Tolly’s — Restaurant in England

TLDR: Service was awful so we went home. No idea on the food.

Okiedoke. We stopped by on a late Thursday morning for a late breakfast. We heard good things (via tripadviser) and wanted to stop in. The place looks small, lovely, and charming (but parking is a near-death experience!). We are a mid thirties couple with a young baby.

When we entered, it was busy but not full. About 75% I'd say. But we stood there for 10 minutes before someone acknowledged our existence. When they did, a young lady, she took two menus from a draw and said "follow me". She put us down at a table, and we moved our pram in place (a small babzen btw). Concerned we were taking up a lot of room, we quickly asked her "hey, is this okay here? We don't want to block anything."

.... Yep.... I don't care how stressed you are or whether you may have misheard - but that doesn't justify the answer "well it's not my fault, it's the only table I've got so you'll just have to do with it I'm afraid!" - accompanied by stressful stares and hurried behaviours.

Totally out of order. So right out the gate, we felt like somehow we did something wrong.

So, we sat.

And we sat

And we waited (as did the other 5 tables in the room). No service.

After another couple left the room also having not been served, we followed without even ordering a drink.

And the final kicker was we got told off for leaving "the wrong way" - but that's because they still had their one-way covid signs up (which we were following) - and were 'not in action' that morning.

Get your shhhhht together. If you're blaming staff shortages, pay people what they deserve then. Shockingly, you'll make more money, not less. It's...

We stopped here for breakfast and were one of maybe 3 families there. We were sat in the conservatory which was full of flies and spiders, and had a view past the outdoor toilet block to the garden. This meant when people used the toilets you could hear them going which was pretty awkward. The waitresses did not advise us they were short staffed, or we would have modified our orders to something quick like the pre made cakes out front but we didn't know and ordered cooked food. It took them almost an hour to serve it to us and it was evident from the delay between mine and my father's meal that they had forgotten to put his order in as he waited a further 20 minutes for his and no apology was offered or explanation given. When we tried to flag down the waitresses twice to ask where our food was they both told us they couldn't talk right then because they were busy and told us to go back to our table. If I had been the driver that day i would have walked out long before we actually did, but my dad was adamant we stay and give them the time. The food itself is very expensive for what it is (£11 for a full English! You can go to most canteens and get that for £5) and they served my dad's baked beans in a sauce dish you would usually use for ketchup which was just bizarre. It's such a pretty venue but they need to get their act together. Would not...

Parking outside available, cosy indoors and good view from the outdoor tables. Breakfast menu has a decent selection of food and drinks. We've had eggs royale and maple syrup and bacon pancakes with coffee and loose leaf tea.

The eggs royale was disappointing, mainly because the bagel was like a shoe sole, it was thin, overly toasted and hard to cut through. The sauce was average and did not stand out at all.

The pancakes were really good. Fluffy and light in texture, a good amount of maple syrup which tasted like a real one. Bacon was cooked well, slightly crispy but not overly done. Overall pancakes were delicious.

Coffee which we ordered (either a latte or cappuccino) was average at most. It didn't taste like it was brewed from coffee beans but more like an instant coffee with milk. The loose-leaf the on the other had was good.

I wish we tried the cakes as they did look very nice, although they're probably not the best thing to eat for breakfast!

The atmosphere was pleasant, although the music and lights went off for a while. The window by which we were sat, had spider webs and dead flies - not the best look for a place that...