Toby Carvery Trowbridge — Restaurant in England

In all honesty I was disappointed with our visit. The waitress didn't smile once and looked permanently grumpy. I did feel a bit sorry for her as she really didn't seem happy, but when you are serving people you need to at least be able to fake a smile and be welcoming - or else perhaps if something is going on you shouldn't be working that shift.

I was a bit surprised that after ordering a refillable drink, I was given an empty glass to start with. One would expect to be given a glass of the drink you ordered and THEN told how to help yourself to refills. It just seems better service to at least start off with giving your customer a drink when they first sit down rather than shoving a glass on the table and expecting them to sort themselves out.

My partner and I ordered the vegan wellington. It's completely understandable that there was a bit of a wait for this, however we then had to wait again in the meat queue for veg which meant our main was cold by the time we sat back down. Having a hot plate up by the veg for you to collect your main from would avoid it getting cold while you wait in the queue.

As a vegan I was told to ask for a fresh plate of vegetables so that they didn't have butter on them. It might be a good idea for the waitress to perhaps mention this to the chef straight away so they can at least start preparing it. Instead we were in the queue for ages, to then ask for veg, to then wait even more for the vegetables. Luckily I caught one of the chefs as he was changing the gravy and asked for the veg which gave us a head start on the queuing.

My partner also had to join the meat queue even though all he wanted was veg and a yorkshire pudding. Having a way of skipping this bit for those who choose not to have death on their plate would be much appreciated. Unfortunately this wasn't possible for us due to the rope barriers in place.

The food itself: The wellington was nice, and rather filling! The veg was a bit soggy and flavourless but with gravy on was actually alright. My partner's mash was so hard and lumpy he opted out of eating it. His yorkshire pudding was also cold.

Note for fellow vegans/veggies: the smell of meat isn't TOO bad unless you are right up by the cavery itself. It is a viable option if you are dining with ominis. I would also bring up that people seemed to use the vegetable tongs to shift their meat around on their plate, so vegetarians beware!! The chef serving also rested their tongs on the clean plate pile so you should ask for a plate further down that's actually clean if this bothers you.

The ONLY reason you've got 3 stars instead of 2 is down to the really lovely kind gentleman from the kitchen who assisted me. He went out of his way to get me a fresh plate of vegetables, had excellent manners and displayed customer service skills your waitresses could learn from. He spent time chatting to me about how the veg was cooked and why he offered a fresh plate for me. He went out of his way to use clean utensils to avoid cross contamination and then came to our table and checked everything was OK whilst we were eating - something your waitresses didn't do. 5 stars just for this man! Thank you.

Overall, a pretty average place to eat. I wouldn't particularly recommend it. Good value for money in terms of the amount of food you get. It's brilliant that you have got vegan and vegetarian options available, especially a pudding as well, however the dining experience for non meat eaters is not on par with those who eat meat. Not sure if I'll be back again or not... probably not any time...

What in this companies requirements describes a manager. Definitely not to manage. Visited the establishment on Saturday mid afternoon after having pre booked a table. The restaurant at the time was very quiet. After being shown to our table and drinks ordered we were told to go to the carvery and select our meal. So far so good. After waiting at the carvery for a good 15 minutes for a chef ( I say that tongue in cheek ) to arrive I approached a member of staff asking if we were ever going to be served. She diligently went off and found someone who then proceeded to serve the meat . I’m veggie so only required the vegetables and because of this my hot plate was taken back and replaced with a cold one . No rhyme or reason there. Then came the second wait, vegetables, well basically there were none, so off goes the same chef to replenish the vegetables. After waiting another good ten minutes we left our plates and returned to the table. Now comes the only positive part . A young man called Jack who apparently was a supervisor came to the table asking if everything was Ok. So we told him and he listened stating that it was not at his level to change things. So let’s make Jack the manager and replace the one who instead of sorting the problem just stood behind the bar. There is no health and safety involved in the whole process. The chefs were both bearded men but neither of them wore a snood and the waitresses , in fairness not all, were serving with their hair hanging around their faces, this should be tied up. The last and I think the most horrendous moment of this experience was a quite severely disabled man was in front of us in the queue, he was made to wait with his two sticks whilst the vegetables were replenished . Needless to say he was there a long time. Any manager or even any other staff should have been there to help not leave him standing. So come on Toby get you act together, there are plenty of other places selling roasts at a comparable price. Last but not least put Jack in charge he is the only one with any...

After reading the lovely-sounding menu online; we ordered vegetarian/vegan options, had to wait at our table for them to arrive, and then had to go and wait again in the same long queue as everyone else past the meat in order to get to the carvery vegetables. Carrying our plates and mains all the time. By the time we reached the front to collect our veg, our arms were tired and our mains were cold! No option to skip the queue either as guide ropes were in place throughout. Surely it wouldn't be hard to keep the vegetarian mains on a hotplate at the carvery instead to keep them warm until we get to the front?

It's fantastic that they're trying to provide options for vegetarians and vegans, but more thought needs to be put into place to give a similar experience to that provided to meat-eaters. There should at least be a separate queue to reach the veg as there is obviously no point in us waiting for the meat.

Cross-contamination at the carvery was a major issue - we saw many people use the tongs intended for vegetables to push their meat around their plate and then put the tongs back in the veg! This makes the tongs unusable for vegetarians and the veg itself inedible! Staff did nothing to stop this, and no signs were in place to discourage it. Also, the mashed potatoes were lumpy and cold and the stuffing was tough as bricks - very disappointing!

Staff wise - the chefs were so much friendlier than the grumpy waiters/waitresses! The chefs were constantly cheerful and very accommodating of our dietary needs - plus they checked back with us to make sure everything was okay! Our waiters/waitresses never smiled once and looked miserable throughout.

All in all, I feel the place has opened far too early - the chefs are great but until the waiters and other staff are trained up to scratch, avoid if you're...