Pinhoe Hoard — Restaurant in Exeter

We booked a table for my 30th birthday celebration with my family and gave a preorder for our meals. There was issue after issue. Starters came, all was fine. Mains started to come out and that's when the issues started. The last 2 main meals that came out where wrong. It was supposed to be a trio roast and a turkey roast but what came out were 2 pork roasts. We told the waiter it was wrong and he went back to the kitchen but soon returned and said it was the right order according to their ticket in the kitchen. We showed proof of the preorder and we told that someone had obviously taken the wrong meal and the only available roasts left were the 2 porks. The 2 people missing their order decided to order something different from the menu. By the time they got their food, everyone else had finished eating. Then it was pudding time. The last pudding to come out qas a tiramisu and it didn't arrive so we had to ask for it to then be told that they had run out and couldn't provide it. We questioned why we weren't told and why they ran out as we had preordered so it should have been kept back for our table. The waiter who we spoke to (tall, young blonde hair) was very rude and basically said that it wasn't his problem and went to walk away. We asked if we could order a different pudding for the person who was missing theirs and he continued to be rude to us so I asked to talk to the manager. The manager came and I explained every issue we had had with our meals and he explained the reasons behind it and gave us a discount on the bill which was appreciated.

I have worked in hospitality myself and can completely understand mistakes being made. What I cannot understand is the lack of communication between your staff and how they deal with customers. There was one young waiter who was extremely attentive and polite to us all (shorter, dark hair) but unfortunately he had zero support from the other staff and there never seemed to be a manager in sight, even with all the issue that were going on. A manager didn't appear until we demanded to talk to one and he wasn't even aware of half the issues. This is a complete lack in team work and communication on your part.

I appreciate that things happen and mistakes are made but we will not be returning to The Pinhoe Hoard, Exeter and I will certainly not be recommending it to anyone...

Thought we'd try this place as it is walkable for us. Wish I'd read some of the reviews and reconsidered. Awful! Wetherspoon quality, but at twice the price. A tiny greasy portion of cauliflower wings (literally two florets) at nearly £5! But it was the service that let this place down the most. We were served by a new lad, perfectly nice but didn't know what he was doing. He seemed to be being given no support or guidance by his supervisors, and our experience suffered significantly as a result. Food was brought at the wrong times, meaning two of us were left picking at a handful of "posh" bacon and cheese topped chips (nearly £5 a portion!) and very soggy "roasted" veg between us for our main course. There were several drinks ordered that were never received. Really long waits between courses and had to get attention to request starter's to be cleared and the bill etc. My dessert was probably the highlight. The mini chocolate cookie slice was tasty, but when I asked for the coffee to be deducted from the bill because I hadn't received it, I was told that the coffee was free with the cake so no deduction would be made! This wasn't clear on the menu as it clearly stated 'Mini dessert and hot drink', not "free hot drink". When we were told this after requesting the bill I couldn't bite my tongue any longer and complained to the waitress about the poor standard of service. She was lovely and bless her she said she'd ask the manager about 20% off, which would have been an acceptable level of compensation as we had eaten what we were eventually presented with (we were starving by this point so of course we did). But, all we were offered by the manager was the price of the mini cake removing. I gave an opportunity to make amends for our £80 mediocre experience, and it was rejected. So, I'm afraid I have no choice but to give them 1 star. We certainly won't be going back for food...

I originally booked a table for 8 people for a surprise lunch for my mums 60th birthday. I asked to be in a part of the restaurant where the park area was visible as we would have small children with us. I then called the restaurant to add more people to the booking. The lady invited me into the restaurant to look as they didn't have tables large enough in the area I had requested and they wanted me to be happy. I only live a short distance so this was no trouble. I called on the day and asked if I could cheekily leave the table decorations and a cake there whilst I drove to exmouth to pick up my elderly Nan. I was met by Will who introduced himself as the deputy manager. He explained that they had moved some furniture and were able to accommodate the larger table in my requested area overlooking the park area, he then told me not to worry that the team would take care of the table and just leave my stuff and go. Phew! When I arrived back at the restaurant they had laid up the table and put the balloons out and every looked amazing. The customer service we received was incredible. To keep the cost down we decided to choose meals from the lunch time set menu. All meals came out together, hot and delicious. We all commented on how tasty and well cooked the food was. Nothing was too much trouble for Will and his team. Even bringing the cake out with lit candles accompanied by side plates and forks and a knife to cut the cake. The children ranged between 3 and 11 and they all had a fantastic time. They were safe to play in the park area and enjoyed delicious kids meals with ice cream and birthday cake for pudding. I will be recommending the Pinhoe Hoard to everybody. Thank you so much to Will and his lovely team for making us feel welcome and helping me out with an almost ruined surprise...