The Plough Inn — Restaurant in Great Britain

A Farmhouse Farce at The Plough in St Asaph

Where does one begin to address the culinary calamity experienced at The Plough in St Asaph? It is truly a monumental task to encapsulate the astounding mediocrity that awaited us within its rustic walls.

First, we must speak of the 'Chicken in a Basket', a £15 tribute to desolation. It arrived with all the fanfare of a funeral procession - five measly, dry, chicken goujons, clinging to each other in their basket like orphans lost at sea. This brittle brigade, crying out for some modicum of marinade, offered all the flavour and succulence of a cardboard box left in the desert.

Let's not forget their bedfellows – the fries. Hailing not from the golden fields of the finest Maris Pipers, but from the frost-bitten shelves of a budget supermarket, these unlovable spuds seemed to be under the impression that 'frozen' was a serving temperature rather than a storage instruction. To think that this was considered a fitting accompaniment to the Chicken of Despair is frankly laughable.

Now, the children's meals escaped this gastronomic catastrophe, hovering in the realm of 'acceptable'. An apt word that paints a picture of beige – acceptable, not inspiring. But let's be frank, 'acceptable' isn't the review one hopes for when dining out.

The 'piece de resistance' (and I use this term with more than a touch of irony) was my partner's burger. In the pantheon of burgers, this one would sit somewhere between 'forgettable' and 'why bother'. Served with the same frost-bitten fries as my fowl fiasco, it was an edible but insipid interpretation of what a burger should be.

The irony of all this? Table-Table in Rhuddlan, not exactly Michelin star territory, offers far superior service, and at least their meals live up to their modest promise. The Plough, however, left us ploughed under in disappointment.

Our experience could have been redeemed by outstanding service or an inviting ambiance, yet those were conspicuously absent. The one saving grace? My heavily pregnant partner's desire for a stress-free visit kept me from voicing these complaints on the spot. However, as I pen this review, I do so with the hope that it will save another family from a similarly disappointing evening.

The Plough in St Asaph - where expectations go to die and where your wallet will weep for the injustice done. Dining here was as exciting as watching paint dry and about as satisfying as chewing on raw wool. For those in search of a memorable dining experience in St Asaph, I implore you,...

Where do I start. If I was able to give a minus 10 review I'd happily give it! Went to The Plough today with my family, checked if they had availability for a walk in which they said they did, wasn't to busy at all. We were shown to a table and told that someone would be over to take our drinks order. After quite a wait (to the point we had all chosen our meals) someone come over to take our order, I explained we were all ready with our food order as well, to be told "that's not how it works, we take the drinks order, get the drinks and then take food order" ok. So we order a round of soft drinks....we waited....and waited....and waited....drinks never came, then someone different comes to take the food order? Puzzled we ordered our food. Eventually after asking again, we received our drinks. Starters come out shortly after....HORRIFIC. some cheap shop bought pate, with the smallest bit of stale salad that had gone soggy in a dressing. One of the starters didn't even arrive. At this point we hadn't touched the food and drinks and I called someone over and told them we would be leaving. Service was awful, food was horrific and the place was dirty and grubby. They called who I think was a manager over who just said "is there a problem" to which we said we were leaving. At this point we thought the awful experience of this place was over! How wrong were we!! Walking across the carpark a young girl (Plough staff member) started to chase us across the carpark shouting "IS THERE ANY REASON YOU HAVEN'T PAID YOUR BILL!!" We'd already had this discussion there was no bill! We hadn't touched a thing. Absolutely mortified we explained we were not dining at their establishment and there was no bill. To which she said "nobody told me". Maybe spend some time on staff training, no communication between any of them, food isn't edible, staff are rude and have no customer skills at all. overall AWFUL. Go literally 2 seconds down the road to Bod Erw, amazing food and...

Overpriced and rude manager!

We have been here many times over the years. We like it cause you can take the dog, they have real ale and the food is nice. However, our last visit, on Monday, was a big disappointment. The food was very expensive. £15 for the chicken slouvlaki(?) (kebab) basically 5 pieces of chicken, pitta bread, salad, onions and peppers with a szatzeki dip.£15!! In fact all the main meals were at least £15 each. Burger...£15 Come on. Starters at least £7 each!! There was an offer on that the real ales were reduced on a Monday to £3.50 per pint, they missed that bit off the bill. We also read that was New for 2023 that 2 cocktails were £12. Again they missed that off the bill. It wasn't until we pointed this out they removed the real ale mistake but argued that as the cocktails weren't the same, they wasn't going to honour the offer. There was no mention of this on their posters. So, we stuck to our guns about it and for the sake of £5 they agreed. We were spending over £140. The manager was very rude and said insulting things to me in front of my wife and kids. That was the last time I'll be going to the Plough and I'll be making sure I inform the rest of my family that go there too.

EDIT to The Plough response. I now attach sign for all to see, which clearly advertises Cocktails 2 for £12 AND the real ales at £3.50. Neither offers were applied until we chased them up. So, utter rubbish about the offers aren't applied until the bill is made. The bill was made and it didn't have the offers applied. How many other tables have you ripped people off?! PLEASE NOTE: There is no reference to 2 cocktails for £15 or they have to be the same cocktails. Your 'New for 2023' Poster is clear for all to see. No T&Cs or small print shown. Also, we've been visiting the Plough for at least 10 years. This was the second visit this year. Your manager WAS rude. Not only did I think this my wife and kids picked up on this and mentioned it when we...