited by possibly a deputy manager who wanted to get into the detail of what was wrong, and immediately offered us free drinks and then said they would send the manager over too. They came quickly and had a similar conversation and was a timely listening and then removed our food from the bill.

Hopefully they were just having a bad day in the kitchen as the service was good. I know I wasn’t the only one to complain during the time I was there.

Overall a nice feeling pub, with food needing to be figured out - maybe trying to hard to be different and failing to be good. You don’t need to mess with a Sunday...

Went to this place for Sunday lunch. We had made a reservation and when we arrived we (eventually, after waiting for a bit) were 'pointed' to our table. The server came over to take our food order, but we hadn't decided what we wanted so asked if we could order some drinks. We were told drinks had to be ordered at the bar (which was fair enough). I popped up to the bar and ordered drinks and asked if they could be added to the bill. Was told they had to be paid for, as it was company policy, because people walk out without paying (again that was fair enough). We then ordered our food, which I expected i would have to pay for straight away, but no, that got put onto a tab behind the bar??? Obviously there is no risk of customers walking out and not paying their food bill, just drinks 🤔. Anyway, we ordered the roast lamb, and the rare roast beef. When they arrived the beef was well done, no pink in sight. When the server came over to see how everything was I pointed out that the beef was well done and not rare, as described on the menu. They made some comment about it being rare when it came out of the oven, but had continued to cook while it was resting. Obviously the chef was unaware that this was going to happen 🤔(again). After our meal both myself and my partner needed to use the bathroom, which we did, and after I went up to the bar to settle my bill. While waiting at the bar to pay I overheard the bar person saying, to what I presume was the owner/manager, that table 12 (the table that we had been sitting at) had left without paying. Obviously (again) their system doesn't work. When our plates were cleared by the owner/manager we weren't asked if we would like anything else, or asked if we would like the bill. It is no wonder that (some) people walk out without paying as it is made so easy for them. On a positive note, though, the Roast potatoes were really good (crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle) and the cauliflower cheese was excellent 😋 So, if you're looking for a meal for the price of a couple of drinks then this might be the place...

I do generally like this pub as a place to drink, it’s a nice spot and there’s a lovely garden out the back. I don't often write reviews but I’ve been thinking on it… how can we expect places to improve if we don’t give feedback? I asked the waiter to confirm a dish was gluten free they said “yes definitely, it’s vegan” I let it slide and thought they had just got their words muddled but as I sat there waiting for the food I got worried that they really didn’t understand. I went in to double check and they said the same thing again, I asked a few more questions and it became clear they really didn’t know the difference between gluten and animal products. I understand that allergies can be complicated and I don’t expect everyone to understand but what concerned me was their confidence in confirming allergens when they didn’t understand. I would always be happy to wait if someone needed to check in with the kitchen, and in fact I think it shows a level of responsibility. I don’t want to shame the person serving but I really hope the restaurant can roll out a new rule where if a server doesn’t know the answer they are encouraged to go and check and to never say yes to something they are unsure of. I would have been ill after eating the meal I had ordered but others might have had a more severe reaction and this current approach could be dangerous. Saying all of that, another person at my table did receive a completely different meal to what they had ordered so there is the chance that the server was new or had an off day, who knows but I really hope they can roll out some stricter rules...