Dr Foster - Pub & Restaurant — Restaurant in Gloucester

UPDATE: Visited again for a weekday lunch this time. The welcome was much better, but the food considerably poorer. Our order of avocado brunch arrived with no avocado, just two eggs on toast. The server was the same member of staff who had taken our order, which she remembered, so the food was taken back. The plate was given back a few minutes later with half an avocado just slapped on the side of the plate. The meal was very basic, with definitely not as many ingredients included as promised on the menu. As much as I was hoping Dr Fosters had improved since my last visit to be worthy of 5 stars, unfortunately the food has taken a downturn, so I have now dropped my review to 3 stars from the previous 4. I’ve given Dr Fosters two chances now, so most probably won’t bother again, which is a real shame, as I live locally and it would be a nice place to visit regularly and take visitors. Oh well. The music is still too loud in the conservatory, too. ————- Visited during the Sunday of the soft-opening weekend. The member of staff who greeted us at the entrance wasn’t the most friendly which gave a bad first impression. However, all other members of staff were very friendly and most helpful, seemingly getting on well whilst learning the ropes. So much has been done to improve the venue, which has made it much more pleasant and inviting than before. The surroundings and atmosphere were pleasant, although the music in the conservatory area could be turned down to make it easier to talk. The food itself was really top-notch; if this quality can be maintained, I’ll be visiting often! Good choice of drinks on draught. I’m dropping a star due to the poor welcome which let the rest of the team down - hope I can upgrade to 5 stars after...

I took my Dad to Gloucester for a meal out to celebrate his birthday. We weren't sure where we were going to eat so had a little wander around to see what the choices were. We came across Dr Foster purely by chance and noticed a lovely menu on the door. We decided to step inside and were pleasantly surprised by how beautiful and spacious it was. A member of staff saw us immediately and asked us if we were going to eat in. He then recommended we go into the conservatory area as it was such a lovely day. We were attended to very well and given advice on anything we queried. My Dad had a pint of stout and I originally asked for an elderflower tonic. The staff member said he also had an elderflower pressé which I then ordered. We both decided we wanted the steak and eggs. We both like it medium rare and the staff member agreed with our choice. Our meal turned up in a reasonable time and was presented beautifully. We were asked if we wanted any sauces. I asked for mayonnaise and was pleasantly surprised to have fresh made mayonnaise brought to the table. The steak was cooked to perfection and tasted incredible. The eggs were perfect and still had a nice runny yolk. The chunky chips were amazing too. I noticed that there were a couple of vegan options on the menu but nothing about gluten free so I asked our waiter and he confirmed that they can make the majority of the menu gluten free which is an added bonus as my husband is coeliac. In all it was a very enjoyable experience and I will certainly be going there again in the not too...

So, looked forward to visiting with the renovation. Went for Sunday lunch and initially a bit of confusion on table (not a problem, a new staff). Sat down and ordered drinks, wine came with no glasses, asked for glasses twice and still none came so eventually had to walk up and get them. Food came and it was such a series of errors that we sent it back and asked to pay for drinks and left.

Food was cold, meat was poorly cooked (the main reason we left because belly pork was so unrendered there was no recovering it) and parts were hugely over cooked and irretrievable.

Manager dealt with it ok, but was still calling us “sweetie” “babe” etc. I’m comfortable with informality but when a people are literally leaving the restaurant it was just slightly odd. we came to pay they had charged for an extra drink so had to go back up and get a refund.

Fully get that it’s newly opened but it wasn’t busy and they were almost comically over staffed (I can’t say about kitchen but 4 tables eating and 5 front of house in and around too floor), We’ve never sent back and walked out without giving somewhere a chance to recover the opportunity but there were jus so many issues. Staff not knowing stuff, on phones as they were walking through etc, things just aren’t...