The Sutton Arms — Restaurant in England

We went as "walk-ins" for Sunday lunch, bought drinks and ordered food, all at the bar. We were then told that we could sit wherever we liked as it really wasn't very busy, so we made our way to a nicely placed table and sat down. We'd barely lifted our glasses to our mouths when a waitress arrived and told us that actually, that table was going to be set up later for other customers, and we needed to move! We looked around and spotted an alternative table (but not ideal, as all the interior was so drab and murky, it was difficult to find anywhere that wasn't uncomfortably dark and dismal!) However once again we settled into our chairs....and very nearly got a sip of our drinks, when again, we were asked to move because "this table also was going to be set up later for expected customers. At this point, I felt extremely irritated and asked rather too loudly as to where we COULD sit then? The reply was that we could sit anywhere else, but not those two places! I would have loved to have sat out in the conservatory where it was open, airy and sunny, but all the tables in there were for seating larger parties, not 2's or 4's! SO!!!! We ended up in a mardy little corner feeling very annoyed that we weren't helped with our seating in the first place, to save all the messing about and embarrassment so far! After not too long, our plates arrived bearing chosen meat (turkey) yorkshires and mash/roasties. The waiter then went away and didn't exactly hurry back with the vegetables as we sat waiting to start! (all the time another waiter was wandering idly about, picking up bits off the floor, why he couldn't have helped to serve our meal up in order that we could have had it all delivered to our table in one go, I have no idea!!!) When the veggies did come, the waiter then asked if we would like any sauces, I chose cranberry and away he went again to get it (a miserly little pot at that) and so we still waited to begin eating! To he honest, even with everything on our plates, there were in fact, empty spaces showing through! My first bite was a lump of nasty gristle which I quickly spat out onto the side of my plate. Now, because the gravy had already been put over the meat on arrival, it meant that the vegetables were particularly dry and incidentally quite tasteless and the roast potatoes were so tired and leathery, that I had to leave them anyway! One good thing was that the plates were nice and hot, so they did maintan the temperature of our food despite all the waiting about. The meal was very mediocre, and not helped at all by the terrible choice of " too loud to be called background" music...songs full of angst and suffering, forcing themselves upon us throughout the entire time we were in there! I must say that we did enjoy the blackcurrant cheescake and banana split, so that was something, I suppose! Needless to say after that experience, we will NOT be going back to The Sutton...

We came over from Wakefield to the Sutton Arms to have a birthday meal with family who live close by. I initially sent them a message on their website enquiring about booking, however, after over a week I hadn't heard anything so I rang the restaurant to book. The staff member I spoke with was very polite and took the booking with no issues. When we arrived, we were shown to our seat straight away. There was 5 of us who attended. We had a mix of dishes- one of the specials board meals (Beef in Hoisin Sauce), a Pizza, a Sunday Dinner, a Pie and a Burger. The food was disappointing. The rice that came with the specials dish looked and tasted microwaved (and it was around £17 so I'd expect fresh fluffy rice for that price), the Pizza was "meat feast" and seemed to only have 2 varieties of meat on it. My partner said it looked and tasted like a takeaway pizza. My Dad mainly enjoyed his Sunday Dinner but said the roast potatoes weren't very nice. My Brother described the burger as "average" and thought there was too much bread. It also dripped with grease when he bit into it. The chunky chips were the best part of the meal. My partner ordered a side of fries with his pizza but they didn't arrive. When we queried where they were we weren't told that they had forgot them (but they clearly had as when they came out a short time later they were under cooked and some were still raw). We would have appreciated a bit of honesty and to have waited a bit longer for them to be cooked and edible. When asking for the bill I informed the staff they were undercooked and due to us not being able to eat them, I wasn't happy to pay for them (at £2.95 a bowl). One member of staffs response was something along the lines of "ok then" and the other member of staff did say sorry. Another member of staff then came over (presumably the manager) and asked what was wrong. When I explained again, they went over to the till and then confirmed they had taken them off the bill. We felt like the customer service was lacking and the staff needed training on dealing with the (minor) situation. We weren't rude or confrontational at all but none of the staff, including the (presumed) manager seemed to be confident in dealing with the fact they had made an error. We didn't make a fuss about the standard of the other food (as described above) so they had no opportunity to rectify it, but we definitely won't be returning. For the price of the meals (our bill was over £77), it definitely wasn't worth what we received in our opinion,...

Before the recipient of this review gets on the defensive, I would firstly like to thank all the staff at the Sutton Arms for working and serving us on Christmas day, spending time away from your family and friends, when at the moment it's as important as ever. Thank you.

Onto the meal itself, the fact that it cost £60 per cover we could've stomached if the quality of the food matched the price...it did not.

The melon starter was very difficult to eat, as it was merely (decoratively) cut in half. Why did you not make the effort to make it into melon balls (£60 a head remember). Half our party ended up not eating it was it was difficult to get out, especially for my 92 year old nan.

3 dough balls...3!!! (£60 a head!)

No effort was put into the presentation of the veg, just a random assortment piled haphazardly into a bowl. Some people had a plate of roast parsnips and no roast potatoes, others had a plate of roast potatoes and no parsnips?

Condiments anyone..? Cranberry sauce, mustard? Not offered.

Only one round of drinks was offered. The serving staff seemed in such disarray that it seemed implausible to ask for another!

The amount of people crammed into a such a small space did not seem to follow the advice of social distancing..?! We in fact opened a window to "let COVID out"

Ultimately, we could all forgive the price tag as we appreciate the additional overheads of paying your staff to work Christmas day. However, the food and service did not live up to the high expectations of a...