Miller & Carter Chigwell — Restaurant in Epping Forest

Disgusting. Been to Miller and Carters all over the country and this one is a disgrace to the name.

Sticky doors and handles to get into restaurant then led to a back part of the restaurant to be seated in a booth. "Where would you like to sit?" Well we tried to pick what looked like the cleanest,and I use the term loosely, booth.

We sat down and were disgusted at what we saw. Food on the walkthrough aisle. In clear view. Food under the table opposite. (Zoom into photos) Our table was sticky and clearly hadn't been wiped. We wiped it ourselves with the spare serviettes. The black menu on the table was filthy. Salt was all over the table.

The red leather on the booth seating had crumbs and food on. Sticky marks and a hand mark.

We had just travelled for 5 1/2 hours and were exhausted and hungry. If we hadn't been we would have left. We regret that decision now.

Drinks served quickly but no mats to put them on.

Food order taken and after waitress had walked past the food in the aisle about 5 times she saw me taking a picture of it so picked it up. Didn't bother with food all over floor under the table.

Where are the cleaners? The standards. It was really quiet in restaurant in terms of numbers of people on a weds at 18.30. Where is the manager checking people's sections?

The food was a fillet steak and chunky chips and onion loaf. Steak thin. Nothing to shout home about. Chips hot. Onion loaf rock hard on outside. Oh and the pathetic lettuce bowl. The waitress bought it over and some chips fell off my plate onto my partners. She just said "some of your chips are on her plate".

This was so poor for £35.50. What a rip off this place is. But we have never minded before as we have had lovely meals before with friends.

The whole place lacked care. Atmosphere. Staff who really looked and acted like they didn't gave a damn about cleanliness or service.

The red carpet was so gross. On closer inspection before we left it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. Or if it had been the Hoover is broken!

Above you,you can hear the floorboards creaking from the upstairs part of the restaurant.

Kids running around and large groups making a hell of a noise.

Staff didn't even ask us how our meal was!

On way to toilet and to get in the doors were so sticky I washed my hands when I got IN the restroom!!!

Would NEVER go back and couldn't wait to get out after the hefty bill of 95.00. Boy did we begrudge paying that for that dross.

We live in the New Forest and have better meals daily in local pubs.

What a rip off and sub standard food and what a filthy place.

Shame on you! The photos don't do the filthy place justice but I tried!

5 star hygiene rating. Well I've had an upset stomach all night and so has my partner. Avoid.

UPDATE* contacted them as they requested. Accepted our complaints and said they had,had a busy service just before we arrived. What kind of excuse is that. Denied causing us food poisoning. Not very helpful other than probably saying once he was sorry. Asked me what I wanted from this. I said as you ruined a wedding I attended the next day as I was ill I'd like a full refund. Your establishment was filthy. Said he'd ring back in 48 hours. I had to ring back 4 days later and basically told the general manager said as we had eaten the food he'd give us a 50.00 millet and Carter voucher. The manager couldn't even be bothered to ring me himself. I said the meal was 95.00 and wanted a FULL refund. He said he'd speak to general manager. That was two days ago. Now reported the restaurant to head office and an external agency and await their response. Absolutely disgusting treatment. **

Update no contact from actual restaurant. Disgusting. Reported them for health and...

We’ve been coming to Miller & Carter in Chigwell as a family for years and have always loved it. The service used to be polite, and the food was excellent. However, our recent visit was an absolute disaster, and we left feeling completely let down.

When we arrived, we were seated and ordered our drinks. However, the service was incredibly slow. The staff, including the manager, were chatting instead of attending to customers. When we finally got to order our food, we were told that most of the steaks were unavailable. For a steakhouse, this is unacceptable. Only two of the larger, more expensive steaks with additional charges were available. Some of us had to order from the regular menu, which completely ruined the experience.

To make matters worse, the delay in taking our order contributed to this issue. If the staff had been more efficient, we would’ve been able to order the steaks before they ran out. Once the food finally arrived, it was clear that the quality has gone downhill—especially considering the high prices.

Afterward, we approached the manager to politely explain our dissatisfaction with the service, the long wait times, and the lack of steak availability. Her response was shocking—she argued with us instead of apologizing or trying to help. She lied, claiming the menu stated that items were subject to availability, and when we asked her to show us, she couldn’t. Another staff member even said, “I don’t care, I’m not involved,” which proves the lack of care and professionalism at this location.

When we asked the manager again to point out where it stated “subject to availability” on the menu, she nervously flipped through it and couldn’t find anything. Instead of taking responsibility, she dismissed us by saying, “I don’t know what you want me to do; you’ve already eaten the food.” Her tone was defensive, rude, and unprofessional.

For a manager, this behavior was appalling. She continuously talked over us, made excuses about being busy, and showed zero accountability. Her attitude ruined the evening entirely. As someone who has worked in customer service, I’ve never encountered a manager with such a poor attitude and complete disregard for customers.

We left Miller & Carter in Chigwell feeling disgusted and insulted. The service was slow, the food quality has dropped, and the staff, especially the manager, displayed a complete lack of care. For a restaurant with such high prices, we expect much better. This location needs new management urgently, as the current one is clearly incapable of running it properly.

We won’t be returning and would advise others to avoid this...

So disappointed that I have had to leave this review after an actually nice meal. When taking my 11year old and 2 year old to the toilet after my meal, walking past a waitress standing at the bar who looks me up and down like I was dirt. It made me feel uncomfortable as she clearly had some problem in the way that I looked or what i was wearing. When I got back to my table I told my partner who had also witnessed after I walked past, the waitress lean out and take another good like at me and then say something to the girl behind the bar and for them to start laughing. My partner didn’t think too much of it until I told him what I had witnessed and then it was clear they were talking and laughing about me. This is not acceptable as a paying customer and also horrible for my older daughter to witness women treat women in this manner. We brought it up to the staff who said they would get a manager. They didn’t get a manager the front of house came and spoke to us. She dismissed our claims and said they would have just been looking to see if I needed anything, which is completely untrue. I know as a women when another women looks me up and down in a disapproving and judgemental way. The girl behind the bar proceeded to shout across the restaurant stating her piece which was very unprofessionally. The waitress came over also trying to dismiss our claims and said ‘she would love to wear something I was wearing’. She was slimmer than myself and this was just rubbing salt in the wound at this point. We asked them to bring up the CCTV so the front of house could see that what we were stating was true but we were told this could only be done if police were involved which again we know to be untrue. The front of house accused us of drinking too much and twisting her words. There was no reason for us to say this happened if it didn’t, as stated we had a nice meal and our bill was paid, but as a mother of girls this behaviour is unacceptable and has made me feel very self conscious. Miller and Carter Chigwell, you should be ashamed women should build each other up not shame them and treat people this way and be more professional. The whole situation was dealt with appallingly.

Update-All Miller and Carter can do is respond to my review with a full step. So so poor. I also left a complaint through their website and no response From a huge chain of restaurants this...