The Torrisdale Tavern — Restaurant in Great Britain

The Torrisdale Tavern has come highly recommended to me by some people in my circles, and I must tell them that they are completely wrong. It's a typical hipster establishment that promises a lot but does not deliver in value, quality, service, or clientele.

When I came in and ordered a pint, I asked the ostensibly very friendly and bubbly barmaid if I could order at the bar – she assured me that she would come and take my order and that she would be over in a minute. Twenty minutes passed and, in that time, I saw her delivering multiple drinks to people and making coffees, despite there being three (or more) other staff on duty.

When I eventually went up to ask her why she hadn’t come over to take my order, she said, ‘Sorry, it’s been a very chaotic night.’ I’m sorry, but that’s not an excuse. The staff here seem to just sail about in an extremely lackadaisical manner and put their own personal feelings before the job at hand.

Anyway, I ordered beer-battered haddock and chips, which came to £14.95. The food arrived promptly, but it was extremely disappointing. I was served a very measly piece of haddock in batter. The batter itself was nice, but the fish was absolutely tasteless and stale. The curry sauce was nice, but the other two very tiny portions – of mushy peas and ‘tartare sauce’, which didn’t taste anything like its name – were not. The chips were the worst of all; many of them were brick-hard in the middle. There is no way this was worth the price – it’s an absolute rip-off.

I must add that the staff did offer me a free drink for my trouble, which I did not accept, but it was nice of them to do so. However, I believe there is a great deal of general incompetence and lack of training at play here, so I can only award this pub 1*.

To reply to the owner's response –

Just a quick question: if the service is always exceptional and the food is always perfect, then why have you received several complaints that highlight the same problems I’m highlighting?

It seems that nothing has been learnt from this and no valid criticism has been taken on board. According to you, the chips are perfect, the fish is perfect, and your staff can do no wrong. That is no way to run a business. Essentially, in a passive-aggressive manner, you’re attempting to make the customer feel that they are mistaken instead of taking on valid criticism.

Also, it wasn’t that busy – I’ve seen much busier – but even in those places, I’ve never been left 20 minutes to be served. I was forgotten about. It’s absolutely no way to...

One of my favourite bars south of the river, good beer on tap (incl. Weihenstephaner), lots of TVs that show sport but doesn't give the place a sports bar feel (which is good).

Have had some small plates before that were decent (3 for £15) and recently had the Sunday Roast.

The beef and gravy was really nice, little bit of mash and some roasters which were decent, my feedback is that the carrots were just barely cooked and I believe were boiled. Would have been nice to get roasted carrots cooked a little more. For just under £19 I'd say was ok, not exceptional value but not really complaining paying under £20.

One thing I'd mention too, the football finished and I asked twice for the NFL to be put on, both times were told "yes no problem" but they forgot both times as nothing happened - gave up and got it on my...

It's a brand new place and I think they are trying to achieve an old-man pub look and feel which is fair so even though decor is brand new it is with the intention of making it look old and cosy. I don't think it feels old or cosy. It just looks tacky.

The food was 3 courses for £15 something and to be fair albeit the prices were very low, so was the quality of food. The burgers, starters etc were pretty bland.

We also got the deep friend mars bar and the batter on it felt like it had been fried in the same oil as the savoury onion rings or something. It had a little savoury/spice feel to it which wasn't their intention. So yeah the deep fried mars bar was a terrible disappointment.

Had high expectations but was hugely disappointed.

The service however was nice and the guy who served us was very...