The Woodlands Bar & Grill — Restaurant in England

We visited this venue on it’s opening weekend. As with any new venue, we thought service might be poor as everything was so new, including the team and there may be the normal ‘teething problems’. To our surprise things ran pretty much like clockwork and the team all seemed really well trained and up-to-speed.

The venue itself is really quite stunning and it has the feel of genuine quality. The smell of wood throughout is gorgeous and the thought that has gone into the design and concept is noticeable and really commendable. The booth’s, the tree in the restaurant and the little touches like charging points on the side of booths are the things I particularly liked.

The beer garden and play area have been completely transformed, including a nice little water fountain. I’m also pleased they have taken the time to add more space and design a proper carpark.

In terms of the food, initially we were underwhelmed and the portions looked quite small. However, they food itself tasted amazing and the portion sizes were actually perfect. The ginger sticky toffee pudding was a highlight for me and was my favourite dish that we tried. I would definitely recommend to anybody looking for a dessert to try.

The downside for me personally overall is the price. I can fully understand that a major investment has gone into the venue but the prices are way over the top. It feels as though the prices are at the top of the market and have then another 10% added on top. £22 for a burger is steep, as is £19 for a roast dinner. My daughter had a homemade lemonade at £4.75 which again seems excessive. We are all living in a time of all families seeing cost of living increase and the choice to save money when they can. The pub is in a great location for locals in Hough Green and hopefully this can become a real focal point for the community. Hopefully the prices don’t put too many off because we genuinely want this venue to do well.

Overall our experience was positive and we will definitely return. Hopefully as things settle down, there may be more competitive pricing, because as things stand it’s probably the most expensive pub to eat and drink...

One of the worst experiences of my life and I left feeling annoyed

Started off being seated which was fine then someone took our drink order, someone then come over and told us they only have 1 rump steak...

Then a server eventually arrives at the table and asks if we're ready to order, so I ask him do you have rump steaks for the mixed grill to which he replies yeah got plenty (weird) then our drinks finally turn up while he is at the table and the server just bails mumbling under his breath....

We thought maybe he's gone to double check the steak situation with the chef but nope, just ditched the table and started serving everybody else even though we was ready to order

Eventually flagged him back down to take our order and that's all fine

Fish Tacos - means only one Taco so why advertise it as 'tacos'

'Homemade' nachos - they were literally smart price tortilla chips with cheese and salsa ect on top - we did ask for pulled pork on top but they forgot that too

Mixed Grill - does state it comes with white pudding but failed to arrive on the plate

Now I would like to add all the food was nice that I received (except the nachos) but the extremely poor service just had a knock on affect which made me bitter about the whole evening - I think I would have just accepted the fish 'taco' and white pudding issue as nothing and it wouldn't have got a second thought if the service was better but unfortunately it's all just added to the list because of the bad experience

The inside and outside of the building looks really nice and there is plenty of space to park your car too

If I ever do come again hopefully it's a better experience for me to change...

Having visited here a number of times with friends and having received good service from their waiting staff. I was extremely disappointed in the attitude of the manager (I believe Nicola) the night we last went.

Having received a desert with a cherry stone in despite not having cherries either in or as a decoration, we didn't know what the unknown article was. So reported it. After stating that having found the foreign object the dessert was no longer required, Nicola did offer to replace, which was politely declined. No longer wishing to have a dessert brought out.

The following behaviour of Nicola, the manager on duty was appalling. Upon taking the unwanted bowl, she threw it onto the entrance cupboard with disgust. In such a manner that the spoon alone with some of the cream, landed onto the floor. The sound was obvious to all around. Whereupon she walked off, leaving both the spoon and cream on the floor. The bowl on the cupboard.

This was left for quite some time until a waitressing member of staff came to clean it up.

Even when returning near to our table later, when an apology was made for not wanting the dessert replacing. There was no acknowledgement of acceptance for her actions or the apology.

We can all have off days. But not when being a leader for a team. They should set a good example and this most definitely was not one that should be followed.

Had a junior member of staff behaved in such a way I would expect a reprimand from above for them and an apology to the customer for their behaviour.

This tarnished our visit. Also has made me question a friend's choice of venue for an upcoming function. Hopefully she won't be...